Yes to Golden Silence

It is easier to call it “piracy,” but that is too benign of a term to adequately describe tears, sweat and blood, music robbery leaves in its wake in the industry.

The damage is profound and cuts across every player in the music industry from the songwriter to the recording artist, to audio engineer, to computer technicians, to talent scouts and to marketers.

Music specialists, producers, publishers and even the government are not spared as they are denied of their legitimate earnings.

Music piracy is a despicable crime.

The term piracy is generally used to describe the deliberate infringement of copyright on a commercial scale.

In relation to the music industry it refers to unauthorised copying of music; the unauthorised duplication of an original recording for a commercial gain without the consent rights of the owner.

Pirated copies in this category are usually much cheaper than the original product.

There is also a music counterfeit, which is when an original recording is copied and packed to resemble the original as closely as possible.

The original producer's trademarks and logos are reproduced in order to mislead the consumers into believing that they are buying an original product.

And there is the unauthorised recording of a live broadcast performance.

 This is a bootleg.

The recording is then duplicated and sold without the permission of the composer, artist or recording company.

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

Musicians say their livelihoods are being threatened.

That is why we welcome the ‘No Music Day’ called by Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) 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.

This year’s theme “A world without Music” also falls in line with efforts 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.

Piracy is a clear and present danger to the music industry.

We enjoin all Nigerians to use the day to focus on the rights of creative people and the state of intellectual property rights in Nigeria.

Music is like air. As long as it is there, people really do not quite value it.

 Let us all join hands for some hours and feel how difficult life have been for the owners whose creativity are being stolen.