The 2nd Emergency Meeting of the Nigerian Music Industry with the theme, ‘Identification of Internal and External Regulatory Mechanisms to Smoothen the Working Relationship among Various Stakeholders and Subgroups in the Music Industry,’ took place on Monday 12 February 2024, via video conference.
The Summit was facilitated by All Africa Music Awards – AFRIMA Music Business Summit in partnership with the Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Record Label Proprietors Initiative (RELPI), Association of Music Artist Managers of Nigeria (AMAMN) and Music Publishers Association of Nigeria (MPAN), Music Publishers Association of Nigeria (MPAN), Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria (FUMAN), among others.
The summit anchored by Mr. Efe Omorogbe saw the participation of all independent organisation performing oversight functions of the artistic, corporate, legal and policy regulations in the Nigerian music industry.
The 2nd emergency summit sought to redefine and consolidate the recommendations of the 4-man legal team instituted at the first emergency summit. This borders on the proposed establishment of a collective of representatives and other allied matters.
KEY ITEMS IDENTIFIED BY ATTENDANTS:
At the summit, participants discussed the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition proposal and the formation of a coalition. The conversation was about adopting the name and announcing the coalition.
After due consideration of the “Industry/Business” options, the final tally was 8 votes for ‘Music Industry Collective’ and 5 votes for ‘Music Industry Coalition’. The participants thus, agreed on the name ‘Nigerian Music Industry Collective’. It went further to agree that henceforth, the name, ‘Nigerian Music Industry Collective’ should replace AFRIMA as the secretariat.
On the issue of formal registration, participants agreed to start off as a loose association before perfecting the legal and operational mechanism for the establishment of the Academy for the music industry.
The participants agreed to have a draft announcement statement ready by February 13, 2024 and to set up a working committee to discuss funding, operational modalities, and membership eligibility.
The participants agreed that the working committee will at inception, be made up of leaders of the constituent associations/organizations or their designated representatives.
On the matter of the drafting of minimum standard agreement templates for the industry, Efe Omorogbe expressed gratitude to Isioma Idigbe and Punuka Partners the work done on the draft roadmap submitted for review by the larger house.
Isioma Idigbe did a presentation to the house discussing the objectives and process of evaluating contractual frameworks and establishing minimum contract terms within the music industry.
According to the document, a monitoring committee would be established from all the participating associations and entities to oversee the process and validate deliverables of the framework. The project is slated to span over six and a half months, with the overarching goal of establishing a self-regulatory system within the industry.
Deliverables outlined for this initiative include:
– Project Report
– Deal memos
– A contract template
– A review framework
The proposal was generally well received but concerns were expressed over the inclusion of COSON in the list of organisations to be engaged in the industry-wide contract Standardization drive largely owing to COSON’s lack of operating license.
PMAN President, Pretty Okafor and Olisa Adibua, were key leaders who raised questions about the implications of the Collective engaging with a CMO declared unlicensed by the regulator, Nigeria Copyright Commission.
Following robust debate, the participants agreed to adopt the recommendations as captured in the draft roadmap save for the inclusion of COSON, which was to be decided by vote at the next meeting.
Report from the 4-man Legal committee
As established at the first emergency summit, the 4-man legal advisory committee was tasked with the establishment industry regulation and the harmonization of standards in the industry through legal provisions.
The legal committee, after thorough deliberations and meeting with lawmakers, came up with important action plans as follows:
– Defining legal, diplomatic and regulatory synergy among industry players.
– Streamlining participation for industry practitioners into a collective, establish alternative dispute resolution channels, lighten the cost of seeking copyright disputes, and activate dormant legal provisions.
– Aiming to establish operational standards and regulations internally to streamline industry practices. This is in a bid to establish the autonomy of the industry away from perpetual government involvement.
– Development of minimum guiding terms for contracts and dispute resolution mechanisms. Suggestions included drafting contract templates and establishing a local model of dispute resolution services akin to that of the US’s WIPO.
Closing and adoption:
Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde moved the motion for the adoption of the recommendation document and it was seconded by Mr. Mike Dada.
Dr. Kenny Ogungbe moved the motion for adjournment of the meeting and it was seconded by Alhaji Sikiru.
