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To shoot music video now costs N30 million – Basketmouth laments
Renowned Nigerian comedian, singer, and actor, Basketmouth, has expressed concerns about the skyrocketing costs of producing music videos in the country.
The veteran comic artist lamented the significant increase in the industry’s standard production fees, which have surged from 7 to 7.5 million Naira to approximately 27 to 30 million Naira now.
Basketmouth shared his reservations about these rising production costs during an interview on The Beat 99.9 FM in Lagos.
He revealed that this price hike was the reason behind his decision to create a makeshift video for his song ‘Party,’ the lead track from his upcoming album ‘Uburu,’ instead of allocating over 25 million Naira to shoot a full-fledged music video.
In his own words, Basketmouth explained, “The visual we have for my song ‘Party’ with Peruzzi is not an official video. It’s just like a holdup because I did not know that the economy has hit us that bad. Two years ago, I used to make videos for 7 to 7.5 million Naira. Now, it is 27 to 30 million Naira.
I’m an Igbo man, so the first thing I thought about was, ‘Okay Bright, if you’re spending N25 million on visuals, it’s for uptick, right? Then do a holdup video, do something for uptick as well.’
This pragmatic approach reflects the financial challenges many artists face in the ever-evolving music industry.