Make Music Nigeria, a non-profit that celebrates World Music Day in Nigeria, is preparing to mark its tenth anniversary. This year, the spotlight continues to shine on what matters most: helping artists grow, not just perform.

The two-day event will begin on June 20, 2025, with a Music Business Conference at Alliance Française in Lagos. The conference, themed ‘The Artiste Blueprint: Craft, Clarity and Career,’ will highlight the business side of music. The Music Business Conference will explore key subjects such as streaming, publishing, branding, and music law, with the aim to provide upcoming creatives and artistes with the necessary tools required to build sustainable careers through panel sessions, workshops, and a masterclass that will include a catalogue review where artists can submit music and receive feedback from A&R professionals.

AdeolaAkinyemi, Chief Operating Officer of ShowGear Limited, the company behind Make Music Nigeria, explains why the conference was created:

“We started the Music Business Conference around 2019. Since we started Make Music Lagos in 2016, we saw artistes perform every year but we weren’t seeing any significant growth in their craft,” she says. “They were talented, but they didn’t seem to be growing. The team, we sat down and realised that the difference between a great artiste and a successful artiste is the business of music. It has nothing to do with only talent, it’s just understanding that.”

Alliance Française, which has held smaller events in celebration of the Fête de la Musique (World Music Day) in a limited capacity, will host the conference, marking its support for the event. Marketing Executive, Alliance Française, Precious Naador, says the partnership helps bring music events to a wider audience.

“We are happy to be partnering with Make Music Nigeria to execute this project with the support of the French Embassy, who have supported us with funds to be able to execute and support all the mini projects in celebration of World Music Day,” Naador says. “What partnering with Make Music has done for us is it has helped us mainstream these events from just it happening in our venue with 100 people to it happening with thousands of people.”

The celebration will continue on June 21 with a live concert at Livespot 360. The lineup includes rapper MI, singer Johnny Drille, and Gaise Baba. Also, all finalists of the special event, Battle of the Bands, will perform. The concert remains a key part of the annual event while also encouraging artists to focus on building sustainable careers.