In line with its commitment to enhancing the lives of Nigerian musicians by providing platforms through which they can get lucrative value for their intellectual properties, leading ICT Company, MTN will spend millions on its brand ambassadors in the next one year.

MTN’s GM, Consumer Marketing, Richard Iweanoge, made the announcement on Thursday while also unveiling Cobhams Asuquo, as the latest addition to MTN’s brand ambassadors. He would be joining Davido, Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Dr. Sid, Sound Sultan, Iyanya, Chidinma, Banky W, KCee as well as Saka, Osuofia, Mama Gee and others who all renewed their contracts with MTN.

As was originally conceptualized, the ambassadorship will continually evolve to accommodate new talents and cater for diverse segments. This year, we are using a segmented approach and there will be ambassadors for each segment of our market. Using this criteria, new artistes like Cobhams Asuquo will be coming on board the MTN Ambassadorial family.

However, for 2015, artistes like Timaya, Wizkid, sean Tizzle and a few others will no longer be ambassadors for the brand even though the relationship continues in other areas in which MTN enables artists to monetise their work.

‘’Although there is a finite number of brand ambassadors we can have at any point in time, Nigerian Artistes can continue to monetize their intellectual works through our distribution channels such as the Caller Tunez and Music Plus platforms.” he said

“With billions invested so far in Nigeria’s music industry, MTN remains one of the biggest supporters of the music industry. We have a track record of consistently providing the stage for some of Nigeria’s biggest artistes to shine and express themselves. For MTN, we see the growth of the music industry as a continuum and not a destination. That is why we will continue to engage and support our local artistes so that they can find full expression for their talents.”

According to him, “When we talk of our ambassadors, we have amongst them Iyanya, Praiz and Chidinma, three past participants in the Project Fame. MTN not only gave them the platform to express their talents through the music reality TV show, but we have consistently supported them over the years by making them our ambassadors. We can safely say that our investments in them have paid off because now they are counted among Nigeria’s biggest music acts and we are truly proud of them.”

Going further, Mr. Iweanoge said that while the Brand Ambassadorial platform remains a crucial part of MTN’s contribution to the music industry, the company also makes significant contribution to the industry via its music related Value Added Services.

“For instance, through our Caller Ring Back Tunez (CRBT), MTN has become the largest music distributor in Africa. Through the platform, we rescued Nigerian musicians from the scourge of piracy. They are able to make good money as a result of their hard work. Also, as Nigeria’s most innovative telecoms company, we have been able to deploy music as a platform to give other value added services to our teeming subscribers, which have also proven to be a significant source of revenue for the artistes like MTN Music+ app and a host of other platforms.”