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From the 1990s to the millennium era, another milestone in the growth of the record label industry in Nigeria was visible. New entrepreneurs, nouveaux riches, and budding Nigerian artistes in the diaspora combined forces with dynamic, industrious, educated, and tech-savvy home-based young Nigerians to build a fast-growing, vibrant record label and music industry in Nigeria. They started exploiting and exploring the opportunities provided in the digital age to produce, distribute, and sell music records without the need for both the major labels and their subsidiaries.
The period witnessed the emergence of Kennis Music, Storm Records, Trybe Records, Hypertek Digital, 960 Music Group, Question Mark, Westside Music, Empire Mates Entertainment (EME), Alapomeji (formerly Ancestral Records), Mo’Hits Records, Jonzing World, Mavin Records (2012), Yahoo Boy No Laptop Nation (YBNL, 2012), HKN Music, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW, 2016), Flyboy Inc., PentHauze Music, Triple MG, Spaceship Entertainment, Freeme Music, and Marlian Record, to mention just a few.
These new record labels have transformed the Nigerian music industry. The exponential growth spread to all parts of the world, with Nigerian artistes winning local and international music awards including the Grammy, BET, KORA, MOBO, Headies, and the Channel O Music Video Awards. From Asake, Burna Boy, Davido, Wasiu Ayinde, Wizkid, Pasuma Wonder, Kizz Daniel, Saheed Osupa, Olamide, 2Baba, Rema, Tiwa Savage, Fireboy, Naira Marley, Vector, Portable, and MohBad, as well as several ingenious others, the Nigerian artistes have become the jewels of the world.
The music industry has now become a major stakeholder, a major economic force, a major employer of labour and a major revenue platform, generating more than $4 billion a year. The Nigerian music industry now competes with the best and most advanced music industry in the world. The music industry flaunts wealth through its music videos, and these brought all comers to the record label industry.
The absence of an effective and proactive regulatory body compounded the problems, leading to regular crises between record labels and their artistes. It should be noted that the presence of an effective regulatory body does not mean the absence of conflicts between record labels and artistes.
Even in countries where there are regulatory bodies, record labels and artistes are sometimes at loggerheads. There were regular crises leading to bitter litigation between even the major record labels and some of the most renowned artistes in the world. In 2002, the late Michael Jackson voiced out his displeasure against his record label, Sony, saying, “The recording companies really, really do conspire against the artists—they steal, they cheat, they do everything they can (especially) against the black artists.” Also, Kanye West sued his record labels, Roc-A-Fella and Emi, over publishing rights. Others include Johnny Cash versus Columbia Records, Avenged Sevenford versus Warner Music, Dr. Dre versus Death Row Records, and the Backstreet Boys versus Zomba Recording Corporation.
In Nigeria, conflicts between record labels, managers, and their artistes are not new. To mention just a few, the fuji maestro, the late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, had legal cases with his record labels both while alive and even after his demise. Recently, Otolowo Records sued Alhaji Lati Alagbada and Alhaji Buhari Oloto over issues of copyright infringement regarding the last record titled “Last Message” made by the late Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde.
The story of how the late Ayinla Omowura died during a brawl with his manager was the spine of a recent film titled Ayinla (2021), produced by the ace Nigerian film producer, Tunde Kelani. King Sunny Ade and his Green Spot Band (now known as African Beats) have been in court for more than four decades over issues of contract agreements with African Songs Limited (ASL) and its sister company, Take Your Choice Records Stores Limited (TYC), founded by the late Chief Bolarinwa Abioro.
In recent times, other artistes who have had and are still having legal conflicts with their record labels include Charly Boy versus Premier Records Limited, Kizz Daniel versus G-Worldwide, Skale versus Baseline, Runtown versus Ericmany Entertainment, DJ Zeez versus HF Music, Vector versus YSG, Milli versus Chocolate City, Brymo versus Chocolate City, Temmie Ovwasa versus Yahoo Boy No Laptop Nation (YBNL), Cynthia Morgan versus Northside Entertainment, and Bella Shmurda versus One-Word Global Records Limited.
Therefore, the ongoing conflict between the Marlian Record and MohBad is neither strange nor new. What is new are the new meanings and new roles being ascribed to the term record label in the 21st century Nigerian music industry. What is new is the presence and proliferation of quacks, vultures, cult-like camaraderie displays, and hapless ignoramuses masquerading as artistes, managers, and owners of record label companies. What is not new as part of the cause of the conflicts between Marlian Record and MohBad is the continuous obsolete, archaic, and ineffective policies and regulatory system midwifing the relationships between record labels and their artistes in Nigeria.
Now, on the way forward: There is nothing that gives joy to an artiste like being signed to a label. It is liberating and an affirmation of hope as well as one’s contributions to humanity. It serves as a foreshadowing of fulfillment and a gateway to success. So, most times, artistes jump at it without having a full understanding of what they are jumping into. It is even worse in a situation where both the artistes and the record labels are ignoramuses, neophytes, and quacks. It means agreeing to record the deal(s).
It is a delicate step for the artist because getting a record label implies surrendering certain rights, which constitute fundamental elements of one’s soul and one’s creative works. It involves signing a contract! It involves signing a legally binding agreement that must be fulfilled.
Therefore, the moment of signing the contract is not a moment of fun, nor is it a moment to be done in a hurry. It is a critical solemn moment requiring reflection, guidance, and applications of both one’s creative and critical faculties with the support of professionals, including entertainment lawyers.
A record label is neither a Samaritan nor a philanthropist. It is a company set up with the sole aim of providing professional services to market, distribute, sell, and promote sound recordings made by their artistes. It is a profit-marking company. It is in the business of making profits by advancing the careers of their artistes.
In return for surrendering their sound recording as well as their present and future performances, artistes get lump sums, royalties, and other facilities to make them adjust as appropriate to their newly found fortune.
This is the part where the roles of regulatory bodies, stakeholders in the industry, and the government are crucial. There are voids to be filled because the Nigerian music industry has gone global. It needs effective regulatory bodies to midwife the industry and serve as checks and balances for artistes, record labels, and all the stakeholders in the industry. Standardized measures that stipulate the roles, powers, authorities, and rules of engagements and contractual agreements should be provided through the involvement and contributions of all the guilds and professional bodies in the entertainment industry.
The MohBad Justice in Creative Industry Bill should be enacted to reform not only the relationships and interrelationships between record labels and artistes, but all the transactions in the music industry and the entire entertainment industry in Nigeria.
It is important that artistes understand the meanings, language, intentions, significance, legality, scope, and limitations of the contract that they are about to sign.
The allowances, clauses, and rights in the contract must be understood before putting a pen to the contract. The recording contract is a license that gives a legal permit, rights, and ownership to the record label. A breach of the contract, either by the artistes or the seller, can lead to litigation. Therefore, artistes must understand what the contract stipulates in terms of the time covered by its contractual agreement with their label companies. The artistes must understand when to leave the record labels, when to start their own record labels, and the required provisions before breaking or breaching their contracts.
It is also important for artistes to get clarity on the situation before signing with a record label. An artiste worth his salt should not jump at a contract out of desperation, poverty, lures, threats, and ignorance. Remember the popular legal principle, ignorantiajuris non excusat, meaning “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”
Unfortunately, most artistes especially budding artistes are mostly too concerned about their arts while ignorant of the laws that concern their arts. A situation where the lines are blurred and there are no clear demarcations or clear stipulations easily degenerates, as is the case between the Marlian Record and MohBad.
A situation where record labels act as godfathers, protectors, providers, and stand in loco parentis not only for the artistes but also for their families creates rooms for a potential MohBadian ploy. A situation where signing to record labels implies or requires swearing to an oath and surrendering allegiance to the record labels, as well as seeing other artistes who are signed to the same record labels as members of the same family, society, or cult, is a potential MohBadian stratagem.
A situation where withdrawing or leaving a record label leads to threats, bullies, maximum shishis (assaults and physical violence), and threats to the life and properties of an artiste is a confirmed MohBadian subterfuge.
Oh, lest I forget, abeg, who kill MohBad?
Justice for MohBads!
#JusticeForMohBad
#Imolenization
#RecordLabels
#NigerianMusicIndustry
#NigerianCreativeIndustry
#NigerianEntertainmentIndustry
#Nollywood
Concluded
Dr. Otun is of the Department of Comparative Humanities, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky USA
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