Shifi Emoefe of the popular Styl-Plus music group has called on the government to intervene to protect music artistes from copyright infringement.
He lamented the situation where music artistes are limited to direct earnings from shows only while others benefit from their work financially without giving them due credit or royalty.
Shifi disclosed that the situation, if not addressed, could leave many of the popular stars of today broke when they retire.
In an interview with The Punch published on Sunday, he said: I feel the government is not doing enough to protect artistes . When it comes to royalties , we don ’t get what we are supposed to get . As a result of this , artistes have to depend solely on what they make from shows while they are still relevant. Once they retire , problems start . That is when we discover that they are not really making money from their past efforts . If the likes of King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey retire , there is no reason they should be broke . A lot of artistes of our generation will suffer the same ordeal unless something is done about it. I know that the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria and the Copyright Society of Nigeria are trying their best , but they need the full support of the government .
He further disclosed that the group gets less than what it expected as royalty from its work.
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