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Music Business Basics

Master the business of music in Nigeria — rights, royalties, distribution, and getting paid.

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About this course

Learn how the Nigerian music industry actually makes money — not how to make beats, but how to own your rights, collect every royalty, get your songs on Spotify, Apple Music and Audiomack, and build real revenue. By the end you will have a complete release-and-revenue plan for one song: a distribution route, a signed split sheet, a marketing rollout, and realistic naira expectations across every income stream.

Talent gets you noticed; business is what turns attention into income. This course teaches the machine behind the music — who does what, where money comes from, and how to make sure it lands in your account.

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 7 lessons

  1. How the Nigerian music industry actually works13 min
  2. Rights and royalties in plain English14 min
  3. Collecting societies, PROs and publishing admin13 min
  4. Getting your music on the DSPs through a distributor13 min
  5. Marketing and growing a real fanbase14 min
  6. The many ways music actually makes money13 min
  7. Contracts, scams and managing your money14 min

Your project

Release and Revenue Plan for One Song

One document or shareable link containing: a song overview with master/publishing ownership, a completed and signed-format split sheet, a rights-and-royalty registration plan, a distributor and release technical checklist with a payout pipeline, a three-phase marketing rollout calendar, and a first-year revenue map with realistic naira projections plus a short money-management and contract-safety note.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify.

Frequently asked questions

Is Music Business Basics free?

Yes. Music Business Basics is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does Music Business Basics take to complete?

5 weeks · ~4 hrs/week. There are 7 lessons, about 2 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start Music Business Basics?

Beginner-friendly. You can start from scratch — no prior experience is assumed.

What will I learn in Music Business Basics?

You will build practical skills in Understanding industry roles and how money flows, Master vs publishing rights and royalty splits, Creating split sheets and registering with a PRO, Distributing music to Spotify, Apple Music and Audiomack, Marketing and growing a fanbase on a budget, Building multiple revenue streams, Spotting and avoiding exploitative contracts. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for Music Business Basics?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — Release and Revenue Plan for One Song and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

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It's free, it's self-paced, and it ends with something you can show an employer.

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