Nigeria Marks Golden Silence on September 1

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) has called for ‘No Music Day’ on September 1 to draw national attention to the widespread infringement of the rights of composers, song writers, performers, music publishers and other stakeholders in the music industry in Nigeria.

Preparatory to the ‘No Music Day’ Copyright Society of Nigeria said it will hold an “Open House” to update the public on activities of the music industry.

The theme of this year’s celebration, “A world without Music” is to promote the unsung contributions of Nigerian music to the socio-economic development of the nation.

‘No Music Day’ was introduced in 2005 by Bill Drummond, a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer  to draw attention to the cheapening of music as an art form due to its mindless and ubiquitous use in contemporary society.

Originally held on November 21st of every year, ‘No Music Day’ has grown worldwide and is marked with no music on local radio stations, TV stations, or in shops.

And the cinemas only showed films without music soundtracks.

In Nigeria, the day is observed on September 1 every year since 2009 and they have been quite successful.

Copyright Society of Nigeria and music industry use the day to also press for payment of royalties on their works and ask for action against counterfeiters of their works.

In the past Nigerian Music Industry Coalition, which is concerned about the non-payment of royalties added a dimension when they embarked hunger strike to protest loss of money to piracy.

Piracy is a clear and present danger to the music industry. Most CDs and DVDs in circulation in Nigeria today would appear to be pirated.

In absence of official records, the losses from piracy are staggering and has multiplied poverty index of artistes.