Change Hits Music Industry With COSON’s Digital Music Summit

Uzo Chikere

An august assemblage of professionals in the music industry converged on Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos from September 28 to 29, 2015 to chart the way forward for the Nigerian music industry. This was a project driven by what the promoters, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) tagged “Nigerian Digital Music Summit” and themed, “Establishing the Basic Rules of Engagement in the Digital Environment”.

Quite contrary to the established way of talk shopping in this clime, the gathering exhibited in most ways, another dimension to tackling problems bedeviling institutions in the country, especially the music sector in the age of high technology and digitisation.

The two-day event provided the plank for stakeholders in the production and distribution of music to engage with copyright experts from around the world to deliberate on the rules of engagement in the digital environment so as to ensure that practitioners who are involved in the value chain in Nigeria get a fair deal and to guarantee the stability and sustainable growth of the Nigerian music industry.

Supported by Growth & Employment Project (GEM), funded by the World Bank and domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the summit had facilitators and participants from across the gamut of the entire music business including musicians, music producers, label owners, copyright administrators, rights managers, music aggregators, telecommunications companies, legal practitioners, advertising practitioners and government officials.

Papers presented by experts centred on various topics, including, “Understanding How the Digital Music Business Works in Nigeria” by Mr. Audu Maikori, “Aggregating Music for the Digital Market Place” by Mr. Lawrence Wilbert, “The Digital Music Market Place and Copyright” by Mrs. Tarja Koskinen-Olsson.

Others were Mrs. Inger Elise Mey addressing “Digital Music Licensing: Current Issues”, Mr. Rob Hooijer, dealing with “Monetization of the Digital Exploitation of Musical Works and Sound Recordings as it Affects Creators and Publishers, Performers and Record Companies”, Mr. Yunusa S. Labaran speaking on  “Employment Opportunities in a Structured Music Industry”  and Ms. Nothando Migogo rounding off with “Monetising Music in the Internet Age: The CAPASSO South Africa Experience”. The presentations were complemented by panel discussions and interventions by other industry practitioners and experts.

In his expression of appreciation for the massive attendance by, participation of key players in the music industry as well as assessing the event, COSON chairman, Tony Okoroji, said that everybody openly bared their minds at the summit, pointing out that there was no pretense or sugar-coating.

Said he:  “At the summit, everyone openly bared his mind. There was no pretense and no sugar coating. The objective was to identify the problems and design actions to address them. The Nigerian Digital Summit was not just a world class event in attendance and organization, it was focused like a laser beam on moving the Nigerian music industry to the digital age. One of the big achievements was the setting up of the Digital Music Monitoring Group made up of tried and tested persons from across the private and public spectrum. The monitoring group is charged with taking the decisions made at the summit and ensuring that they are fully implemented. That will certainly create a revolution in the Nigerian music industry and shape the way things are done in the country. The steps we have taken have made the summit very different from the usual Nigerian talk shop” 

Also speaking, Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji, General Manager of COSON said, “We are pleased with the outcome of the summit. So much was said and resolutions were adopted. We are set to implement these resolutions to steer the industry forward. Going forward, it can never be business as usual”.

Earlier in his opening address, the Director-General (DG) of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Afam Ezekude, thanked the collaborating bodies for taking the initiative for orgaising such a summit which he described as certainly due for Nigeria at this stage of her development.

Further stating that major aspects of our national life was dictated being by developments in the communications technology and digital industries, Ezekude pointed out that one of the by-products of the evolution of digital network was that it renders information and data processing systems more vulnerable to intruders. Since the creative and innovative industries are among the groups affected by the vulnerability of information technology, the NCC boss held that users of creative contents, including telecoms companies, should do so on the basis of licenses legitimately issued by the owners of the rights of creative content.

All said, by the recently concluded summit as organized by COSON, Operation, in the digital music space which is rapidly evolving will be guided by informed knowledge of the rules of engagement in the industry and thing may not remain as before.