At COSON House in Ikeja, the Headquarters of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Nigeria’s biggest organization in the music industry, all is set for the 2020 edition of the celebration of the annual “No Music Day” which holds every year on the 1st of September.
“No Music Day” is a day the music industry in Nigeria dedicates annually to bring the attention of the Nigerian nation to the widespread infringement of the rights of song writers, composers, performers, music publishers, record labels and other stakeholders in the nation’s music industry.
As has been done every year in the past 11 years, COSON on behalf of the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition, has once again requested broadcasting stations in the country to devote a substantial amount of broadcast time on Tuesday, September 1 to programs which highlight the significant abuse of the rights of creative people in Africa’s most populous nation. This is to show solidarity with the Nigerian creative community ravaged by piracy and other forms of rights infringement.
Nigerian newspapers, magazines and Social Media blogs have also been requested to publish special features on issues bordering on the infringement of Intellectual Property rights on “No Music Day”.
As “No Music Day” is marked across the country on September 1, COSON has also asked its thousands of members all over Nigeria and other stakeholders in the music industry to engage with the public through the mass media and by vigorous deployment of their social media handles to register their disdain for the widespread contempt for the rights of creative people in Nigeria.
“No Music Day” is traceable to that historic week in 2009 when Nigerian artistes of different shades embarked on a weeklong hunger strike staged in front of the National Theatre in Lagos. The hunger strike which was a result of the frustration caused by the devastating level of intellectual property theft in the country was the prelude to what has become known as “No Music Day” in Nigeria. The day was September 1, 2009 when practitioners in the Nigerian music industry asked the over 400 licensed broadcast stations in the country not to broadcast music for a significant period of the day.
For the first time in human history, on September 1, 2009, the music industry in a nation called for the halt of the broadcast of music on all channels for an entire day. This action captured the imagination of the world and what is marked as “No Music Day” every year in Nigeria, was born.
Speaking on the forthcoming “No Music Day”, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji, said “we wish to underline the fact that at a time of dwindling revenue, when we seek to improve the socio-economic conditions of our people, Nigeria can no longer continue to pay lip service to the protection of its creative industries”.
On “No Music Day” 2020, all flags at COSON House will fly at half-mast, representatives and supporters of the music industry will fan out to different broadcast stations for discussions and interviews and an official statement on the state of the Nigerian music industry will be released from COSON House.
The theme for the 2020 “No Music Day” is: “A MUSIC INDUSTRY CHALLENGED BY THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC”