The world’s largest record label, Universal Music Group (UMG), with $10 billion in annual revenue, announced yesterday that it is acquiring a majority stake in Don Jazzy’s record label, Mavin Records.

Billboard had previously estimated the sales price to be around $125 million to $200 million, but the terms of the deal have not been disclosed yet.

This figure is particularly interesting to me because it has been said that Mavin generates more than $3 million per year – $2 million from live events and $1 million from its frontline catalog.

This revenue does not include income from streams such as Spotify, for which Mavin has achieved 6 billion streams.

In case you are not exactly sure what the hype is about, some of Nigeria’s finest A-list artists, including Rema, Ayra Starr, Crayon, and Johnny Drille, are signed to the label.

What Don Jazzy has accomplished with Mavin is impressive. He was at a crossroads in 2012. From 2004 to 2012, he owned a popular label called Mo’ Hits Records, which housed some of Nigeria’s brightest stars at the time, such as Wande Coal, Dr SID, D’Prince, and K-Switch. However, in 2012, Don Jazzy split with his partner D’banj over differences in interests.

Following the split, Mo’ Hits Records was closed, and Don Jazzy branched out to create his own record label, Mavin Records.

In 2020, Billboard Magazine named Mavin as one of the gatekeepers of the Nigerian music industry. Mavin has previously been home to stars like Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, Reekado Banks, and Iyanya.

Congratulations to Mavin Records! It’s a massive deal.