Paulo Okoye says Afrobeats is dead or in a coma. Is he wrong?

Kelly Hansome 6 د

The promoter Paulo Okoye said it out loud last week and the industry has not stopped arguing since.

His case, roughly:

1. Around 10,000 people are making music in Nigeria right now. Maybe ten are actually making money.
2. Booking fees have climbed so high that promoters and sponsors can no longer afford to put on shows.
3. Live shows are the heartbeat of the industry, and the big ones are getting rarer.
4. The business model is not sustainable and needs rebuilding.

The pushback is that Afrobeats is not dying, it is just evolving, and promoters complaining about artist fees is the oldest song in the business.

Both things could be true. A genre can be globally huge and still be a terrible way to earn a living for everyone who is not in the top ten.

So which is it? Dead, in a coma, or just growing into something we do not have a name for yet?