Femi Kuti, Deniot call for enhanced quality Nigerian music to encourage business opportunities

Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti and the Chief Executive Officer of Midem, the global music community, Alexandre Deniot, have jointly called for concerted efforts by stakeholders in the Nigerian music industry to ensure top quality content as a means to positioning the country’s music market for greater business opportunities.

They both took this position at the second Lagos edition of the Midem African Forum. The forum, which was the Lagos leg of the four-city road show, which began in Dakar, Senegal on April 9, with stop over in Douala, Cameroon on April 12, held at the Radisson Blu Ikeja. The grand finale will hold in Cannes, France from June 4 – 7, 2019.

The event, which was attended music industry stakeholders, tech professionals, entertainment lawyers, talent managers, PR agencies, artistes and music lovers among other members of the entertainment industry, addressed issues around the way forward for the African music industry as it continues to grow its presence all over the world.

The event lasted till 7pm with two impactful panels, discussing ways to assist the African music market, particularly Nigeria, to achieve its full potential.

Speaking to journalist at a media parley, Midem CEO Alexandre Deniot, said the global music platform has been collaborating with major players in the music scene across the African continent with the aim to strengthen the exchange between national and international executives and sectors in order to facilitate the structuring of high-potential markets.

He said, “Despite their incredible influence over lots of music styles all over the world, African countries only represent two percent of the world music market. However, with the highest youth population and a rapid adoption of mobile media, the digital revolution has given a new opportunity to export more local artists. The African markets, with their diversity and cultural wealth, possess a huge potential.

According to Deniot, “This programme is developed to assist with the structuring and professionalisation of the music industry in emerging regions to stimulate its international exchanges.”

In his remark, Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti, noted that the production of good music would lead to more business opportunities for the Nigerian music industry.

The Bang Bang crooner said the initiative has helped both participants with the right mindset on how “we can individually and collectively change the narrative of African music in the global stage.”

The first panel, comprising of singers Waje and Wale Davies, entertainment lawyer, Yemisi Falaye; Sony Music Nigeria executive, Michael Ugwu, and Laverine Thomas, discussed ‘The Narrative Of African Music’ as perceived across the world and how to change it for the better. They all shed light on the relevance of labels set up to deliver 360 deals with the evolution of independent artistes and labels in Africa.

The Second Panel followed with discussions around charting a course for the African digital market, x-raying the topic ‘Managing A Career In Music And The Possibilities Of The African Digital Market’.

The panelists made up of Thibaut Mullings of IDOL, Boomplay’s Tosin Sorinola, MTN’s Oye Akindeinde, promoter Bizzle Osikoya, events organiser Chidi Okeke and marketing strategist Kelvin Orifa, broke down the importance of data in applying new tools and perspectives for music in a digital world. They went further to discuss ways to apply the tools and concepts to the music industry.

Giving tips to aspiring talent managers in the audience, Taiye Aliyu of Effizie Records spoke about his work and life as a music executive. He also shared ways upcoming talent managers can become better and gave pointers on steps to take.

Attendees were later engaged in closed work group sessions with discussion and presentation of ideas towards building innovative business models (adopted to local realities), embracing tech and digital (to reach local and global audiences), structuring the local industry (regulation, building the value chain and a strong ecosystem) and capacity development (educating artistes, professionals and creating infrastructures).

It will be recalled that first edition of the event, which held last year, explored ways to build connections to allow African music travel and structure the value chain. The forum returned to the city for the second edition in partnership with Trace.