Ace producer Sarz has lifted the lid on the stark economic reality facing Nigerian artists, revealing that streaming payouts are dramatically skewed by geography in a recent Afropolitan podcast interview.
“A million streams on Spotify in the US will give you $3,000 to $5,000 while that same million streams will give you around $300 to $500 in Nigeria,” Sarz explained, citing lower premium subscription rates—approximately $1 in Nigeria versus $11 in the US—as the primary culprit.
The producer, whose catalogue spans Wizkid’s ‘Jaiye Jaiye’ to Drake’s ‘One Dance,’ dropped a startling personal revelation: despite two decades of hits, he’s earned zero residuals from Nigerian streams, relying solely on one-time advances. “If your IP is anchored to a region where one million streams is $300, you are cooked,” he said, echoing sentiments recently voiced by Burna Boy and Tems’ manager Muyiwa Awoniyi.
Industry consensus suggests tours and brand deals remain the real moneymakers for Afrobeats creators navigating this geographic payout gap.
