California based music producer, Augustine Emeka Ugbaja, also known as Dr Whyte has blamed COVID-19 for the significant decrease in demand in the entertainment industry.

Dr Whyte said that “The sector used to be the biggest employers of labour in the country” but COVID-19 outbreak caused a lot of downturns which has greatly affected the global economy, with the entertainment industry a big loser.

Whyte who is the CEO of California based Southnice Records and 03 ten Autos & Wraps stated that “before the global economic meltdown, Nigerians, home and abroad were already tired of listening to substandard songs and now crave good music with creative contents which means that despite the crisis; the quality of contents churned out by these creatives were the major reason why the crisis affected the entertainment space.”

He went further to say that music needs no visa to travel overseas or become a commercial hit as long as it’s a great content which differs ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.

Speaking on the solutions to these problems which could restore the appeal for music business and Nigerian music to its global audience; Dr Whyte said that “most Nigerian artistes need good orientation and mental training in order to become grounded creatively in the music and entertainment space.

“Some of our artistes today don’t spend time on themselves trying to become a global brand or improve on their songwriting and singing skills,” he added.

Despite being based in California, Dr Whyte’s “passion and love for Nigeria and music business is still burning strong” and this is why he intends to run a free workshop/music web seminar for upcoming artistes and managers to “help restructure the music business and reposition the Nigerian music to its global spot.”

According to Dr Whyte, his major motivation for the training is that most artistes today have the mindset that they just need one song to become a global brand without working to become a household name which requires consistency in sound and hits which will help them win and keep fans all over the world.