Rema’s record deal with Don Jazzy’s Mavins Record Label was set to last for 15 years and was valued at a staggering 2 billion naira. Reflecting back to 2017-2019, when the exchange rate was 1 dollar to 350 naira, this amount would equate to around 8 billion naira in today’s value.
When we shared Don Jazzy’s perspective, some fans argued that a 15-year contract was excessive. We couldn’t help but laugh at the misunderstanding.
Consider this: if we gave you a 6 billion naira loan, even if your music earned 5 million naira daily from royalties, repaying that amount in 15 years would still be challenging. Not every song becomes a hit. In a good year, you might release two massive hits generating $100,000 in royalties.
A 15-year timeframe is actually quite short for nurturing an artist under a 2 billion naira project, unless they achieve extraordinary success, like Rema did with “Calm Down.”
Rema needed education on the intricacies of the music industry and branding, a process that took over a year at the Mavins Academy. Although he debuted with a string of hits, those songs alone weren’t enough to repay Mavins’ 2 billion naira investment within 5 years, especially before the streaming era took off in Africa.
The game changed with the release of “Calm Down.” This single generated enough revenue to cover Rema’s record deal and buy out his contract. However, not every artist will have a hit like “Calm Down,” making a 15-year record deal a reasonable and strategic investment.
