MUSIC RIGHTS MANAGEMENT AND ITS CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA  

 

Music rights management concerns itself with the compensation of music creators. It typically protects the copyright of musicians and other stakeholders involved in the creation of a song(such as record labels, songwriters, etc.) 

In essence, the objective of music rights management is to ensure accreditation and payment for everyone involved in the production and release of music. 

Publishing companies, record labels and PRO‘s (Performance Rights Organisation) are usually tasked with this responsibility. 

 

The term “copyright” covers a plethora of music rights that require educated management, some of them include; 

  1. Mechanical Rights: These are the rights to reproduce and distribute musical works. It is usually managed by  music publishers. 
  2. Synchronization rights: These are also managed by music publishers and includes the right to consent to the adaptation of one’s music into an audiovisual work(video games, movies, etc.). 
  3. Performance Rights: As the name implies it is the  right to perform musical works in public. This right is managed by PRO‘s such as BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, etc. 

 

Management of the rights listed above has proven to be a difficult task. 

In Nigeria as well as other countries, this digital era has birthed streaming services, global markets and new possibilities in the field of data management. Whilst these have had positive impacts, they have also aided in the creation of more cracks and lacunas in the music industry. 

 

Some of the challenges facing music rights management in Nigeria include: 

 

  1. Complex and inconsistent royalty payout methods: Streaming services such as Spotify and  Apple Music usually have to obtain licenses from the different stakeholders (musician, record labels, etc.) involved in the creation/release of any music on their catalog. This is apparently difficult as the process of identifying and paying these stakeholders can be quite complex, inaccurate and costly. It is very difficult to pay all stakeholders when we also  consider the very little royalty rate most streaming services offer. You’ve to accumulate millions of streams before you can get a sizable paycheck. 
  2. Lack of functional data management: Licensing and royalty payment requires data to determine who owns a right, who is entitled to get paid and who receives monthly or quarterly reports on the usage and progress of a song. The problem is that we do not have a uniform database to provide such information. This has resulted in the creation of a value gap. The IFPI’s 2018 Global Music Report explains that the term “value gap” “describes the growing mismatch between the value that user upload services, such as YouTube, extract from music and the revenue returned to the music community—those who are creating and investing in music. This means that streaming numbers are Astronomical and yet creatives are not getting paid. The monies owed to creatives end up in the pockets of these streaming services because there is no one to pay it to-due to lack of proper documentation. 
  3. General ignorance on the subject matter: Most musicians are unaware of the technical aspects of the music business. They also do not see the need to employ the services of a copyright lawyer or rights management personnel. The cause of this nonchalant attitude may be absolute reliance on other forms of revenue generation such as  selling merch , holding concerts and live performances. This makes it easier for streaming services to continue usurping steaming revenue. 

The aforementioned challenges give insight on the current state of the music industry. Some solutions such as the use of blockchain for uniform databases and credible  data management/ royalty payout have been proffered by many music business stakeholders. The music industry is still in a talking stage with such futuristic type solutions. It is hoped that implementation of these solutions begin in earnest before the value gap morphs into a blackhole. 

 

In the meantime, it is advisable to engage the services of copyright lawyers and rights management companies.  Lack of information and educated strategy in this digital era is nothing more than planning to fail.