A documentary about music has to pay for the music, even when the people in it once slept in the filmmaker’s living room. Ayo Shonaiya put a price on that rule today on Yanga 89.9 FM in Lagos. Clearing the songs for the 12 episodes of “Afrobeats: The Backstory,” he said, cost him “roughly 117, maybe a bit more,” and then he spelled it out: about $117,000 “just to clear music.”
Four years ago he would not say it. When the series reached Netflix in 2022, Shonaiya told interviewers that licensing ate half of the budget and took a year of chasing rights holders, adding, “Without telling you the figure.” Now the figure is out, along with the names on the invoices.
The biggest one belongs to Burna Boy. “Burna Boy was my highest license fee, and they claim say they give me discount,” Shonaiya said, explaining that he first called Burna’s mother, Bose Ogulu, who manages him, about scheduling an interview, and she pointed him to the person who handles the music. That person said they could give him a discount. “But that discount… cost more,” he said, trailing off, after already putting it plainly: “Burna Boy music licensing, at least from my own documentary, cost more than Beyoncé.” The family connection runs deeper than one phone call, since the series also sits down with Benson Idonije, the veteran broadcaster who is Burna Boy’s grandfather and Ogulu’s father. Shonaiya did not sound bitter about it. Paying, he said, let him tell Burna’s story through the records themselves, from “Like to Party” and “Run My Race” up to “Ye.”
Ayo Shonaiya Reveals He Spent $117K Clearing Songs For Afrobeats Documentary, Says Olamide, Phyno And Mr Eazi Did Theirs For Free https://t.co/6jHx3EZJWB
— Naija News (@NaijaNews) October 25, 2026
Other artists let him use their music free. He named illBliss, Mr Eazi, Phyno and eLDee, and recalled illBliss refusing payment with, “Boss, you are doing important work, why will I be collecting money?” Olamide gave his music free too, which Shonaiya framed as a favour returned, because his team had once handled a clearance for Olamide.
“Every documentary i do, i have to pay for the music licensing. It doesnt matter if i know the artist from years ago or not, i have to pay.” Ayo Shonaiya
– The Artiste Guide (TAG) (@ArtisteTag) October 25, 2026
A few clips never made the final cut because they could not be cleared.
His point to the room was bigger than his own receipts. Artists who now say they want documentaries of their own should start with the music bill, he argued, because “even if na just 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 35 seconds,” every song used gets paid for. He also made the case that this is money artists are owed long after the shows and CD sales, whenever their work turns up in a film, an advert or a series like his.
Shonaiya has already said a second season is coming, with no date announced. When it lands, the same licences will be waiting, and the artists in it will decide again what their part of the story costs.