PurpleBlue also provides intelligence and expertise about numerous aspects of the modern music industry, including music rights, the digital market, digital licensing, artiste and record deals, music and social media, etc.
We help you navigate the complex global music business. We are able to provide you tailor made solutions. Get a consultant from amongst our best music consultants and experts
With our in-depth knowledge and understanding of copyright, music business, finance and the music industry, we are positioned to assist you with your copyright asset and catalogue valuation. We are also able to help you establish the true value of your copyright assets.
Music publishing is the business of commercialization and monetization of musical works (compositions). We ensure that songwriters receive royalties for their compositions, and also work to generate opportunities for those compositions to be performed and reproduced.
We help you sell your music online by distributing your songs on major streaming stores like; Apple Music, Spotify, Boomplay, Audiomack, Itunes e.t.c
Obtaining the rights to use works in which copyright subsists is incredibly important. Failure to secure these rights could lead to some big legal ‘wahala’ and costs that could easily be avoided.
As an independent artiste, we help you find opportunities for your music by providing you cutting edge label services.
We provide cutting edge consultancy on copyright issues and collective management business.
This requires very careful understanding of how you intend to use the music and who to approach for the clearance of the music and any inherent rights that may be implicated during exploitation (use) of the music.
Reviewing and drafting of music industry contracts require more than just a drafting skill. It also requires hands-on experience and knowledge of the industry, as it could be a very tricky path to walk. Talk to us about these.
The role of artiste management is critical to the success of the artiste, as it helps to shape his or her career. Our artiste management department is well positioned to help our artiste clients get remunerated or paid for their works and establish and pursue long-term career goals.
We help get the people to listen to your music, and sound by raising awareness for your music. Without promoting your music and yourself effectively and properly no one may know you or your music exist.
We have curated key courses for different levels of our student in order to equip, elevate and empower them, and make them the most sought-after music business professionals of practitioners anywhere in the world
PurpleBlue is dedicated to not only positioning your business for success but also impacting you with all the knowledge you need to scale your business
Our team is made up of industry experts who have been in the industry for several years, who knows the in and out of the industry, who have experience working in the industry and knows what works and what doesn’t
With great legal practitioners, you will sure be provided with best practices
Copyright is an exclusive right, which the law grants to a creator of an eligible work, as soon as the work is put in a tangible form and which right prevents all others from the exploitation of such work without the authorisation of the creator or his/her successor-in-title, for a specified period.
Neighbouring Rights are those rights which are not copyright but are related to copyright. They are rights neighbour to copyright. Neighbouring Rights or Related Rights are the rights – Moral and Economic that normally belong to the Performers, & the Producers of phonograms/sound recordings and broadcasting organizations in relation to use of their Performances, Phonograms, and Broadcasts.
Copyright begins immediately a work is created and fixed in any definite medium of expression now known or later to be developed, from which it can be perceived, reproduced or otherwise communicated either directly or with the aid of any machine or device. Copyright protection is automatic. There is no requirement to register for Copyright. For example, copyright in musical work begins automatically, once a piece of music is created or recorded. It could be by simply writing down the notation of a score.
In Nigeria, copyright in musical work holds for the lifetime of the author and seventy years after the death of the author, while copyright in sound recording holds for fifty years after the end of the year in which the recording was first published.
Copyright is an exclusive right and gives a creator or owner of a work a “basket of rights”, which includes, the sole right to reproduce the copyrighted work in any material form, to publish the work, to perform the work in public, to make any cinematograph film or a record in respect of the work, to broadcast or communicate the work to the public by loudspeaker or other similar device, to issue sell or rent copies to the public, make the work available to the public by wire or wireless means in such a way that members of the public are able to access the work from a place and at a time independently chosen by them, make any adaptation of the work; etc. These rights are commonly referred to as economic rights.
Author in the case of literary, artistic or musical works, means the creator of the work.
Author in the case of a photographic work, means the person who took the photograph.
Author in the case of sound recording, means the person by whom the arrangements for the making of the sound recording were made, except that in the case of a sound recording of a musical work, “author” means the artist in whose name the recording was made, unless in either case the parties to the making of the sound recording, provide otherwise by contract;
Author in the case of a broadcast transmitted from within any country, means the person by whom the arrangements for the making or the transmission from within that country were undertaken.
right holders, fulfilling the membership requirements of a CMO and admitted by the CMO.
A music publisher is the person responsible for maximizing the commercial potential of a songwriter’s musical works through promotion of the songs and issuance of licences in television programmes, movies/films, advertisements, video games and other commercial opportunities.
This means any musical composition, irrespective of musical quality and includes works composed for musical accompaniment. It also means the underlying composition created by a songwriter or composer along with any accompanying lyrics.
The works in respect of which a collective management organisation manages and controls on behalf of the copyright owners or right holders.
This is a claim to property, which enables the right owner to exclude or prevent others from exploiting or using his/her work(s) or performance embodied in a work without his/her permission (licence).
Any person or entity, other than a collective management organisation, that holds a copyright or related right or, under an agreement for the exploitation of rights or by law, is entitled to a share of the royalty.
Income collected by a collective management organisation on behalf of copyright owners or right holders, whether deriving from an exclusive right, a right to remuneration or a right to compensation.
The authors of musical works are composers, lyricists and/or songwriters. A songwriter may contribute music, lyrics, or both. A songwriter is anyone who creates or writes an original song.
This means the first fixation of a sequence of sound capable of being perceived aurally and of being reproduced but does not include a sound track associated with a cinematograph film. This is created when a performance of a musical work has been fixed in a recording medium such as a CD or digital file.
When an artiste under a recording contract writes or co-writes his/her songs, these songs are referred to as controlled compositions. By the rule of the game, the record companies are expected to pay mechanical royalties to the relevant copyright owners or the controller of the copyright in the songs, which is reproduced on the records.
CMO means an association of right owners which has as its principal objectives the negotiating and granting of licenses, collecting and distributing of royalties in respect of copyright works or related rights.
The term “mechanical royalties” initially referred to royalties paid whenever a song was reproduced by a mechanical device. One of exclusive rights the law grants to copyright owners, is the right to authorize the reproduction of their works. The term “mechanical royalties” was applied to the reproduction of songs in music boxes, player pianos rolls, and later, phonograph records. This term is still used, and “mechanical royalties” now refers to royalties paid for the reproduction of songs on storage devices like flash or hard drives. A mechanical right licence is also required for many digital uses – permanent downloads, limited downloads, on-demand streams, ringtones, caller back tunes, etc.
Each time a song is performed in public or in a commercial environment, the composer of the song is entitled to receive royalty income for that public performance. It doesn’t matter whether the song is performed by a live band, or if a recorded version of the song is played, broadcast, communicated, transmitted, streamed or made available. They all qualify as a public performance. That means a song is performed publicly when a recording of it is broadcast on a radio station, when it is played television or as part of a television programme or when it is played in a nightclub or when it is streamed online (via the internet) or performed at concerts or events. To comply with the copyright law, the radio station, television network, club, online music service or concert who are referred to as users must have a performing rights licence authorizing the public performance.
Any person, entity or organisation that is carrying out acts subject to the authorisation of rightholders, remuneration of rightholders or payment of compensation to rightholders and is not acting in the capacity of a consumer.
Music like your laptop, mobile phone, car, land, jewelry, etc. is property. It is regarded as Intellectual Property under the law. Just like you will need the permission or authorization of the owner of a property to use his/her property, you are equally required by law to seek the permission or authorization of the owner of the music before you can use his/her music in a public or commercial environment.
When music is therefore performed or used in a public or commercial space, a music copyright licence is required. Song writers, composers, performers, publishers and owners of sound recording are entitled to compensations when their music is performed or used in a public or commercial space. This compensation or reward commonly referred to as royalty in the music industry supports their livelihood and enables them to keep producing the good and sweet music that supports many businesses.
Failure to obtain a music copyright license for the use of music in public or commercial environment may result in legal action against you for copyright infringement, and you may be liable to pay damages, costs, injunctions, accounts for profits, etc.
It is the responsibility of music users to understand and meet their copyright obligations. Operators of Television and Radio stations (both terrestrial, satellite and online), communication and telephone companies, Online Music Service, Nightclubs, Hotels, Restaurants and Bars, Event Centers, Shopping Malls and Plaza, Supermarkets, Shops, Hair-dressing Salons and Barber’s shops, Taxi Cabs, Buses and Luxurious Buses, Cinema Halls, Airlines and Airport lounges, Advert and Activation Agencies, Corporate Businesses, Deejays, Owners of Banking Halls and Organizers of musical shows & concerts etc. are advised to get in touch with the rightholders or their CMO for appropriate licence to use music. If music is used in your premises or business, it is your responsibility to ensure that the correct licences are in place so that you do not fall foul of the law.
