Production house system
Music Production House Software in Nigeria: Briefs, Revisions, Approvals and Paid Invoices for Jingles, Adverts and Scores
A Nigerian production house sells to agencies, brands, churches and filmmakers, not walk-in artists. Here is how to run briefs, quotes, milestone payments, revision rounds and client approvals as a structured business, with every project owned by someone and every invoice chased on its own.
Tuesday at a production house in Lagos. Four live projects, one agency, one brand manager who changes her mind, and an invoice from March.
- 9:00. An agency sends a brief on WhatsApp for a 30-second radio jingle, due Friday. Your producer is on another project. The brief sits in his personal chat. On Thursday the account manager asks where it is.
- 11:00. The bank's brand manager asks for 'one small change' to the TV advert music. It is the sixth small change. Nobody agreed how many revisions the fee covered.
- 13:00. A Nollywood director needs the final score stems today. The stems went to the editor last week. The director has not paid the second instalment.
- 15:00. A church wants its convention theme song produced, arranged and mixed in three weeks. The quote is in your head. By the time it is typed, they have asked another house.
- 17:00. The agency that owes N1.2 million for March's campaign sends a new brief. You do the work, because they are a good client. The March invoice is still unpaid.
- Month end. Five projects delivered. You cannot say which ones made money after the revisions, the studio hours and the session musicians.
What does software do for a music production house in Nigeria?
It runs the business around the work. A production house sells jingles, radio and TV adverts, sonic logos, film and skit scores, audio post, podcast production and corporate content, mostly to agencies, brands, churches and filmmakers who send briefs and approve in rounds. Every brief lands in one inbox and becomes a project with an owner. The quote goes out in Naira from a template and is followed up until the client decides. A deposit starts the work, milestone invoices follow the approvals, and the final files are delivered when the balance lands. Revision rounds, due dates and approvals sit on the project as tasks, so nobody is chasing the brand manager on WhatsApp from memory. Retainer clients are billed on their date every month. The owner sees every live project, who owns it, what is overdue and what is owed.
A production house does not sell hours. It sells finished work: the jingle that plays on radio from Monday, the bed under a bank’s TV advert, the score under a Nollywood film, the church’s convention theme song. Its clients are agencies, brands, stations, directors and ministries, and they buy the way businesses buy: a brief, a quote, a deposit, rounds of changes, approvals, staged payments, and sometimes a long wait for the last one.
Most Nigerian production houses run that on a producer’s WhatsApp. The brief is a voice note. The quote is in someone’s head. The revision count is a matter of opinion. And the agency that owes for March sends a new brief in August, and the work gets done anyway.
What follows is the project business of a Nigerian production house, stage by stage. If you also run the room for walk-in artists, the studio operations page covers that side, and both run in the same panel.
What a production house sells
Each line is a different kind of project with a different client and a different way of getting paid. One system runs all of them.
Jingles and sonic logos
Radio and TV jingles, station idents, sonic logos, voice prompts for brands and businesses.
Runs onBrief to project, quote template, deposit, revision rounds as tasks, delivery when paid.
Advert and campaign music
Music beds and custom tracks for agency campaigns across radio, TV and social.
Runs onAgency as a client with many projects, milestone invoices, approvals recorded in the thread.
Film, series and skit scores
Scores, sound design and audio post for Nollywood, series, skits and documentaries.
Runs onStaged payments against picture lock and final mix, stems delivered when the balance lands.
Podcast and content production
Recording, editing and mastering for podcasts and branded content, often monthly.
Runs onRetainer invoiced monthly, episodes as tasks with due dates, client approvals per episode.
Church and ministry productions
Convention theme songs, choir albums, worship recordings, event audio.
Runs onQuote with arrangement and mixing stages, deposit, milestone invoices, the church remembered for next year.
Session musicians and vocalists
Players and singers booked into your projects or hired out to others.
Runs onBookable by date, costs recorded against the project so you know what the job really made.
Where the journey breaks
| Stage | What usually goes wrong | What closes the gap |
|---|---|---|
| The brief | Lands on a producer's personal WhatsApp, voice note, email or a call. Nobody logs it. Deadlines live in memory. | Every brief lands in one inbox and becomes a project with an owner, a client, a due date and the brief attached. The client gets an acknowledgement in minutes. |
| The quote | Typed when someone has time. Agencies go with the house that quoted first. | Quotes in Naira from templates per job type: jingle, advert bed, sonic logo, score, audio post. Revision rounds stated in the quote. Followed up until the client decides. |
| The deposit | Work starts on 'we are processing payment'. Sometimes it never arrives. | A deposit invoice goes out with the accepted quote. Work starts when it is paid, or when you decide it starts, knowingly. |
| Revisions and approvals | The sixth 'small change'. No record of what was agreed or approved. | Each round is a task with a due date on the project. The client approves each round in writing in the thread. When the included rounds are used, the next round is quoted, not argued. |
| Delivery | Stems sent to the editor before the second instalment. The instalment slips. | Milestone invoices follow the approvals. Final files are delivered automatically when the balance lands. |
| The client who owes | A good client with a March invoice, sending an August brief. Nobody wants to be the one to ask. | Invoices with dates and reminders that go out on their own. Who owes, and how late, is on one screen before the next brief is accepted. |
| The retainer | A radio station or church pays monthly when someone remembers to invoice. | Retainers invoiced on their date every month, with the deliverables for the month as tasks on the project. |
How the system runs it
-
A brief arrives
WhatsApp, email, a call or an agency form. One inbox. It becomes a project with an owner, a due date and the brief attached.
-
The quote goes out the same day
From a template, in Naira, with the revision rounds stated. Follow-up runs until the client decides.
-
Deposit, then work
Deposit invoice with the accepted quote. The project moves to 'in production' when it is paid.
-
Rounds and approvals
Each round a task with a due date. Approvals in writing in the thread. Extra rounds quoted, not argued.
-
Milestones and delivery
Invoices follow approvals. Final files and stems go out automatically when the balance lands.
-
The owner sees the pipeline
Every live project, its owner, its stage, overdue tasks and what is owed, by client.
The same week, two ways
Agency brief on a producer's WhatsApp
Found on Thursday, due Friday.
A project with an owner and a due date within minutes. The account manager gets an acknowledgement.
The sixth 'small change'
Done for free, resentfully.
Two rounds were in the quote. The third was quoted. The brand manager approved it in writing.
Director wants stems before paying
Sent. The instalment slipped a month.
Stems delivered automatically when the balance landed that afternoon.
Church asks for a convention song quote
Quoted three days later. They went elsewhere.
Template quote out the same afternoon. Deposit paid the next day.
Agency with a March invoice sends an August brief
Work done. March still unpaid.
The reminder had already gone out three times. The March invoice was on the screen when the August brief arrived, and it was paid first.
What setting this up involves
- 01
Set up your job types and quote templates
Jingle, advert bed, sonic logo, score, audio post, podcast episode, church production. Each with a price range, included revision rounds and payment stages.
- 02
Set up clients and projects
Agencies, brands, churches, stations and directors as clients. Each job a project with an owner and stages from brief to delivered.
- 03
Give the team lanes
Account or front desk owns the inbox and quotes. Producers and engineers own their projects and tasks. The owner sees everything. Up to 10 logins included.
- 04
Connect the inbox and bring in your clients
WhatsApp, email and calls into one inbox. Past clients and retainers imported so the monthly invoices start now.
What GrowUp Business does not do
- GrowUp Business runs the business around the work: briefs, quotes, deposits, revisions as tasks, approvals, milestone invoices, delivery when paid, retainers. The composing, recording and mixing happen in your DAW.
- Quotes and agreements go out from templates for the client to accept. Publishing, sync licensing and royalty collection are a publisher's and a collecting society's job.
- Project stages and quote templates are set up for your house during onboarding rather than switched on by default.
- GrowUp Business collects deposits, milestones and retainers, sends invoices and receipts, all in Naira. Full accounting and job costing to the kobo are a different job.
Common questions
How is a production house different from a studio?
A studio sells hours to artists who walk in. A production house sells finished work to clients who send briefs, approve in rounds and pay in stages. Different clients, different money. The studio side is on [the studio pages](/recording-studio-software-nigeria/); this page is the project side.
How do I stop endless revisions?
State the included rounds in the quote, record each round as a task with the client's approval in the thread, and quote anything beyond. It is not about refusing changes. It is about both sides seeing what was agreed.
Can it run monthly retainers for stations and churches?
Yes. The retainer invoices on its date every month, and that month's deliverables are tasks on the project with due dates. Who is on retainer and who is behind is on one screen.
Can I see which projects actually made money?
You see what each project billed, what was collected, how many rounds it took and which session players were booked on it. Exact job costing with every expense is accounting software's job, but most owners learn enough from the project view to stop underpricing the jobs that always run to six rounds.
Do I pay per WhatsApp message?
No. There is no per-message or per-conversation WhatsApp charge on top of the subscription, and up to 10 logins are included.
Why owners choose GrowUp Business
- Try it in your business first
- One month free on a full system built for your industry. 14 days free on the quick setup. No card upfront.
- Set up for you
- We build your inbox, bookings, payments, follow-up and staff lanes around how you already work. You are not handed a blank tool.
- Naira, not dollars
- Naira pricing and Paystack payments. Your subscription does not move with the exchange rate.
- No per-message WhatsApp fees
- Your WhatsApp stays on your phone and connects to the business panel. No per-message or per-conversation charge on top.
- Your whole team included
- Up to 10 staff logins included, each with their own lane and permissions.
- Honest about what it does not do
- Every page says plainly where GrowUp Business stops, and which specialist tool does that job instead.
- Built inside working businesses
- These systems were built and proven inside working Nigerian businesses in Abuja before they were offered to anyone else.
See a brief become a paid project in your own house.
Book a free 15-minute walk-through. We set up one job type, one client and one quote template, and show you a brief becoming a project with an owner, a deposit and a delivery that waits for the balance. No card, no pressure.
Book your free walk-throughOr send a message and we will reply right away.