NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY SET TO HOLD ANNUAL ‘NO MUSIC DAY’ CELEBRATION ON SEPTEMBER 1

NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY SET TO HOLD ANNUAL ‘NO MUSIC DAY’ CELEBRATION ON SEPTEMBER 1

 

The Nigerian music industry has set plans in motion to mark the annual ‘No Music Day’ across Nigeria on September 1. “No Music Day” is a day the music industry has dedicated to bringing the attention of the Nigerian nation to the widespread infringement of the rights of song writers, composers, performers, music publishers, record labels and other stakeholders in the music industry.

 

With the theme, ‘‘Music for National Stability’’, The “No Music Day” 2017 celebration is aimed at building significant public awareness and support for the new national fight against piracy of music, movies, literature, broadcast content, software, etc, which is undermining investments in the Nigerian creative industry.

Speaking on the theme of this year’s event, renowned Intellectual Property activist and Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji said “Every year, in marking ‘No Music Day’, our objective has been to 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 comparative advantage which our nation possesses in this area, so as to provide hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs to the teeming masses of Nigerian youth who parade the streets of our country with little hope. I have no doubt that if the right environment is created in Nigeria, the enormous creative energy exhibited by our young people will be released to the amazement of the world”

 

On the COSON ‘Music for National Stability’ project, Chief Okoroji said, ‘‘The project will among other vital things, activate a forceful campaign against hate speech in Nigeria, which is threatening ethnic harmony and peace in the country, and also enhance the vigorous promotion of the Nigerian Music Industry, so as to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s GDP.’’

 

Speaking also on “No Music Day” 2017, Ace singer and Queen of love, Azeezat Allen said “We are planning seriously to make “No Music Day” 2017 a memorable event. COSON and the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition are counting on the support of Nigerians to make this the biggest “No Music Day” event ever held. It is time we took the music business seriously in Nigeria, to enable us unleash the creative ingenuity of our people and create a better environment for creative minds to thrive.”

 

In commemoration of “No Music Day”, as has become the practice, broadcast stations across Nigeria have been requested not to broadcast music between the hours of 8am and 10am on Friday, September 1, 2017 as a mark of solidarity with the nation’s creative industry whose potential has been limited by massive copyright infringement. Rather than broadcast music, the stations have been asked to dedicate the 8 am to 10 am time belt to the broadcast of interviews, documentaries, debates and discussions that focus on the rights of creative people and the potential contributions of creative activities to the national economy. Newspapers and magazines across the country are also requested to publish special features on these issues in the coming days.

The Nigerian public is requested to tune in to different domestic radio and television stations on September 1 to engage members and affiliates of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and other music industry experts who will spread out to different broadcast stations to discuss “Music for National Stability” as the Nigerian nation seeks alternative sources of income to replace the dwindling oil revenue.

COSON DEMANDS ON ‘NO MUSIC DAY’

To create a new environment for the music industry to thrive in Nigeria, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) made the following specific demands on “No Music Day”, September 1, 2016:

1. President Buhari should order the Hon Minister of Finance and the Attorney-General of the Federation to ensure the full implementation of the Private Copy Levy scheme without any further delay.

  2. The Nigerian Communications Commission should make it very clear to all telecommunications companies operating in Nigeria that henceforth, there will be zero tolerance for the infringement of the Intellectual Property rights of Nigerian citizens whose works are deployed by these companies.

 3. The Minister of Information & Culture and the different state Governors should make it clear to all Federal Government and State owned broadcasting stations respectively, and other government institutions that there is no provision of the law that exempts them from the payment of royalties for the musical content broadcast or deployed by them.

 4.  The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) should, as a matter of urgency, be ordered to take necessary steps to begin the take down of the several pirate websites bastardizing Nigerian Intellectual Property on the Internet.

 5.  President Buhari should instruct the Ministers of Industry, Trade & Investment, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to act swiftly to ensure that the brazen and massive piracy of Nigerian music, movies and literature across our continent are no longer tolerated.

 6.  The Nigerian Copyright Commission should be empowered to pivot towards the effective implementation of anti-piracy measures in the digital environment. 

 7. The National Assembly should act with despatch to ensure the promulgation into law of the new Copyright Bill which contains several provisions to properly deal with the infringement of copyright in the digital era.

 8. Necessary action should be taken 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.

No Music Day 2016 may have come and gone but the reverberations will be heard for a long-long time.

                                

COSON CALLS FOR DAY-LONG HUNGER STRIKE BY NIGERIAN MUSICIANS ON “NO MUSIC DAY”

COSON CALLS FOR DAY-LONG HUNGER STRIKE BY NIGERIAN MUSICIANS ON “NO MUSIC DAY”

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Nigeria’s sole approved collective management organization for musical works and sound recordings has called on its thousands of members across the country, other stakeholders in the music industry and lovers of music in Nigeria who are sympathetic to the plight of creative people ravaged by piracy and other forms of copyright infringement in Nigeria, to observe a one day Hunger Strike on Thursday, September 1, 2016 as Nigeria marks “No Music Day”

Making the call, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji said, “Creative people in Nigeria cannot afford to forget that historic week in 2009 when Nigerian artistes of different shades embarked on a weeklong hunger strike staged in front of the National Theatre in Lagos. The hunger strike which was a result of frustration caused by the devastating level of intellectual property theft in our country was the prelude to what has become known as “No Music Day” the day on September 1, 2009 that practitioners in the Nigerian music industry asked all the 400 licensed broadcast stations in the country not to broadcast music for a significant period of the day”.

Continuing, Chief Okoroji said, “In 2016, it has become imperative that we take appropriate action to remind the different governments in Nigeria that the disease which necessitated the hunger strike of 2009 has not quite been cured and that at this time of dwindling oil revenue, Nigeria must take important steps to protect its creative industries to ensure the socio-economic progress of our nation”.

As internet websites, telecommunication operators, telephone manufacturers, offline download speculators, etc. take hold as key channels for the distribution of music, COSON has decided that the theme of this year’s event would be “The Monetization of Musical Content in the Digital Space”.

Broadcast stations across Nigeria have been requested not to broadcast music between the hours of 8am and 10am on Thursday, September 1, 2016 as a mark of solidarity with the nation’s creative industries which have suffered immensely from the debilitating infringement of copyright. Rather than broadcast music, the stations have been asked to dedicate the 8 am to 10 am time belt to the broadcast of interviews, documentaries, debates and discussions that focus on the rights of creative people and the potential contributions of creative activities to the national economy. Newspapers and magazines across the country have also been requested to publish special features on these issues in the coming days.

The Nigerian public is requested to tune in to different domestic radio and television stations on September 1 to engage top COSON members, Intellectual Property lawyers, investors in the music industry and other music industry experts who will spread out to diverse broadcast stations to discuss “The Monetization of Musical Content in the Digital Space”.

On No Music day, flags at the COSON office in Lagos will fly at half-mast, the organization will issue an important statement on the state of the music industry while there will be an ‘open day’ for artistes, journalists and members of the public interested in the subject of Monetization of Musical Content in the Digital Space.

COSON GEARS UP FOR ‘NO MUSIC DAY 2016’

What you need to know

We believe you’d find the following answers helpful, as they clarify some of the misconceptions you may have concerning the #nomusicday2016.

Q: What exactly is this No Music Day?

A: “No Music Day” is a day the music industry has dedicated to bringing the attention of the nation to the widespread infringement of the rights of song writers, composers, performers, music publishers, record labels and other stakeholders in the music industry.

Q: Really? Since when did this start?

A: No Music Day started September 1, 2009. This edition of the No Music Day is the 8th edition. Hence the hash tags #nomusicday8 #nomusicday2016. It is held annually on the 1^st day of September.

Q: Why is it COSON’s business? Who or What is COSON?

A: COSON is an acronym for Copyright Society of Nigeria. The need to close ranks, and have one formidable national collective management organization to promote and protect the copyright of practitioners in the Nigerian Music Industry, gave birth to COSON. COSON began in 2010 after approval according to Section 39 of the Nigerian Copyright Act ( CAP 28, LFN 2004)

Q: How can COSON ask a day to be a No Music Day, how?

A: COSON encourages Television and Radio networks not to broadcast music from 8am to 10am. As a show of support and to give people a tip of how a world without music will be.

Q: If there is no music for those hours, what then should be aired?

A: Rather than broadcast music, the stations have been asked to dedicate the 8 am to 10 am time belt to the broadcast of interviews, documentaries, debates and discussions that focus on the rights of creative people and the potential contributions of creative activities to the national economy.

Q: Is COSON not just speaking for herself?

A: COSON has the full support of the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition; a coalition of all the different association in the Nigerian Music Industry

Q: Are the print media exempted?

A: Newspapers and magazines across the country are also requested to publish special features on these issues in the coming days.

Q: Does the No Music Day 2016 have a theme?

A: Yes it does, it is themed “The Monetization of Musical Content in the Digital Space”.

Q: What is the COSON team saying about this No Music Day 2016?

A:

Chief Tony Okoroji (Renowned Copyright Activist and COSON Chairman)

“Every year, in marking ‘No Music Day’, our objective has been to 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 comparative advantage which our nation possesses in this area so as to provide hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs to the teeming masses of Nigerian youth who parade the streets of our country with little hope. I have no doubt that if the right environment is created in Nigeria, the enormous creative energy exhibited by our young people will be released to the amazement of the world”

Efe Omorogbe ( Song Writer and C.E.O Now Muzik)

“This coming September 1 will mark the eighth consecutive edition of No Music Day. We hope that everyone remembers that historic week in 2009 when for several days, a group of Nigerian artistes held huge rallies at the National Theatre in Lagos and went on a week-long hunger strike to protest the cruel abuse of the rights of artistes in Nigeria. For the first time in the history of mankind, the music industry in a country called for the halt of the broadcast of music all  over the country for a whole day, September 1, 2009. That action captured the imagination of the world and ‘No Music Day’ was born”.

Azeezat Allen (Songstress and Queen of Love)

“We are planning seriously to make No Music Day 2016 a memorable event. I hope that COSON and the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition will receive the support of everyone across Nigeria. Let us unleash the creative ingenuity of our people and create a better tomorrow for Nigeria’s children”.

Q: What is the public expected to do on that day?

A: The Nigerian public is requested to tune in to different domestic radio and television stations on September 1 to engage members and affiliates of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and other music industry experts who will spread out to diverse broadcast stations to discuss “The Monetization of Musical Content in the Digital Space”.

Q: What of those who love to engage on social media?

A: We are streaming different activities live on all our social media platforms namely; Facebook, Periscope, Snap Chat and Instagram.

You can also engage us via twitter.

Q: What are your social media handles:

A: Facebook: COSON Nigeria

     Periscope: COSON Nigeria
     Snap Chat: COSON NG

     Instagram: COSON Nigeria

     Twitter: @COSONNG

Q: In the event that a new question pops up, who do I contact?

A: Contact us. You can place a call through to us; 08174590253, 08174590249, 08174590255

You can also interact with us via any of our official social media accounts, listed above, or send us an email; info@cosonng.com.