Nigerian recording artiste, Bella Shmurda, whose real name is Abiola Ahmed Akinbiyi, has explained why musicians charge exorbitant fees to perform before their audience in the country.
The music star stated that he and his colleagues charge high fees because of their huge expenditures as musicians.
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Speaking in a recent interview with Naija FM Lagos, Bella Shmurda explained that musicians pay a lot of people who work with them behind the scenes from their performance fees.
He also cited the high cost of music production and promotion, as well as expensive lifestyles, as part of the reasons.
“Speaking from the perspective of an artiste, making music is expensive. I don’t repeat clothes because I’m a public figure. I spent $100,000 to pay producers, songwriters, and engineers who worked on my album. That’s over N100 million. Not to mention music videos and promotion costs. That’s a lot.
“So, I go for a show, I would charge what would equate to my investments. Even if I don’t make a profit, I should a least be able to recover the cost of production. So, we are not overcharging. If you look at it from our own perspective, you will agree that we are not overcharging,” he explained.