In the Nigerian music industry, a lot of stories are paraded as the truth or fact. In a setting where they are no solid structures in place to verify these stories, ridiculous statements are 'packaged' as fact. The latest amazing story out of the Fuji House of Commotion we sometimes call an industry, is that contemporary Highlife singer Flavour has sold a million copies of his new album 'Thankful'.
Hmmm...really guys? Come on, a million copies isn't dodo or beans from your favourite local road side joint. A million copies means that a million Nigerians have the new album. Physical copies by the way, not iTunes sales. Flavour's PR claiming that his album has sold a million copies is a humorous and ridiculous statement which reflects our sloppy distribution channels in this country.
In this day, and age it is rare for a music act to sell one million copies in 5 days. Even in Americ
a, music acts don't sell a million in five days, only a few, and I mean a very few. Taylor Swift sold 1,287,000 copies of her new album 1989 in one week. In the musical climate of today, this is a rarity.
Bear in mind this is America with a well oiled distribution and marketing system. If big acts such as Drake, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West and Jay Z can't move a million copies within America's solid music industry, then how can Flavour achieve this feat with a music industry that is mostly centered around Lagos?
When it comes to distribution in this country, we are blatantly poor. No newspaper in this country sells 40, 000 copies per day in a country that boasts of over 150 million people. That's the truth. Now if newspapers do so poorly in this country, what is so special about Flavour's new CD that will make one million Nigerians buy it? The only product that moves that amount in a few number days in Nigeria is Coca-Cola, and there is no way Flavour's people will tell me that the music distribution in Nigeria is better than NBC's. I mean come on guys, the reason why there is a high level of piracy in Nigeria is because the distribution network in Nigeria is crap in the first place. Simple. So if Flavour moved one million, how many did pirates sell 6 million? If their absurd claim is true, then 'Thankful' should be an epidemic now.
Flavour is a great act. . However because he shies away from the spotlight, he isn't regarded as highly as Wiz. He has released some good songs over the last five years, but there is no way in the world that his new album (which came unexpectedly) has sold a million. Any album that goes platinum in 5 days is a cultural and musical force that will undoubtedly shape music for the next decades. I haven't heard 'Thankful' but I doubt its 'Thriller'.
Most albums that sell a million in week must have been highly anticipated. How could Flavour sell a surprise album to one million people who didn't know it existed until the day of release? Abeg, you guys chill na.
Flavour's PR should focus more on letting people know the man behind the music. This stunt from his camp just shows that the wrong people are working with the superstar. Maybe Flavour has signed a deal with his marketer to push one million copies within three years, of which he would have already been paid an advance. There is no way however that one million living and breathing Nigerians are listening to his new album now. It is not plausible. This is industry wash through and through.
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