The state of music distribution in Nigeria especially as it concerns core stakeholders like artistes, record labels and music entrepreneurs, is like being surrounded by seawater in abundance, yet with nothing to drink.
Everywhere you go in all the major cities of Nigeria, you find music CDs on sale; on the streets, in the shops, on the roads you’ll see hawkers in traffic jams branding a colorful array and assortment of Nigerian artiste’s products. This suggests to an uninformed observer that the artistes whose works are displayed are getting a profitable return from the sales of their products, but this impression however is a million miles away from the truth. On the contrary, majority of Nigerian artistes and record labels still goes home empty and broke; the artistes in particular are like a sweet orange sucked and squeezed to the last drop and then thrown away by the cunning ‘Alaba marketers’ and the undiscerning music consuming public. As it stands today, music distribution remains a major dilemma for the industry as a whole.
At the root of all successful consumer goods and products manufacturing companies like CocaCola, Unilever, Cadbury, P.Z, and Dangote etc is a credible, efficient and accountable distribution system and structure that guarantee the return and delivery of expected profit – the heart and soul of business.
But the reality is however on the contrary for the Nigerian music industry, an irony for an industry that manufactures music- the most popular consumer product in the modern world. The industry exists today without a credible, efficient and accountable music distribution system and structure.
A cursory look at the ‘Alaba market’, the central hub of music distribution and marketing activities situated in Lagos state, the entertainment capital of Nigeria reveals what Thomas Hobbes the philosopher aptly described in his Hobbessian state of nature theory as “nasty, brutish and short”. This theory unveils the reasons for the short-lived careers of many artistes, musicians and record labels in Nigeria today.
Any tom , dick and harry can practically set up shop in Alaba market today and start music distribution business because there is no active or enforced government regulations; research also revealed that there is no need to register with an appropriate government agency like the Nigeria Copyright Commission in order to set up a music distribution business. The majority of music industry practitioners on the other hand are all ignorantly living in denial, pretending that all is well like the proverbial ostrich that covers its head in the sand while exposing its whole body to harm.
Every individual artiste/musician, record label, and music entrepreneur are all busy investing expensively in music recording, music video production and on-air promotion only to reap crumbs in profit at the end of the day because of an inadequate, inefficient and unaccountable music distribution system left at the industry’s expense to the mercies of bootleggers, nonentities and pirates.
Due to the lack of an adequate distribution model, there are no scientific means or designs to accurately measure sales statistics, figures and data for CD sales; there is also no means of measuring empirically the growth rate of the Nigerian music industry as a whole. Unlike in the United States for instance where they have Soundscan (among other means) a computer database that monitors to the nearest accurate percentage of all CD sales by registering the barcode details on the back of a CD pack thereby ensuring the delivery of accurate statistics for measuring the market’s growth rate and investment opportunities etc.
It is arguable that we have not attained that level of technological growth in Nigeria, but what is uncontestable is the fact also that an ordinary ‘pure water’ producing company have a near accurate record per product unit and profit percentage on each; more importantly, they have functional associations that are regulated by government agencies like NAFDAC unlike the music industry.
This is all simple processes devoid of rocket science.
The absence of accountability and means of accurately monitoring CD sales statistics and figures has engendered a culture of zero trust between artistes/musician, record labels and the music “marketers”; this state has inadvertently led to a detrimental trend of outright sales of the artiste’s master CD and other exclusive marketing rights at a paltry amount usually determined by the cunning “marketers” as against the favorable global standard practice of the royalty method. The royalty approach ensures that the artiste/label gets an agreed percentage called “royalty” from every unit of CD sold, a fair deal for all parties involved. The alaba marketers’ cunning and defrauding way of buying the master CD leaves the artiste as the biggest loser in the deal.
Take the case of Musiliu Isola, son of the late Apala music legend Aruna Isola, who a couple of years back remixed one of his father’s hit track and ignorantly sold the master CD to an alaba music ‘marketer’ for a paltry sum of five hundred thousand naira only for the album to become a hit that sold millions of copies. He came out crying later but it was too late, he already signed a “slave's” contract.
In order to address the dilemma of music distribution in Nigeria, there is an urgent need for all leading music industry stakeholders from the highest to the lowest, artistes, label owners, producers, music video directors, artiste managers, music distributors etc to unanimously come together and devise a way of building an efficient and credible music distribution system that will be accountable to the industry. It is a fundamental responsibility and right of all music industry practitioners to see to the creation of a standard music distribution model by all means necessary that will ensure the delivery of adequate return- on-investment for all parties involved.
This is a clarion call for all industry stakeholders to wake-up and be the architect of their own destinies. It is their responsibility to lobby and sponsor bills that will enforce and protect the industry’s rights at the house of reps and senate level; to pressurize government to actively enforce intellectual property laws that Nigeria is a signatory to; and to be actively involved in the process of music distribution.
It is little wonder that the four biggest recording companies in the world (WEA, Universal, SonyBMG and CEMA/UNI) are all essentially into music distribution and publishing because they understood perfectly that music distribution is the heart of the music business that cannot be left to the mercy and control of bootleggers, nonentities and pirates.
The role of government in the creation of a credible and functional music distribution structure cannot be overemphasized, but the Nigerian government has been too blind and ignorant to see a future prospect that is brighter than the oil fields of all the Niger-Delta states combined in the music and entertainment industry. This account for the lack of interest and of political and judicial will to enforce copyright and intellectual property laws in the country by successive regimes.
The music/entertainment industry in America for instance competes favorably with their oil and gas, IT, aviation and automobile industries etc as a major source of revenue generation for the country besides its use as an instrument of propaganda to spread the American democracy and lifestyle all over the world.
Music has been adjudged globally as the number one driver of the digital commerce. Music and entertainment values now influence the direction of technological inventions and creations in the global telecommunications, computer and IT worlds. Products like MP3 enabled mobile phones, ipod, music/entertainment friendly computers, In-flight entertainment designs for the aviation industry and advance automobile sound system design to mention a few, lends credence to the fact that music as the most popular consumer product is actively driving growth and opportunities in the technological and digital commerce.
So, the question is, why would any sane and serious minded government ignore this whole world of opportunities? Ignorance. Sheer ignorance.
The Nigeria Copyright Commission has to do more than just conducting occasional raids here and there and wasting money on producing loud but ineffective campaigns. As the government’s agency and organ for enforcing copyright and intellectual property laws in the country; it must seek to build a sustainable and accountable music distribution system in the country that will ensure the success of all stakeholders. The NCC’s presence must be felt in alaba market, in all the CD replicating plants across the country and on the media both radio and TV that sustains there audiences on the sweat and strength of the music industry without paying them royalties.
In all these, the Nigerian artistes/musicians, record labels and music entrepreneurs who invest their time, money and resources in the music industry will remain the greatest losers unless they all unanimously come together to champion the cause of building a credible, efficient and accountable music distribution structure in the country.
