Every week, roughly 120,000 new tracks land on Spotify. That's not a typo, it's the current pace of global upload volume, and it means that in the time it takes you to completely read this article, dozens of songs by artists you've never heard of have gone live, competing for the exact same 24 hours of attention as everyone else's. Nigeria alone now has tens of thousands of artists with music on streaming platforms, all chasing the same playlists, the same 60-second TikTok windows, the same handful of A&Rs.
So here's the question nobody wants to sit with: why should anyone care about you, specifically?
Not "why is your music good." Good is the entry fee, not the prize. There are thousands of genuinely talented singers, rappers, and producers in Lagos alone who will never be heard outside their neighborhood. Talent was never the scarce resource in this industry. Attention is. And attention doesn't go to the most talented person in the room, it goes to the person the room can't stop looking at.
This is the uncomfortable truth at the center of every career that actually breaks through, and it's the one most upcoming artists spend the least time thinking about.
Originally published by NotJustOk.