Unmasking A New Villain In The Fight Against Piracy In Nigeria

TIME TO Aim ON THE Greatest PIRATES IN NIGERIAN New music Marketplace

I feel it is truly ironic that when we speak about piracy in Nigeria, all we ever converse about are the marketers in markets like Alaba and elsewhere. To practically everyone in the Nigerian songs business, amusement writers and even the governing administration, music piracy seems to commence and end with the local marketers in the retail marketplaces who replicate people’s songs with no shelling out any royalties to the musicians. Almost nothing can be further more from the reality!

As an ardent follower of the field and a stakeholder who has invested hundreds of thousands in the careers of quite a few artistes in the past 2 many years, I am of the impression that we have all permitted ourselves to feed into the pink herring and misdirection on piracy that are probably borne out of ignorance, anxiety or basic deceit by our leaders in this struggle.

As we can all testify to, radio stations are a quite massive element of our leisure and new music daily life in Nigeria. With about 300 radio stations blasting new music 24-hours a day, I continue on to be perplexed that we are stressing about royalties from Alaba when the genuine revenue need to be chased at the radio and tv stations. Afterall, the legislation is pretty distinct that royalties Need to be paid to the distinct copyright homeowners each and every-time new music is played on air.

Radio stations by definition are big individuals of musical functions. The programming of most radio stations is above 90% new music. The main matter they are providing to the public is audio. Listeners tune in to stations like Rhythm F.M. Wazobia, Typical FM, Eko FM, Inspiration FM and so forth mainly to listen to new music. Organizations and ad organizations also publicize on radio stations because they are achieving their focus on market place with music. Radio Stations will die overnight without songs to perform for their listeners.   For us to recognize the important ingredient of new music to radio stations, try and picture a Rhythm FM, Vintage FM, Raypower or Wazobia FM without enjoying songs for only 1 month. I assurance you they will ALL be out of company lengthy in advance of then. Still, what endeavours are getting created by these stations to pay out the right royalties to people who use their skills and assets to make this songs?

Now the irony of it all is that although these radio stations price range billions of Naira each calendar year for salaries, fuel, transportation, repairs, equipments etcetera, they hardly point out payment of royalties to the regional artistes in their budgetary allocations. If they did, the artistes don’t know about it or have not felt it. I consider the time is appropriate for us to publicly obstacle these radio stations on how considerably they devote as working costs each individual calendar year and what share of that goes into paying out for the biggest raw substance(i.e new music) they have been working with to prepare their programming.

For those people who might still will need a context to comprehend how huge this dismissed elephant is, I will give the illustration of a Automobile DEALERSHIP. The major thing the motor vehicle dealership sells is cars and trucks. Now, consider a Car or truck dealership planning a funds for the year with no price range for obtain of cars and trucks! Or imagine a style designer retailer preparing a finances for the yr without having delivering any spending plan to acquire outfits material. Or better still, picture a newspaper company planning a price range with no supplying for invest in of newsprint. Yet, that is what is heading on in the boardrooms of most radio stations all over Nigeria. They simply just take the audio for granted simply just due to the fact most of our artistes are ignorant and determined for their audio to be played.

So, the payment of royalties for audio played on radio stations remained a large elephant in the radio home that we have dismissed for years in this state and I assume it is time that someone starts addressing this gigantic elephant if we are at any time going to have equity and fairness in this state.
 
Though the battle against Alaba pirates is surely a superior 1, I think a far more satisfying war on piracy must be declared towards radio stations and tunes-dependent Tv set plans in 2011. This combat is a a great deal greater struggle for artistes and accumulating societies simply because the prospects of profitable and acquiring paid is significantly better than fighting phantoms and vicious faceless alaba pirates that no one particular can look to discover. Radio Stations on the other hand, have names and they have identifiable entrepreneurs. Radio stations are controlled by the governing administration who can compel them to do the proper issue. Radio stations are physical entities that can be picketed and boycotted. So, why are we leaving the elephant unfed in the radio rooms while we chase ghosts in Alaba? I assume assets of the govt, artistes, legal professionals and collecting societies really should be targeted on the radio stations and audio-television set plans in 201. We stand a much better prospect of successful that struggle!
 
So, I suggest that rather of Chief Tony Okoroji of COSON and Mr Mayo Ayilaran of MCSN tearing each individual other aside on the issue of who need to be gathering royalties, they must occur collectively to make certain our radio stations feed the huge elephant in the radio rooms across the region. I also counsel that if the new NIGERIAN COPYRIGHT Fee desires to publish his identify in historical past, he must ‘enter’ the radio rooms across the state with correct restrictions and desire that the elephant of royalties to Nigerian artistes should be fed….
 
Of system, I recognize several of the big names in the music business are as well concerned to confront the radio stations and demand justice simply because of their acceptable worry that their artistes may well be blacklisted by these radio stations but I feel this struggle can be depersonalized if the Entire sector joins in the struggle with a concerted work applying all legal indicates at our disposal which includes machinery of point out, Court Actions, Boycotts, Sit-ins and Picketing of any station that refused to do the ideal detail…