Nigeria's Replete inks deal with Kobalt Music

Replete CEO Amy Oraefo and the vice-president of business affairs at Kobalt's London offices, Mulika Sannie, recently held an introductory session with music industry professionals at Oriental Hotel in Lagos. It was the company's first event in the city and in the audience were songwriters, producers, record label representatives and artists Praiz and Ruby Gyang.

“We are truly excited to join the Kobalt family,” Oraefo said. “This deal sees the world’s largest independent publishing company partnering with a boutique publishing company whose focus is to promote songwriters of the African diaspora.

“We are committed to ensuring that our music creators’ best interests remain at the forefront. Our partnership with Kobalt will help take our creators’ content to the ears of the world so all can experience the vast amount of talent throughout the continent of Africa."

Oraefo explained some of the finer points of music publishing, saying Nigerian artists were losing revenue to companies in charge of royalties. “If they don’t have anybody to pay they'll hold onto it,” she said, adding that some local professionals are unaware.

Asked about the local and international divisions in royalty collection, Oraefo said: “It is about collecting money internationally. The music industry is not domestic. There is no such thing as 'territorial' anymore. Because of the way people are listening to music, there is no music that is heard in one country that cannot be heard in a different country.”

Sannie said: “There is so much talent and great music that comes out of Nigeria, so this is a fantastic opportunity to support Replete in ensuring its songwriters maximise their earnings not just domestically but also internationally.”

While encouraging partnerships in the music industry, Sannie advised songwriters to sign up with performance rights organisations. "Publishers can't touch some payments and publishers will have to hold onto it as black-box money, which is unidentified monies."

Senior vice-president of creative at the Kobalt Atlanta office Al McLean said: “I feel the continent of Africa is one of the hottest emerging markets in the world of music and partnering with such a visionary company like Replete is the future.”