Copyright policy and the Nigerian music industry in the era of digitalisation

Abstract

The booming Nigerian music industry is having a tremendous impact on the global music scene, but at the local level it is beset by difficulties brought about by copyright enforcement. The very vibrancy of this industry is attested through numerous kinds of sonic outputs amidst the ongoing process of digitalisation, especially as evidenced by the current mainstream youth-driven hip-hop hybrid music genre known as ‘Afrobeats’. However, insufficient attention has been given by scholars to the availability, or lack, of spaces for independent and/or emerging artists to create songs outside the tight control of copyright and intellectual property laws. This is especially true for musicians who produce ‘digital mixes’. One issue that comes up rather often in reference to the production and consumption of music in this heavily regulated internet-era context is piracy, which, though ethically problematic, has nevertheless persisted in the absence of meaningful ways to allow independent and emerging artists the freedom to ply their trade.