The song may travel in seconds. The money often takes years.
Behind Afrobeats’ global expansion, a specialist layer of rights managers, accountants, entertainment lawyers and data companies is trying to make sure success can be measured—and paid for.
Beyond the breakout hit
The industry’s next phase depends on durable systems: clean metadata, transparent contracts and regional collection societies that can talk to one another.
For artists, this back office is becoming as consequential as the studio. It determines whether a moment becomes a career and whether a genre becomes an economy.