Wednesday September 1, 2010 has been declared No Music Day throughout Nigeria by the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition, a coalition of the key national associations in the Nigerian music industry. The day will be dedicated to drawing 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.
In consequence therefore, the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition is requesting all broadcasting stations in the country to devote the period between the hours of 9.00 am and 10.00 am on Wednesday, September 1 solely to the broadcast of interviews, debates, comments, discussions, and other programs related to the rights of artistes and creative people, as a mark of solidarity with the Nigerian creative community. All national newspapers and magazines are also requested to do special features and editorials on the subject. Top Nigerian artistes and key personalities in the music industry have also been requested to make themselves available for interviews and discussion programmes across the various media to make No Music Day 2010, a huge success.
It will be recalled that September 1, 2009, was observed as No Music Day throughout Nigeria, making it the first time such an event has been held in any nation in the world. No Music Day 2009 was preceded by a huge rally of Nigerian artistes held at the National Theatre in Lagos and a weeklong Hunger Strike campaign waged by top Nigerian artistes across the nation.
No Music Day 2009 was also the fore runner to the renewed robust onslaught on music and video pirates across the country leading to the degrading of the Alaba piracy cabal and the arrest and prosecution of their alleged kingpin, Tony Onwujekwe, Alias Alaba King of Pirates.
The spirit and unity of purpose generated by No Music Day 2009 brought about the birth of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the nation sole copyright collective management organization for musical works and sound recordings which is set to revolutionize collective administration of copyright in Nigeria..
The Nigerian Music Industry Coalition has decided that September 1 of every year will henceforth be commemorated as No Music Day and will be used to draw national attention to the rights of creative people in Nigeria.
FOR: THE NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY COALITION
