NO MUSIC DAY, 2012 - MUSIC INDUSTRY CALLS FOR PRESIDENT JONATHAN’S ORDER ON INTERVENTION FUND

The Nigerian Music Industry Coalition has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to give immediate marching orders to the organizations and individuals managing the Entertainment Industry Intervention Fund to take urgent steps to ensure that the fund begins to have impact on the employment situation in the creative industries in Nigeria.

Addressing the media on ‘The State of the Nigerian Music Industry’ as part of  the events of NO MUSIC DAY 2012, marked on September 1, Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji, said, ‘Once again, on the critical issue of funding, there is growing disappointment and peculating conclusion 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, will end up as another big disappointment and seen as sad political gimmicks. As we mark No Music Day today, we 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.’

NO MUSIC DAY is a day set aside on September 1 of every year by the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition, a coalition of the key national associations in the Nigerian music industry,  to draw attention to the massive abuse of the rights of composers, song writers, performers, music publishers and other stakeholders in the Nigerian music industry. NO MUSIC DAY, 2012 was the fourth in the series since its creation in 2009.



In observance of the day, the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition requested all broadcast stations across the country not to broadcast music from the hours of 8am to 10am but to dedicate those hours to interviews, documentaries, features and discussions to focus on the rights of creative people in Nigeria. Artistes and stakeholders in the music industry were guests on different broadcast stations across the country speaking in the defense of their copyrights. Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) the nation's sole Collective Management Organization for musical works and sound recordings hosted an Open House at its headquarters for journalists and all who wished to update themselves with the activities of the society.

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