Veteran Nigerian artist Timaya has said that it is now much easier for new musicians to succeed in the music industry compared to when he started in the 2000s.

Speaking on the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast hosted by Joey Akan, Timaya shared that new technologies and social media platforms have made it easier for artists to make and share their music.

He explained that in his time, it was tough for musicians to become well-known. According to him, only a few people controlled the music industry, and it was hard to break in without their support.

Timaya gave an example from his own experience. He said that for the song “Odeshi” with Flavour, they later found out Premier Music owned the rights. When they wanted to recreate another song, “Can I Have A Dance?”, they had to contact the same company and pay again.

He compared that to today’s world, where anyone can set up a home studio with the help of their parents and create a hit song. He said that with just one catchy song and a little bit of internet access, someone can become popular through platforms like TikTok.

Back then, he said, getting your song played on a radio station was a big deal and very difficult. But now, artists can just upload their songs online and reach thousands or even millions of people from their homes.

Timaya admitted that even though he likes how fast things work now, he finds it hard to keep up with always posting online because it wasn’t like that when he started. Still, he understands that it’s now part of the music business, and he tries to keep up.