African forum holds successful edition in Lagos

Midem African Forum held its first edition in Lagos on Friday, the 6th of April 2018 and explored ways to build connections to allow African music travel and how to structure the value chain.

The Midem African Forum which held in Lagos has come and gone but its impact may rivet on the foundations of the music industry across Africa and what it chooses to achieve globally.

The forum which was supported by Pulse, TRACE Nigeria, Sacem, 360Nobs, The BeatFM, Jameson, Strictly Entz, Notjustok, Ciroc, CheckMate had two thematic sessions where African music was discussed without borders.

The first panel included the likes of Ade Bantu, musician, activist and CEO Afropolitan vibes, Oye Akideinde, GM Operations, Boomplay, Yoel Kenan, CEO Africori, Joel Hanson, OAP/ Media executive and Eze Ezegozie, MD, Universal Music, West Africa under the theme, 'Building connections to allow music to travel'.

It was an interactive session where the panelists discussed the problems and challenges facing the African music scene.

Yoel Kenan identified the lack of infrastructure, while Ade Bantu is of the opinion that these are exciting times for African music.

He also noted that mobility funding remains a cancer in the progression of our sounds as only few artists had the financial ability to embark on tours across Africa.

On how to properly export our music globally, Eze Ezegozie harped on the need for skills transfer and suggest that Nigeria needs to fix its issues first before embarking on a pan african agenda.

The panel also discussed the rate at which African acts are seeking validation from the West while calling for unity amongst artistes that goes beyond the hype.

The session ended with observers noting that African music is already travelling due to technology and the social media space, but the bigger problem is not just the sound but the content being offered and how acceptable it is.

The second session had a panel of the likes of Akinyemi Ayinoluwa, Taiye Aliyu of Effizy Music, Chinedu Chukwuji who represented Nigeria’s sole copyright collective society, COSON and Akotchaye Okio, International Development Officer for Africa at SACEM (A collective society in France).

Panelists on this session focused on 'Structuring the value chain to grow music business locally and globally'. Healthy engagements on intellectual and copyright laws, rights of the artiste and prudent ways by which you can protect and make money off your music even globally was held.

Forum workshops

The forum featured other sessions like the workshop and a networking cocktail. The night came to a climax with the music showcase night, which featured performances from some of Africa's brightest stars like Poe and Maka.

Attendees at the event included industry personalities from across Africa.

The initiative which is aimed at strengthening the exchange between national and international sectors in order to facilitate the structuring of high target markets began its road show in Johannesburg, South Africa and will continue all the way to Congo with a grand event scheduled for a yet to be decided venue in June this year.