Music video director turned filmmaker Dammy Twitch has revealed that Nollywood producers can no longer freely feature Afrobeats songs in their cinematic projects.
Speaking during a recent appearance on the Afropolitan podcast, the director explained that the era of casual music placement in Nigerian cinema has officially come to an end. This shift is primarily due to the fact that a majority of Afrobeats artists have signed restrictive publishing deals with international entertainment corporations.
Twitch pointed out that these foreign legal contracts completely strip artists of the power to grant personal favors to filmmakers. He noted that even if a movie director shares a close personal friendship with a musician, that artist cannot legally authorize the free use of their music. Because the rights are tied up in corporate agreements, filmmaker compliance requires navigating complex and expensive international licensing channels.
Independent movie producers struggle to afford licensing fees
According to the filmmaker, the sudden economic hurdle has placed the historical relationship between the Nigerian movie industry and the Afrobeats genre in a highly challenging position. He stressed that a large percentage of Nigerian producers operate strictly as independent filmmakers with limited budgets. As a result, the steep financial cost required to secure the legal rights to global Afrobeats hits has become practically unaffordable for local creators.
Twitch concluded that unless an independent project is backed by a major international studio or heavy institutional investors, incorporating top-tier Nigerian music is nearly impossible. This growing financial divide threatens to minimize the cultural synergy that previously existed between Nigeria’s dominant music and movie sectors. The director’s insights have sparked vital conversations within the creative economy regarding copyright laws and sustainable funding models for local cinema.
