Afrobeats has become one of Nigeria’s most powerful cultural exports, with artists like Burna Boy, Wizkid, Tems, and Rema reaching global audiences through streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Boomplay. But as the genre’s international reach grows, so do the legal questions around who actually benefits from that success.
In this chapter, Ramlah Ibrahim Nok and Yahaya Maikori examine how Nigeria’s Copyright Act 2022 and the newer Collective Management Organisation Regulations 2025 are reshaping the country’s approach to digital rights, royalty collection, and online copyright enforcement. They unpack the structural challenges Nigerian artists face in the streaming economy — from lower per-stream payouts compared to Western markets, to piracy, streaming fraud, and gaps in institutional enforcement — and argue that Nigeria’s long-term competitiveness in the global music industry will depend as much on strong legal infrastructure as on creative output.
This chapter was published in The International Music Business Navigator for Lawyers and Artists, released by the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers (IAEL) to mark its 50th anniversary.
Download the full chapter by clicking the link below.
https://lawallianz.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/afrobeats-and-copyright-in-the-streaming-age.pdf