It was a rare opportunity for practitioners in the music industry to discuss serious issues plaguing their business. The platform for discussion, which came through the inaugural townhall meeting of the Music Publishers Association of Nigeria (MPAN), held on Friday May 10, 2019 at Landmark Towers, Lekki, Lagos.
Hosted by Universal Music Group Nigeria and themed: ‘The Music Publishing Business in Nigeria – Regulations, Challenges and the Future’, the meeting not only afforded the stakeholders the opportunity to identify their challenges but also to collectively profer solutions to them.
At the event moderated by copyright lawyer, Justin Ige, stakeholders reviewed current policies and regulations, while agreeing that measures must be put in place to protect the interests of creators within the industry.
However, a major highlight of the event was the signing of four different petitions including the one that touched on the crisis bedevilling COSON and another calling for the review of revenue opportunities for music creators.
In her paper, ‘What’s Music Publishing and Why it Matters’, entertainment lawyer, Isioma Idigbe, provided an overview of music publishing and highlighted its importance within the music industry whilst MPAN chairman, Olumide Mustapha, explained the avoidable loss of revenue as a result of lack of knowledge in music publishing. Chocolate City’s Ibukun Ibidoye also gave an insightful presentation on ‘The Future of Music Publishing in Nigeria’.
Commenting, Ezegozie Eze, General Manager, Universal Music West Africa, stated: “Our aim is to work with the relevant bodies to ensure that we put structures in place that not only aid the growth of the music ecosystem but protect and compesate music creators, and this town hall meeting was definitely a step in the right direction.”
Among those who graced the event were Mr. Barthélémy Blanc, Deputy to the Delegate of the Regional Economic Dept. in Lagos, Bizzle Osikoya, Olisa Adibua, Aibee Abidoye, Perruzi as well as members of the American Business Council, songwriters, artiste managers and content creators.