‘THE STATE OF THE NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY’
NO MUSIC DAY 2013 Address delivered on behalf of the Nigerian Music Industry
Coalition by Chief Tony Okoroji, Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON)
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Today, September 1, is “No Music Day” in Nigeria. Once again, the day
is being devoted to drawing national attention to the widespread
infringement of the rights of composers, song writers, performers,
music publishers and other stakeholders in the music industry in
Nigeria.
As has become our tradition, the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition, a
coalition of the key national associations in the music industry across
Nigeria, has asked broadcasting stations in the country to devote
significant periods today to the broadcast of interviews, debates,
comments, discussions and other programs related to the rights of
artistes and creative people, as a mark of solidarity with the Nigerian
creative community. Newspapers and magazines have also been
requested to do special features and editorials on the subject.
The theme of this year‟s celebration is “Keep the Music Alive”. The
objective is to once again engage the Nigerian people and the various
governments on the potential contributions of Nigerian music to the
socio-economic development of the Nigerian nation and the necessity
to fully deploy the substantial international comparative advantage
which our nation possesses in this area so as to provide hundreds of
thousands of jobs to the teeming masses of Nigerian youth who today
parade the streets of our country with little hope.
The Nigerian Music Industry Coalition believes that apart from the
tremendous social impact of music, the contributions of our industry to
the growth of the Nigerian economy ought to be tapped. We believe
that if we do the right things, the music industry should be one of the
largest employers of labour in the country catering to many talented
Nigerians. It is therefore important that we understand the decision of
the Nigerian Music industry Coalition to set aside September 1 every
year to bring to sharp focus the value of the work of our great creative
talents and to seek serious national intervention in the problems
militating against the proper growth of Nigeria‟s creative industries.
“No Music Day‟‟ has become a very important annual event for the
creative community in Nigeria. On this 5
th
edition, we should be
remindedof that week in 2009 when for several days many Nigerian
artistes of all shades held huge rallies at the National Theatre in Lagos
and went on a week-long hunger strike to protest the cruel
infringement of the rights of artistes in Nigeria. For the first time in
the history of mankind, the music industry called for the halt of the
broadcast of music all over the country for a whole day, September 1,
2009.
No Music Day 2009 was also the beginning of a renewed onslaught on
music and video pirates across the country leading to the degrading of
the Alaba piracy cabal and the arrest and prosecution of their alleged
kingpin, Tony Onwujekwe, Alias “Alaba King of Pirates” who continues
to face trial at the Federal High Court.
The unity of purpose brought about by No Music Day 2009 resulted in
the birth of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and its approval by
the Federal Government in May 2010 as the nation‟s sole copyright
collective management organization for musical works and sound
recordings. The wave of developments that have followed the
relentless activities of COSON is therefore traceable to No Music Day
2009.
Let us not forget that not so long ago, our nation was dominated by
music from other lands. Our radio stations and night clubs played a
very small percentage of Nigerian music. Today, at home, across the
continent and indeed in most parts of the world, music created by
young Nigerians has become dominant. To put it simply, Nigerian
musicians have taken the world by storm. They are on top of their
game. This revolution which should bring a lot of pride to our nation
has not happened as a result of any serious national planning or
contribution from the state. It is the product of individual efforts and
the never-say-die spirit of many young Nigerians and a few people who
believe in them. It is our deep belief that the time has come for the
nation to fully harness this important development and make it easier
for the creative endeavour to continue to thrive and a vibrant and
sustainable industry to emerge from it.
We have noticed the interest of the government of President Goodluck
Jonathan to provide badly needed funds for Nigeria‟s creative
industries so that they can achieve their clear potentials. We however
hope that the government has not been misadvised to see Nigeria‟s
creative industries to begin and end with Nolywood. That would be a
huge mistake. Let me be clear that we are in full support of any
assistance by the government to our brothers and sisters in the movie
industry with whom we maintain an excellent relationship and work
very closely for the good of the Nigerian nation. We are simply saying
that the very reasons for government intervention apply fully to the
Nigerian music sector which is equally making our nation proud across
the world.
Before No Music Day 2009, very few people believed that collective
management of copyright would ever work in Nigeria. The emergence
of the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition and the determination of the
coalition to end the many years of confusion in collective management
of copyright led to the formation of COSON and its approval by the
Federal Government as the nation‟s sole CMO for musical works and
sound recordings in keeping with Nigerian law.
Today, the Nigerian music industry has probably the fastest growing
collective management organization in the world, a very professional
CMO driven by knowledge, skills and the most modern technology
available. COSON is hiring the best brains we can find and we are
making available to them first class training at home and abroad. This
is without one naira financial support from the government.
In December last year at the National Theatre, Lagos, Nigeria
witnessed the beginning of the distribution of N100 million as copyright
royalties from the collective management system run by COSON.
Several hundreds of Nigeria‟s artistes have benefited from that
distribution. The 2012 distribution followed the N25.7 million naira
distribution in 2011, just one year after COSON was approved.
In a nation as big as Nigeria, there is clearly room for much more.
However, if you recall that only three years ago, there was not even
one naira distribution to any stakeholder in the music industry and
many in fact doubted that collective management of copyright would
ever work in Nigeria, then you will appreciate the historic nature of
what the music industry in Nigeria has achieved in so short a time.
COSON is determined to substantially increase the royalty distributable
to stakeholders in the music industry to match the massive use of
music in our nation. Last year, COSON was compelled to institute
several multi billion Naira law suits against some users of music and
sound recordings in Nigeria. This was after every attempt at moral
suasion had failed. COSON had to go to court as a last resort. As you
know, the court actions were productive. It however appears that old
habits die hard. Some of the users may have gone back to their old
ways and not all have learnt the lesson that the days of free music are
gone in Nigeria forever. Some may also be testing the resolve of
COSON.
I therefore wish to make it clear that the resolve of COSON to protect
the rights of music industry practitioners and to collect copyright
royalties for the use of their music and sound recordings is rock solid.
We will not waver and there will be no sacred cows. Our commitment
to the cause of defending the rights of music industry practitioners in
Nigeria is unshaken and unshakable. Very soon, we will bring the full
weight of the law on all those who have refused to learn that the times
have changed. Let me assure you that our approach this time will be
very different. I wish to state clearly that it is far cheaper to obtain a
COSON licence for the music used by anyone than to engage COSON in
an expensive law suit which that person is sure to lose because in this
day and age, no court of law anywhere will enter a judgment to the
effect that anyone can freely abuse the intellectual property of others.
Last December, we concluded a historic agreement for the payment of
royalties with the hotel industry in Nigeria. Following that agreement,
a good number of hotels in Nigeria have been licensed for the use of
music. We wish to request those who have not been licensed to do so
expeditiously.
Today, we call on the National Assembly to ensure that forthwith,
clear provisions are made in the budgets of all Federal government
owned broadcast stations for the payment of copyright royalties. We
refuse to accept a situation where the stations continue with the open
stealing of the intellectual property of innocent creative people simply
because there is no budget for the payment for the key raw material
they deploy in their operations. Any scheme by which the stations are
required to pay royalties from their meagre or non-existent „internally
generated revenue‟ is a joke and simply unacceptable to us.
As we well know, most of these stations were set up for political
reasons. They have very little chance of generating proper revenue.
Meanwhile, they sustain their operations by freely using the
intellectual property of innocent citizens who have invested in
creativity with hard earned money.The Nigerian music industry cannot
and shall not subsidize broadcasting in Nigeria. The capital
requirements of the stations are budgeted, the salaries of the staff are
budgeted but the royalties to those who create and invest in the music
which sustains the stations are not budgeted. The royalties are the
„salaries‟ of those in the music industry whose works are broadcast. We
refuse that this be left to the vagaries, whims and caprices of the so
called Internally Generated Revenue. The reality is that most of the
stations, in defiance of the law, do not pay any royalties or when they
pay at all, what they pay is absolutely laughable. This appears to be
state sanctioned robbery of creative people, a lot of them young
Nigerians, who invest in the music industry in our nation. The National
Assembly has a responsibility to bring this robbery to an immediate end
and every state assembly must do likewise.
Recently, COSON announced the signing of a landmark reciprocal
representation agreement with the United Kingdom based PRS for
Music, clearly the most respected CMO in the world.
The agreement formalizes the mandate to COSON to manage in Nigeria
the extensive repertoire of world music controlled by PRS for Music
while PRS for Music will ensure the collection of royalties on behalf of
COSON, its members and affiliates for the use of Nigerian music in the
UK and other territories where PRS operates directly or through its
affiliates.
The signing of the agreement between COSON and PRS for Music is
proof that the world has taken notice of the significant progress COSON
has made with respect to the collective management of copyright in
Nigeria. I hereby call on Nigerian artistes to go out and create massive
world-wide hits. They have the assurance of COSON that wherever in
the world their music is utilized, there is a worldwide network heavily
protecting their interests.
The other significance of the COSON agreement with PRS is that the
rest of the world now has huge interest in music licensing in Nigeria.
We must now behave responsibly and can no longer act as we like or
pretend that it does not matter. Economic and diplomatic sanctions
await us if we act like we are free to use other people‟s intellectual
property for free.
As the digital age evolves more and more, it is clear that the shape of
the music industry will be remarkably different. Already the method of
music distribution is changing rapidly with the CD gradually
disappearing and cell phones, i pads, ipods, Mp3s, Mp4s, memory
chips, memory sticks and similar devices replacing the CD. The
internet has also become a major source of music. These developments
pose tremendous challenges to the industry as the business models
cannot remain the same.
It is in recognition of the above that the Nigerian Music Industry
Coalition working closely with COSON organized the first Nigerian
Digital Music Licensing Summit which held at Protea Hotel, Ikeja on
August 12, 2013. We recognize that practitioners in Nigeria need to be
ahead of the curve and establish the rules of engagement in the new
environment or the progress we seek will not happen. The 14 man
working committee set up by the summit held its first meeting on
Tuesday, August 27 and continues to work.
In recognition of the changing nature of access to music, efforts are at
advanced stages to activate Section 40 of the Copyright Act which
provides for a levy to be imposed on materials used or capable of being
used to infringe copyright and for such levy to be distributed to
stakeholders through approved collective management organizations.
We are aware that the requisite order has been made by the
Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation & Minister of Justice.
We are also aware that there are on-going discussionsbetween the
Nigerian Copyright Commission and the Federal Ministry of Finance on
the successful commencement of the scheme. We call on all those
involved to expedite action on the process because in the light of
developments in the digital environment, the scheme ought to provide
badly needed cushion for practitioners.
For many years our industry has complained about the destructive
piracy with its headquarters at Alaba International Market, Lagos and
Electromart in Onitsha where unauthorized CDs, DVDs and cassette
tapes are copied round the clock and which has ruined the careers of
many of Nigeria‟s greatest creative minds and led to significant
divestment of many multinational companies from Nigeria. Last year,
another kind of piracy began in Nigeria with massive potentials to
wreak havoc on the creative endeavours of our music stars and those
who support them with badly needed investment.
In most major Nigerian cities today, thousands of young men with
laptops under umbrellas,without the authorization of the owners of the
works, are openly compiling the most popular songs in the market for a
fee, transferring these songs to mobile handsets,mp3s, mp4s, i pods, i
pads, i phones, or flash drives of whoever has money to pay! The
emergence of this kind of brazen digital piracy is a menace that must
be addressed forthwith by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC)
and other law enforcement agencies. The Nigerian Music Industry
Coalition requests the Federal Government to provide the required
resources to the NCC to ensure a very robust onslaught on this menace.
If this is not done, more jobs will be lost in this sector and new
investments will not come in. In the same vein, the need to update our
laws to deal with digital piracy especially, the many illegal websites
offering Nigerian music either free of charge or for a fee has become
urgent.
As we mark No Music Day, we observe with sadness the plight of
various stakeholders in the creative community, who due to one
ailment or another are living in abject poverty and begging for death
to come because there is no fund anywhere to help such people. This is
a huge embarrassment to the Nigerian creative sector.
It is in reaction to the above that in May, we instituted the COSON
Music Foundation launched during the unforgettable COSON Week. The
COSON Music Foundation is to a large extent still work-in-progress to
which we are fully committed.
We hereby repeat our call on the Honourable Minister of Culture to act
without further delay to get the National Endowment Fund for the Arts
up and running so that there are resources to take care of funding for
creative projects and the welfare of creative people who have fallen
into hard times.
Once again, on the critical issue of funding, we are left with no choice
but conclude that both the Growth in Employment in States Fund
(GEMS) and the Entertainment Industry Intervention Fund announced
by President Goodluck Jonathan two years ago, which created so much
initial buzz, have become big disappointments and regrettably are now
seen as sad political gimmicks.
As we mark No Music Day today, we once again call on President
Jonathan to order the Bank of Industries (BOI), the Nigerian Export &
Import Bank (NEXIM) the Federal Ministry of Commerce & Investments
and everyone connected with the funds to do what is necessary to
make sure that they begin to have impact on the industry and help to
create the badly needed employment. Presently, the more we look,
the less we see.
It is pertinent to restate that the lack of meaningful growth in our
nation's economy cannot be separated from the sorry state of various
industries of which the music industry is a major sector. The sector
with its huge potential to make significant contributions cannot
continue to receive meager attention or total exclusion from the
nation's policy making. On this "No Music Day" 2013, we appeal once
again that more attention be paid to the music industry through
proactive policies so that it may flourish and contribute its quota to
the economic growth of our country.
In conclusion, we commend the leaders of the different national
associations that make up the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition for the
patriotic zeal that has made many of them make huge sacrifice so that
an important legacy is left for coming generations of artistes in
Nigeria. We also commend the hardworking staff of COSON who have
co-ordinated the activities of No Music Day 2013 on behalf of the
coalition. We appreciate all the stations, different media organizations
and individual journalists who have continued to act in solidarity with
the Nigerian music industry. We repeat our promise that we will not
rest until the Nigerian music industry is delivering to the Nigerian
economy ample wealth andproviding significant employment, economic
and social progress.
Thank you and God bless Nigeria.
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