Bebe Cool Says Music Collaborations Are Now Based on Streams, Not Money

Ugandan music heavyweight Bebe Cool says the music game has changed, and collaborations are now driven by streams, not money.

Speaking on Gagamel TV, Bebe broke down how today’s music industry operates, noting that the days of buying your way into a feature are fading fast.

The musicians we want to do collaborations with no longer want money. Someone tells you they are not interested in your money but in your streams. They want to know if you have people who listen to you.

Bebe Cool, who has been in the game for over two decades, says the digital era has changed everything.

In the past, it was nearly impossible to tell how many listeners an artiste really had.

Now, with platforms like Spotify and Deezer, the numbers speak for themselves.

And those numbers are what top-tier artistes are watching.

If a big artiste, let us say Jay Z, Davido, or Burna Boy, has 500 million streams, their target will be to reach 600 million. So if you have around 100 million streams, they will seek you out to tap into your numbers and grow theirs to their desired target. They no longer want your money.

Bebe says streaming stats have become the new measure of value in music and revealed that he will soon begin using them as a key factor when deciding whom to collaborate with.