COSON to distribute N100million to Musicians on December 11, 2012

Come December 11, 2012, members of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) will congregate in Lagos as the Collective Management Organization holds its Extra-Ordinary General Meeting. The main item on the agenda is for the members to pass a resolution approving the distribution of the sum of One Hundred Million Naira as copyright royalties. This follows the decision of the Board at its meeting of November 15, 2012 that a scheme for the distribution of the sum of one Hundred Million Naira to members on the register of the society as of May 19, 2012 be placed before the members. If the resolution is carried, the distribution will commence immediately at the venue of the meeting.
This will be the second time in a row that members of COSON will enjoy a Christmas season of bountiful harvest. It will be recalled that on December 13, 2011, there was singing and dancing when COSON at the National Theater in Lagos resolved to distribute the sum of more than Twenty Five Million Naira to members across the country. Hundreds of Nigerian musicians are beneficiaries of that distribution. The proposed distribution will therefore be the second since COSON was approved in 2010 as the nation’s sole CMO for musical works and sound recordings.

Commenting on the development, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji said, ‘there are many who swore that it would never happen. Truly, two years ago when the industry was in no position to distribute one penny, if anyone had said that we will be distributing one hundred million naira so soon, it would have sounded very foolish. By the grace of the Almighty and as a result of the hundred per cent commitment of our Board to the cause, what appeared impossible just two years ago is happening before our eyes. I have great faith that if we continue on the path that we are following, in a few years, COSON will be distributing a billion naira a year and more to music industry stakeholders. Good things can happen in Nigeria. COSON is without doubt a Nigerian success story’.
COSON General Manager, Mr Chinedu Chukwuji has assured members of the society that the distribution process will be one hundred per cent transparent and that the high level of accountability associated with COSON will be maintained. He however requested members who have not done so to forward their account details to the society. This he says has become necessary because of the cashless policy of the government. According to Mr Chukwuji, only in extreme cases will any COSON member receive his royalty in cash anymore.
Chibueze Okereke
Head, Media Communications and Strategy