Afrobeats Singer Spyro has opened up about his distinctive approach to music production and the huge expenses involved in promoting his work.
In a recent interview with Frank Edoho, Spyro stated that before releasing a song, he seeks divine guidance through prayer to ensure its success, given the costly nature of the music industry.
He said, “I think I do my things differently. Because the first thing I want to do when I want to drop a song for this project is to go into prayers because I always want to know. You know this industry is quite expensive to promote music. I know”.
Spyro explained that promoting a single track can cost hundreds of millions of naira.
He further said, shooting a high-quality music video, like his song ‘Shut Down’, cost him over 40 million naira.
The ‘Who Is Your Guy’ crooner said the additional expenses include airplay on radio stations and, most significantly, social media promotion.
“You’re talking of hundreds of millions sometimes for just a song. I mean, to shoot a proper video now, you’re talking 20, 30 million, 40 million. I shot ‘Shut Down’ for 40 something million. I also spend money on putting the songs on the radio”, he added.
He highlighted the high costs of paying influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, as well as running sponsored ads, noting that Instagram ads were particularly expensive in the past.
“The one that carries the whole money is social media. Yeah, because you’re paying TikTok and Instagram influencers. You’re doing sponsored ads.
“So, aside from that, you go to, you go to Instagram, you pump money there, you do sponsored ads, you know. I think, I don’t know about now, Instagram even used to be much more expensive than TikTok then, as at the last time”, he said.
To manage these costs, Spyro said he built a network of industry friends who support each other, reducing the need for heavy spending.
He mentioned that this collaborative approach has helped him cut down on expenses over time.
“Because now I’ve built a network of friends, guys in the industry that we do things for ourselves that don’t have to spend that much. So I invested in friendships, you know, in this space. So I turn up for them, they turn up for me.
“So that is why I do not know how much now on Instagram again, but I know I used to spend a lot of money on Instagram back then”, he said.
Spyro added that when deciding which song to release, he relies on spiritual direction.
“So when I want to drop a song, I don’t want to miss it. You know, so I usually like to go to God and be like, God, directs me, just let me know.
“You know, and people think that God is not interested in things like that, but he’s very, very interested. So show me, tell me, you know. So the first song I’m going to push on this album, for example, was, it was directly from God.
“Like I woke up to the song, you know, I woke up to it and immediately I picked up my phone. I called my producer. I said, I’m coming to record a song this morning as early as 6.30, you know.
“And the funny thing was that on getting to the studio, I’m like, why did you agree to record a song for me this early? And you are here. He said, ah, he even played game till morning. But someone called him, someone that usually doesn’t talk to him, just called him and says, Spyro is going to come and do a song in your studio this week. Put your life into it”, he added.
