Musicians to Share N100M Royalty @ EGM

Members of Copyright Society of Nigeria (Coson) will congregate in Lagos as the Collective Management Organization holds its Extra-Ordinary General Meeting come December 11 when they are expected to approve the distribution of the sum N100Million as copyright royalties.

This follows the decision of the Board at its meeting of November 15, 2012 that a scheme for the distribution of the sum of N100million to members on the register of the society as of May 19, 2012 be placed before the members.

If the resolution is carried, the distribution will commence immediately at the venue of the meeting.

This will be the second time in a row that members of Coson will enjoy a Christmas season of bountiful harvest. It will be recalled that on December 13, 2011, there was singing and dancing when Coson at the National Theater in Lagos resolved to distribute more than N25,000 to members across the country.

Hundreds of Nigerian musicians are beneficiaries of that distribution. The proposed distribution will therefore be the second since Coson was approved in 2010 as the nation’s sole CMO for musical works and sound recordings.

Tony Okoroji,  Coson  Chairman, said: “There are many who swore that it would never happen. Truly, two years ago when the industry was in no position to  distribute one penny, if anyone had said that we will be distributing one hundred million naira so soon, it would have sounded very foolish. By the grace of the Almighty and as a result of the hundred per cent commitment of our Board to the cause, what appeared impossible just two years ago is happening before our eyes. I have great faith that if we continue on the path that we are following, in a few years, Coson will be distributing a billion naira a year and more to music industry stakeholders. Good things can happen in Nigeria. Coson is without doubt a Nigerian success story”.

Chinedu Chukwuji, Coson general manager assured members of the society that the distribution process will be one hundred per cent transparent and that the high level of accountability associated with Coson will be maintained.