ONE ON ONE WITH 'THE GUARDIAN ANGEL' MS. TARJA KOSKINEN - OLSSON

Q: Hello Ms. Tarja Koskinen – Olsson, we are delighted to have you in Nigeria and here at the COSON Headquarters.

A: Thank you. I must say; I am delighted to be back in Nigeria. I really love the drive you have in this country.

Q: Thank you for that ma. How do you rate the growth of COSON since inception? Progressive? As compared with the CMO’s of other countries?

A: When I first made contact with the people who are driving COSON today, there didn’t exist any COSON and that’s in 2009. So in a very few years, COSON has been capable of starting the operations, that is getting the money in and getting the money out to the rights holders to whom it belongs, in my view, COSON has been rapid in development. I think your success criteria is being capable of convincing all the music stakeholders, be them composers, song writers, performers or record producers to put their acts together, that isn’t self evident in every country. So COSON has being really fortune to be able to do this and provide viable service for the users.

Q: Exactly what brings you to Nigeria?

A: I am here on behalf of a Norwegian Copyright Development Association and its task is to make creativity foster in developing countries. For creativity to foster you need a strong copyright protection act, you need organisations like COSON to put that protection into practise because only with the law nothing happens, it remains on a piece of paper, you need organisations like COSON making the copyright system function. I am also here for the training of new officials in the organisation together with a newer organisation called the AVRS (Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria) how to do the copyright business, so that money comes in and money goes out.

Cross section of some COSON and AVRS officials

Q: On a personal note, why have you remained in the Copyright and Intellectual Property field for so long. What motivates you to keep going?

A: I have said time and again and I am privileged to say it again, I have 2 passions in my life; People and Copyright.  People come first because they are the ones who make the wonderful music, do the great movies and write the books and so on and Copyright  is for me a good tool to enhance their  living possibilities, making more music, more films and also assisting the creative industries to make money for the whole society.

Q: What do you make of the line of thoughts that usage of creative works is a means of promotion for the creative mind and so payments need not be made?

A: That line of thought comes everywhere; it is not only in Nigeria. Radio stations all over the world think they are the biggest promoters of music and sometimes one needs to tell the story to them that first of all without an organisation like COSON, they’d need to get the rights from thousands or millions of right holders all over the world or alternatively stop playing music because there is no legal obligation for the stations to play music nor the shops nor restaurants or wherever it is being deployed. They have chosen to play music because that is what the listeners want or needed for the ambiance. It adds value to the business, and whatever is valuable to your business should be paid for. The shop keeper needs to pay for the rent of the premises but if they dislike paying for the music, it’s easy, they should switch off the music and see the result.

Q: You’ve seen the birth of COSON  and you’ve witnessed its growth. Looking at COSON in 5years, what heights do you see COSON attaining?

A: I’d like COSON to be the most successful collective management organisation on this continent. Nigeria has the largest population with about 170million people and Nigeria has a tremendously thriving music industry, so you have all the ingredients in becoming the number 1 organisation in collection and distribution of royalties on the continent. That’s where I’d like COSON to be.

Q: Thank you so much for your time ma.

A: A pleasure. Thank you.

Photo credit: Google search & COSON 

ACE ARTISTE MANAGER SEYI ALLEN TALKS CURRENT PROJECT, CHALLENGES FACING THE INDUSTRY, BAGGED HARVARD DEGREE AND MORE

Seyi Allen

This week, we were honoured to host ace artiste manager, Mr. Seyi Allen at our studios. Mr Seyi Allen who had previously worked with music talents such as Sunny Neji, Blackky, Azeezat Queen of Love among others made a quick stop to discuss Copyright Issues, Challenges facing the Nigerian music industry and his recently bagged Harvard Degree.

Enjoy the excerpts below.

Q: It is a privilege to have you at our studios Mr Seyi Allen

A: Thank you. I am glad to be here.

Q: We know Seyi Allen, the legendary artiste manager – asides that, what is Seyi Allen up to presently?

A:  I recently delved into internet promotions. I have a company called Network Tentacles, and we promote everybody, celebrities, organisations and even politicians.

Q: Looking at the comparison between the present day music industry and that of the past, do you think we’ve improved or gone worse?

A: It’s both ways, music of before had more substance, melody, and rhythm. Although the music of today has rhythm, its better beat – wise. The beats are cool and jumpy, those that are slow are slow, but the present day music has less substance.

Q: What do you think is the greatest singular challenge facing the Nigerian Music Industry? Last week, Ms. Kenny Saint Best said it was Media Buying. What is your take on this?

A: With the knowledge that I have now, I have come to discover that the greatest singular challenge is the knowledge about Intellectual Property. Intellectual Property is the oil of the world now and if that isn’t taken seriously, I do not think the music industry will move forward because we are good at every other thing we do. We are good at videos, we have good audios, we cut across, but the more we cut across, the more the need for better understanding of intellectual property. If you do music as a business and do not earn from it, it means that business will not move forward, your record label will also not benefit from your work, in such a scenario, the only people who will benefit are those who utilise your work for free.

Q: We’ve heard several stories of music talents leave school to face music squarely, but you’ve decided to do the unusual by going back to learn Copyright from Harvard, even after a previous degree. That’s a big one. Why Copyright?

A: I studied Physics and Electronics before but I have always wanted to do Law. I realised it doesn’t make sense to be ignorant of the law in Nigeria. I have also always wanted to do an A & R Management course abroad, so when the opportunity came to learn more about Intellectual Property, I went for it. Prior to knowing COSON, I’ve been a follower of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), always reading and learning more about IP. I’ve also come to realize that everywhere in the world, once you truly understand Intellectual Property, you begin to make more money from your works.

Q: Now having studied Copyright, what has changed about you?

A: It has given me better understanding, I know so much now that I am about to head on to the roads to teach people, especially the upcoming artistes.

Q: That’s the next big, that’s what Seyi Allen is up to. Kindly shed more light

A: I am working on ‘KNOW WHAT I KNOW’. I am starting with the local dialect version, what we call ‘Pidgin English’ to enable me communicate properly with the people. The aim is to enlighten the ‘ghetto’ areas about Copyright.

Q: When is this to kick off?

A: Late October, last week in October.

Q: Looking at ‘KNOW WHAT I KNOW’, why have you targeted these areas and not the big, major artistes?

A: This is because organisations such as COSON and the Nigerian Copyright Commission have always done that to the big artistes. It’s sad to know that some of the big creative minds only come when they hear of their colleague receiving hefty royalties; they are less interested in talk. I want the upcoming ones to understand copyright and its benefits before becoming popular.

Q: What advise will you offer as regards ensuring more creative minds are made aware of their rights?

A: COSON will continue to do its best but this is where other music bodies should come in and talk to their members. They should always organise seminars to enlighten their members.

Q:      Do you have any final words or message you’d like to pass across?

A: I want to encourage Nigerian artistes, song writers, composers and all involved in music creation to learn more about Intellectual Property. I’d also encourage them to earn money continuously from the usage of their works by becoming members of COSON. Let the music pay!.