By The Tide
The dream of every upcoming artiste is to be signed to one of the biggest Record Labels as a stepping stone towards achieving stardom. In Nigeria there are various record labels ruling the music industry among which are the top 10 biggest and richest record labels in their descending order of prominence. They include the following:
10) Chocolate City Record Label: The Chocolate City Record label under the leadership of M. I. Abaga was founded in 2005. The record label has produced several acts like Jesse Jagz M.I. Ice Prince, Brymo etc. It is currently housing young talents like C. Key, Blagbonez, Dice Ailes and Young L.
9) DM Records: Timaya and his label executives have made an amazing impact following the signing of King Perrgy, gifting the young star the right management and funding he deserves to record a massive hit with Teni lifted ‘Murder’. Since then the label has been moving from strength to strength.
Timaya on the other hand served us the Chulo Vibes. EP. DM records with just two years in existence has done pretty good.
8) Pent Hauze: With over five awards, four studio albums and the 2019 endorsement with Tom Tom, Phyno has positively led Pent Hauze to glory. After signing Nuno, Rhatti and Cheque, Pent Hauze dropped 2019 singles, The ‘Big’ and ‘Agu’ with Phyno’s Third studio album ‘Deal With It’ as a solo act. Pent Hauze debuts as one of the biggest and richest record labels in Nigeria.
7) Star Boy Entertainment: Star Boy Fan Club (FC) won’t agree less that Wizkid Entertainment has dropped just three singles in 2019 ‘On Me’, ‘Same You’ and ‘Won Stop’ by Teni. The label has not had any single from Wizkid to further boost the brand. This year as Terri has once again failed to take up the mantle for star boy entertainment as he keeps living under Wizkid’s Shadows. Wizkid with a new endorsement deal with United Bank For Africa (UBA) bagged in some millions for the record label.
6) Effyzzie Music Group: Nigeria’s Effyzzie music group has proven to be a renowned music firm after releasing Yemi Alade’s ‘King Queens’ debut album in 2014 and Johnny The record label has since then led ‘Yemi Alade to her 4th Studio album ‘Woman of Steel’ in 2019 and two MTV Africa Awards in 2015 and 2016.
Effyzzie music group has recorded a massive success with Yemi Alade and thus becomes one of the biggest and richest- record labels.
5) Dr Dolor Entertainment: Teni is today a household name, courtesy of Dr. Dolor Entertainment. The record label led the talented singer and song writer, Teni to three awards in 2018 (including the headies) award and a 2019 BET awards nomination.
Teni as the lead act of the film joined the record label in 2017 and has since then bagged amazing endorsement deals with Pepsi Nigeria, Budweiser, Tom Tom and Tecno Mobile. Dr. Dolor is the fifth biggest and richest record labels in 2019.
4) YBNL: Olamide’s YBNL which birthed in 2012 is the 4th biggest and richest record label on Nigeria 2019. YBNL has been topping charts on every media and streaming platforms with 2019 singles ‘Oil and Gas’ from Olamide and Fireboy’s “Jealous” and “What 41 Say”.
With a new found talent, YBNL retains its lead as one of the greatest record labels in the country. Fireboy, who Was signed in October 2018, recently earned an AFRIMA nomination.
3)Spaceship Entertainment: Spaceship Entertainment birthed in 2015 by Africa’s most sensational act Burna Boy couldn’t have missed the list. Burna Boy and Spaceship Entertainment have gradually risen to the top from almost noting.
With 7 individual awards, including the most recent BET International award and his 3rd studio album under his own imprint. Spaceship entertainment, Burna Boy have successfully branded and sold his label to the world.
2) Mavin Record: Don Jazzy led Mavin Records resurrected in 2019 after losing Tiwa Savage, Reekado Banks to Universal Music and Bank Music earlier in 2019. The record label found their saviour in Rema, who hasn’t just restored the label’s glory but has gone already to break several records with the label with hit singles like ‘Dumebi’ and ‘Iron Man’. By Rema, it houses artists like Ladi, Poe, DNA, Cray on, Johnny Drille etc with a multi million naira investment deal from Pupanga Holdings, Mavin retains its spot as one of the biggest and richest record labels in the county.
1) DMW Entertainment: Davido music world wide (DMW) had displaced Mavin records in 2019, taking the crown as the biggest and richest record label in Nigeria. DMW boss Davido, discovered Mayorkan in 2016 and handed him his first ever concert ‘Mayor of Lagos’ within two years.
DMW gifts Dremo, his second EP following his success on his debut EP Code name VOI 1 barely 10 months after joining the reputable record label.
In 2019, DMW had dropped two hit singles as label, ‘BUM BUM’ and ‘Only God’ making her the only label with seven singles and Visaals Twisted, prayer, Aze, ‘mind’ and Azu without going further.
