11 Best Ways to Promote Your Music in Nigeria

But before we dive in, let me remind you again that promoting your songs in Nigeria is not going to be easy. Because tons of talents like you are also trying to claim that piece of cake you want to have in the music industry.

I’m not scaring you, but that’s just the truth, you know.

But what are the best ways to promote your music in Nigeria or anywhere in the world?

Before going into the details, we need to quickly remind ourselves what exactly music promotion is.

What is Music Promotion?

Music promotion is simply the process of taking your recorded song(s) from the studio (say point A) along some routes (Say B – Y) to the final consumer/fans (let’s say Z) who will buy or stream that song and, in the returns, you earn some bucks and fame.

That sounds too easy!

Music Promotion is one major, and one of the most important things to clearly figure out and implement in the right way for artists like you and for a music record label to be successful in the Music Business.

Many upcoming artists in Nigeria and beyond have blindly ignored the important roles of music promotion, which is why they are still struggling to meet their focused target gladly enough, you as a musician or an affiliated individual to the music industry will learn pretty well from this selected and best ways to promote music in Nigeria.

There are many opportunities associated with Music Promotion in Nigeria you might have to know some of them before this article but, I will also state a few of these music promotion and marketing strategies in this article, all you need to do is to keep calm, don’t scroll until you finish reading the whole words and sentences in each paragraph.

So, let’s ride on;

Best Ways to Promote Your Music in Nigeria

I want you to learn and relearn from these tips;

1. Promote your songs culturally

This is the best way to promote your songs in Nigeria because it doesn’t involve spending a dime to market yourself to the people.

The aim of this technique is not to make money but to get your voice heard, and start building your career from somewhere even though you might not have money yet.

Below are the ways to promote your music in Nigeria culturally;

• Do Free Music Shows

Yes, do free shows! Starting from your school, your house, to your street, to the entire town or city. With this, you will start gaining popularity and build fans.

I remember this guy in my hostel will volunteered to sing for us whenever the vibe was boring. And I know quite a few numbers of successful artists who started this way too.

Participate in street carnivals, the social events in your school, etc. Speak to the organizers or MCs to give you a few minutes and hopefully, some of them will give you the mic. Even if they don’t, keep trying until you achieve this milestone.

If you think you’re shy because your friends or people in your street will make jest of you, or because people will reject you then you’re not ready for what you are signing up for.

• Open-air Play

Take your music promotion a little bit further. Get your songs played in restaurants, hotels, clubhouses, and other open-air places within and outside your locality.

• Collaborate with other local artists

You may not be noticed if you’re flying alone. When I was in secondary school some years ago, some guys in my place with different talents came together to form a group. In the group, they have dancers, rappers, drummers, and producers.

It was easy for them to get the whole town to listen to them because of their combined efforts and talents, even though they didn’t have money.

A good example of people like these is “Zinoleesky, Lil Frosh, and their friends”. I will still use this example as we move on.

• Do TikTok videos

In 2021, TikTok was the most visited website in the world, and this is due to the fact that over a billion people use it actively each month.

This makes TikTok the hottest social media platform right now. The best way you can utilize this great platform is by continuously posting videos of yourself freestyling to your songs there and joining a lot of live videos there to entertain people.

These few cultural methods are very important, and I recommend you pass through some of them if not all. You need practical experience but yet, a way to promote your music in Nigeria without breaking the bank.

2. Leverage freestyling and social media

This is also one of the fastest and best ways to promote your song.

Zinoleesky freestyled his way to stardom. REMA freestyled before he got recognized. Ayra Starr did the same. Blaqbones did, and a lot of talents known today were madly freestyling on social media, improving themselves while building their fan base until they all got recognized by their respective record labels.

And freestyling is the best way to get the attention of big record label owners. It is not by tagging them to listen to your song or sending them private messages.

Don Jazzy signed a lot of his artists after seeing them freestyling on social media, Olamide, a very famous Nigerian musician signed 3 artists in a day on Instagram.

Freestyling has proved itself to be one of the best ways to promote music in Nigeria, and you need to start doing that now! Don’t be shy buddy, sign up for greatness without shame.

There are many opportunities awaiting you on social media to promote your music in Nigeria, In fact, Music promotion in Nigeria and any other place in the world can’t be achieved without social media!

Billions of people actively use social media each day to get over boredom. And that’s why entertainment has become one of the hottest industries in the world.

Your aim is not to get a billion people following or listening to your music, but just a few hundred or thousand people is okay.

The following are some Social media networks you can use:

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Facebook
• and Twitter (now “X”).

I will recommend you join live videos on TikTok a lot and try to entertain people there.

A simple advice for you: Freestyle unapologetically, Don’t worry if people on social media drag you, take their dragging as feedback to improve yourself.

3. Promote Your Music Digitally

If we are both alive until this century, we will be definitely sure that the Internet has taken over everything.

For that reason, promoting your song on digital stores is the one of best ways to get your voice heard and your talents known. You also have chances of making money on these digital stores too.

As explained above, I said social media plays a very vital role in music promotion and marketing.

Popular Digital Store for Music Promotion

• Spotify
• Soundcloud
• iTunes
• Audiomack
• Boomplay
• Shazam
• Bandsintown
• Songkick
• TuneCore
• DdBaby
• Dozmia etc.

If you don’t know how to create an artist account or put your songs on these platforms, you may need to do a little Google search or seek the help of someone to help you.

NOTE: Click on anyone you wish to use above and you will be directed to the website where you will create your own account. Also, procedures to register your account will be given to you on the website.

4. Promote on Music Blogs

This should have come second on the list, but the world has changed, and promoting music in Nigeria is now easier compared to 10 years ago.

About 10 years ago, you had to pay the likes of Naijaloaded to help you promote your songs, but right now, what I will recommend is to get your own website or blog for yourself or your record label to promote both your songs, build fans through those who visit your blog or website.

The reason why I said that is because most people no longer download songs from those sites again, people stream songs online.

So what artists (who have the money) do now, is that they have their personal website, and then embed their song snippets from Spotify or other streaming platforms on the platform.

An example is Ayra Starr’s website: https://ayrastarr.com, or Mavin’s record website: (mavinrecords.com)

P.S: If you need a website for yourself, business or record label, I am at your service.

Kindly send me a message on WhatsApp: 081 6454 0355 or Check my portfolio at stephengade.com

Having your own blog or website is not enough to promote your music as you’re still starting out. If you have the money, you can promote it on music blogs.

Blogs these days is not just a website with words, people now use social media platforms to blog. There are popular bloggers on social media you can pay to promote your song for you. Such include the popular Instablog9ja among others.

Although people no longer download songs from primitive music websites in Nigeria, they still have millions of people checking their website, if you have the money, you can promote yourself and songs on the websites.

We have thousands of websites where you can promote your music in Nigeria at an affordable price. An example is Naijaloaded.

But you may want to ask…

How Much Does It Cost to Promote Songs in Nigeria

The cost of music promotion in Nigeria varies from as low as N10,000 – N70,000 and, to infinity depending on the bloggers you approach and the popularity of the blogs. So, there is no precise cost price to promote your music in Nigeria. Big music blogs like Naijaloaded will charge from N50,000 upwards.

Some new music blogs will charge you something like N5,000 but you have to remember that they’re still new compared to Naijaloaded and likes.

10 Popular Sites to Promote Your Music in Nigeria

Below are popular websites to promote your songs in Nigeria:

• TooXclucive.com
• Naijaloaded.com
• 360Nobs.com
• 9jaflava.com
• jaguda.com
• instablog9ja.com
• 36Ng.com
• NaijaHitSongs.com
• NotJuskOk.com
• NaijaPals.com

Apart from NaijaPals where you can upload your song for free (but you’ll promote it yourself), other popular sites listed above will take nothing less than N50,000 to help you upload and promote your music in Nigeria…

5. Use Influencers

This may cost you some bucks, but using influencers to promote music in Nigeria is advisable if you can pay for it.

Influencers are those popular people on social media with a lot of followers and engagement on their pages. The more followers and reach these influencers have, the more they’ll bill you.

But it actually works most time.

The reason is simply that different people like music producers, record label owners, and creative people are following these influencers. From there, someone might like your art and decide to sponsor or sign you. You don’t know what may happen.

A lot of people (aside from businesses) owe their success to the likes of Tunde Ednut, Pocolee, Instablog9ja, and other big social media influencers in the country.

But it’s not going to be cheap, prepare to spend some hundred thousand on Naira.

Another way to get these influencers’ attention is to work your way to create content that will go viral, they may repost that content and that’s a free promotion for you!

An influencer is capable of turning your story around. So, consider paying influencers as part of your music promotion in Nigeria if you can afford it.

6. Start a Dance or Freestyle Challenge

Chill, I’m not asking you to diss anybody.

But yes, challenge or competition is another way to get your voice heard. All you have to do is to have a nice song or street banger, do freestyle, and post it on social media platforms.

That’s one!

The next step is to tell people to freestyle or dance to the same song, post on social media and you’ll award the winner or top 3 dancers or cover singers some money.

At the mention of money, no matter how small it is, a lot of people will jump on it. The more people that join the challenge, the more viral your content will go.

You can just prepare to spend like N100,000 for the challenge. N50k for 1st person that wins, N30k, and N20k for 2nd and 3rd runner-ups.

This method works, especially if you are on a budget but your song is a hit.

Even big artists sometimes do this.

Go and try it also, a challenge or competition on social media is a viable way to promote your music in Nigeria. Participants will help you share and promote the song, just prepare their gifts.

7. Pay DJs and Event Hosts

I know you’re aware of this method, but you’re not sure if it still works, right? It works.

Some music stars today promote their songs heavily with DJs or with the help of an event host before they finally hit the spotlight. Look for DJs who mix songs professionally and pay them to add your songs to their next project.

They’ll include your song alongside popular artists like Wizkid, Davido, etc., and people will be attracted by the superstar’s songs, but from there, they’ll hear your song and they may start loving you if your song is cool.

Using DJs is a good way to promote your song, try it out.

For event hosts, you may need to work on your network before you can be given a chance. But if you see an opportunity, don’t lose it. Remember, the goal is to promote yourself and your song, not to make money yet.

8. Promote Songs on YouTube

What we see is virtually stored in our brain than what we hear.

promoting music with videos in Nigeria is also effective than you may think. Billions of people watch videos online every day. Why can’t you tap your own fans from these people, why can’t you give your videos for them to watch and see your creativity and talent’s manifestations?

On YouTube which is the second most visited website in the world (Alexa Ranking), billions of people upload and watch videos on the website every day.

The amazing thing I love about YouTube is its monetization…

What do I mean?

You can upload your videos for free and make money on them from what we know as “AdSense“.

If the money-making part interests you, please, read this guide about Making Money with YouTube videos.

9. Paid Advertising

You can also do paid advertising to promote your music in Nigeria.

Paid Advertising often appears on websites or apps that relate to your ads’ texts globally. You will have to pay some money and choose a plan that is more affordable to you.

The best way to use paid advertising in promoting your songs is either through Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube Ads.

Although these platforms support video format, you can easily find a way to get around it. Maybe by using freestyle or use an Mp3 converter to convert your song to Mp4.

This will require you to set up a good social media page for yourself and be solely dedicated to your songs and connecting with your fans.

If you would like to run social media ads (Paid advertising), I am at your service. Hire me, let’s talk on WhatsApp via 081 6454 0355

If by chance you have seen something like “Sponsored” on posts on social media, that simply means that someone has paid Google, Facebook, or the particular social media platform to promote the post to a lot of people.

You can also this for your songs, especially on YouTube.

10. Media Interviews and Gingles

This will go a long way, but most people take it for granted.

Some radio stations are ready to interview or use your song as jingles. All you have to do is to pay them for the time and your song will be broadcast to a lot of people at once.

Although this is a traditional way to promote your songs, but it still works.

Also, reach out to media companies like HipTV and popular entertainment companies to help you promote your music. But you are going to spend a lot, first on your music videos and ad space on the platform.

11. Try e-mail Marketing

Bloggers and webmasters use E-mail campaigns to share their content, eBooks, and other products with their subscribers, and in return, this yields them large subscribers, traffic, and finally sales.

Musicians now use this. For instance, I signed up for the MavinsRecord newsletter. They send me emails of their artist’s next event and songs which is a brilliant idea rather than just depending on social media.

You create an account with a mail handler and, you integrate it with your personal website or blog through a code that you will generate from your mail handler account. There are free plans that you can use but, if you have some money, you can go for Premium.

Click and sign up on any of the following mail handlers:-

• Aweber
• Mailchimp
• Maligne
• Etc…

In this blog, I use Mailchimp and it’s very easy for me to use in collating potential readers as my subscribers, You also can try it out.

If you’re interested in this and would like to hire me to handle it for you, contact me on WhatsApp: 081 6454 0355

Wrapping up – Start promoting your songs like a pro!

If you are reading this part, that means you have been following me all the way from the genesis of this article and now, you are reading my final conclusion but wait, have you been Inspired at all? After reading 3,000+ words, I’m sure you’ve gained something.

So far in this article, I have shown you the 11 Best Ways to Promote Your Music in Nigeria or anywhere you are. Don’t forget that you have to pay the sacrifice, you have to pay money if you’re really serious about this music thing.

If you have any other suggestions on how to promote music, write to me via hello@gbolamedia.com.

Did you have any questions, queries, or comments? I will be very glad if you can let me hear it through the comment box below and, I promised to get back to you.

Thanks for reading and, please share the love!