War In Music Industry, As Label Owners, Others Battle MAAN

Osupa  and Pasuma

Following the activities of the Music Advertisement Association of Nigeria (MAAN) over the control of live music and proposed anti-piracy measures, the Nigerian Association of Label Owners, Entertainment Promoters Association of Nigeria and other stakeholders, are set to battle the association.

It was gathered that their grudge with MAAN is the introduction of an official logo which the Alhaji Waheed Oyediran a.k.a. Mosebolatan-led association said is aimed at preventing excessive recording of live music and to control the release of abusive musical works.

But label owners are said to be uncomfortable with the control measures via the introduction of an anti-piracy squad to arrest and prosecute offenders, among other things.

Speaking with P.M. Entertainment, Oyediran said MAAN will not allow pirates and non professionals to destroy the music industry, adding that his association was also planning to control the release of audio recordings and distribution.

A member of the Entertainment Promoters Association of Nigeria who does not want his name mentioned, said that the exploitative activities of MAAN and its overbearing influence did not go down well with the association and as such the promoters are planning to put a stop to it.

He also confided in P.M. Entertainment that label owners and other stakeholders are planning to go to court to stop MAAN from taking over the music industry, because as he put, “they are killing us.”

Music anti-piracy crusade began in Nigeria over 20 years ago with the establishment of Nigerian office of International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represented the recording industry worldwide and with membership of about 1,400 record companies in 66 countries and affiliated industries including Nigerian internationally licensed record companies such as the defunct CBS, which metamorphosed to Sony Music; EMI now Ivory Music and Polygram Records now Premier Music; Tabansi Records and Ebenezer Obey-owned Decross Records.

All these record companies were at the forefront of the anti-piracy crusade as they jointly contributed financially to support IFPI’s meagre subvention from abroad.

However, the National Association of Recording Industry was formed side by side IFPI by all local record companies to wage war against the menace of music pirates across the nation.

In their desire to reduce the piracy to the barest minimum, a security seal known as Banderol was introduced but it failed to achieve the desired result, leading to the option of individual company’s adoption of security measures.

One of the measures adopted was the introduction of customised colour hub as green, red and blue hubs were used by Ivory Music, Premier Music and Sony Music respectively among others, before the emergence of the compact disc.

—Additional report by Kayode Aponmade

 

Load more