In Search Of Rules Of Engagement For Nigeria’s Digital Music Space

COSON Beams Searchlight On Broadcast Stations
No doubt, the Nigerian music industry has been in a state of severe tumult, mostly as a result of digital technology. This current trend has seen a clear decrease in CD sales, while digital download purchases appear to be on the rise. Even at that, earnings from this source do not come near to making up for the loss of CD revenue as a result of piracy.

The clearly ubiquitous evolution of digital music has created an apparent and drastic shift in the way consumers and producers view and use the music industry. The presence of these music files that have been digitally compressed, thus making them easily accessible to all for a small fee or illegally downloaded for free, has made the music industry re-evaluate how they should make a profit from their art.

On the other hand, social media and websites have also created a visible demand from consumers for artistes to maintain a consumer-artist relationship, making the Internet not only a promotional vehicle for artistes, but also a necessity for profit. These new means of music distribution and marketing have not only pushed the music industry to new levels, but has created a whirlwind of changes as record labels are losing control, with artistes and consumers having the upper hand.

The spike in technology and need for instant gratification have taken its toll on the major record labels. However, the long-term effects may prove to be positive for the music industry. Although sales are down, the number of people listening to recorded music has never been higher. The future of music industry now call for the need to restructure the business models in order to exploit the new avenues of commerce that technology has created.

In what seems like a strategic move to get Nigerian music industry and stakeholders up to date with current trends across the globe, as well as set in place the proper framework for the exploitation of music in the digital space, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) recently held the maiden edition of Nigeria Digital Music Summit at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The two-day event had as theme, ‘Establishing the Basic Rules of Engagement in the Digital Environment,’ with the supported of Growth & Employment Project (GEM) (funded by the World Bank and domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment).

The seminar provided the opportunity for key players 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. The idea is to ensure that practitioners, who are involved in the value chain in Nigeria, get a fair deal to guarantee the stability and sustainable growth of the Nigerian music industry.

Participants at the summit included musicians, music producers, label owners, copyright administrators, rights managers, music aggregators, telecommunication companies, legal practitioners, advertising practitioners and government officials. It featured panel discussions on the music industry, putting into account the challenges and opportunities there are.

In his address, Director-General, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) Mr. Afam Ezekude spoke on the need for users of creative contents, including telecom companies, to leverage on the facilities of Nigeria’s copyright system to ensure the sustenance of seamless availability of creative content to enhance their value added services. However, he advocated that the use of creative content should be on the basis of licenses legitimately issued by rights owners to users.

He noted, “The Copyright Act has provided for collective management of rights, which is globally acknowledged as the best mechanism for licensing of content where the use of such content has assumed a certain anonymous scale making it difficult for users to trace and approach individual right owners for separate licenses”.

While addressing the gathering that had copyrights experts from different parts of the world, Chairman of COSON Chief Tony Okoroji described the summit as a historic opportunity to agree on how the Nigerian music industry will move forward in a new era so that everybody’s interest is protected so the industry can grow and meet its true potentials, adding, “It may need to be repeated that if the industry does not agree on how to move forward, everyone will move to trenches and just fight it out.

“Following the summit, it is envisaged that there will be an industry monitoring committee to ensure that the players are complying with the new rules and where there is a need for legislation to ensure compliance, the right steps are taken to ensure that such legislation is passed.”

Project Coordinator, GEM Mr. Yunusa Labaran said the organization has resolved to support the music industry to grow and to pay, saying, “Oil which has been the mainstay of our economy has been dwindling and there is a need to diversify to strengthen our economy. The outcome of this summit will help us to set up an intervention to help the industry grow and create employment for the growth of the Nigerian economy.”

Papers presented by experts on various topics included ‘Understanding How the Digital Music Business Works in Nigeria’ by Mr. Audu Maikori of Chocolate City, ‘Aggregating Music for the Digital Market Place’ by Mr. Lawrence Wilbert, ‘The Digital Music Market Place and Copyright’ by Mrs. Tarja Koskinen-Olsson, ‘Digital Music Licensing: Current Issues’ by Mrs. Inger Elise Mey and ‘Monetisation of the Digital Exploitation of Musical Works and Sound Recordings as it Affects Creators and Publishers, Performers and Record Companies’ by Mr. Rob Hooijer. Others were ‘Employment Opportunities in a Structured Music Industry’ by Mr. Yunusa S. Labaran and ‘Monetising Music in the Internet Age: The CAPASSO South Africa Experience’ by Ms. Nothando Migogo. The presentations were complemented by panel discussions and interventions by other industry practitioners and experts.

AFTER careful deliberations, participants at the summit adopted some resolutions: that all contributors to the making and production of music, including songwriters, composers, publishers, performers, label owners and other persons in the value chain should benefit from any revenues accruing from the exploitation of the music; prevailing sharing arrangements between right owners, content providers, aggregators, telecommunication network operators and other digital platform owners, under which network operators keep between 70 and 80 percent of the revenue accruing from the sale of music on digital platforms, is unfairly skewed against the owners of copyright works; the imbalance should be addressed to ensure fairness and guarantee the sustainable growth of the Nigerian music industry.

The communiqué also stated that the Nigerian Copyright Commission, in regulating the activities of collective management organisations (CMOs), should take cognizance of emerging platforms and the challenges of exploitation in the digital environment and the need to provide a clear, simple and functional licensing regime on these platforms. It also mandated government to immediately ratify all relevant international copyright treaties, particularly the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty and ensure their implementation.

Part of the resolution at the summit is that the Nigerian Copyright Commission should speed up the on-going reform process to address the protection, administration and enforcement of rights in the digital environment, while relevant organs of government, including the National Assembly, should provide support for, and facilitate the implementation of the outcome of the copyright reform process of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, through a speedy legislative copyright updated.

Nigerian Communications Commission, the National Information Technology Development Agency, Nigerian Copyright Commission and Internet Service Providers should collaborate to check copyright abuses on the internet and facilitate the taking down of, and application of penalty provisions to websites infringing on music while Nigerian Copyright Commission should address the increasing menace of illegal offline downloads and increase its enforcement activities to stem the infringement of copyright in music through such activities.

The summit also raised concern on the need for Nigerian Copyright Commission to strengthen its Copyright Inspectors and have them cooperate with practitioners in the music industry for effective enforcement of the provisions of the Copyright Act, while the government is expected to immediately implement the provisions of the Copyright (Levy on Materials) Order, 2012 to compensate right owners for the private copying of their works.

COSON was mandated to, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics, initiate action to develop reliable statistics and verifiable database in the music industry to better measure the value of the industry and provide credible information for investors, regulatory bodies, tax authorities and decision makers. All relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian music industry are expected to address the current practice of using musicians as brand ambassadors for telecommunications operators and other corporate organisations and educate right owners on the proper assignments of rights, bearing in mind the overriding interests of the industry, the musicians and other persons whose interests are affected by such practice.

Telecommunication operators and other digital platforms were charged to be more circumspect in their promotional activities so as not to devalue or adversely affect the sustainable growth of the Nigerian music industry, while COSON should work with other relevant institutions, agencies and interested persons to develop a long-term blueprint for the sustainable growth of the creative and music industry in Nigeria.

Also, a Digital Music Monitoring Group should be set up to work closely with the Nigerian Copyright Commission, the Nigerian Communications Commission, the National Information Technology Development Agency and other relevant bodies to develop specific methods for the implementation of the resolutions of the summit and monitor progress in the exploitation of music in the digital environment, reporting at regular intervals on the state of progress made.

MEANWHILE, COSON has commenced the digital monitoring of music played by broadcast stations across Nigeria. By this development, the collective management organisations will now have at its disposal empirical evidence of every song played by broadcast stations and similar users of music across the country. This will provide critical information necessary for licensing and accurate distribution of royalties.

Working with COSON on the important monitoring project is a firm of young Nigerian IT professionals, PlaySpread Ltd, which has signed an agreement with COSON for delivering cutting edge information on which the organisation will build its licensing and royalty distribution.

COSON GM, Chinedu Chukwuji said, “This is a huge step for us and we are pleased at the results that will follow. This will definitely help us with transparency, which is the cornerstone of COSON. It will also help us maintain an accurate database and ensure fairness to all”.