Arresting The Falling Standards Of Music Industry

By most accounts, the Nigerian music industry has gained appreciable international recognition and acceptance, thereby projecting the image of the country positively.
But musicologists insist that the quality of the industry is falling, when compared to its quality of yesteryears due to the dearth of professional advisers, songwriters and composers, among other factors.
The experts recall that as far as 1920s and 1930s, Nigerian music genres, including highlife, apala and juju music, have been making waves in the world of music, adding, however, that the golden era of Nigerian music was in the 1970s.
They also claim that Nigeria had the largest music market in black Africa at that point in time.
They claim that in 1974, for instance, Nigeria had a record market of 10 million albums, with three major record companies, 12 recording studios and two major indigenous labels producing a variety of music genres.
The musicologists, however, note that the advent of piracy, among other unfavourable sharp practices, led to the withdrawal of multinational recording companies from Nigeria.
”Following the withdrawal of multinational recording companies, the industry was left in the hands of local entrepreneurs who did not have the wherewithal to undertake long-time investments or acquire state-of-the-art technologies,’’ they add.
A veteran artiste manager, Dili Biosah, recalled with nostalgia that in the 1970s and 1980s, Nigerian artistes dished out good music which won gold discs and got nominated for Grammy Awards in the U.S.
He noted that the Nigerian artistes then attracted huge crowds at international concerts, competing with other artistes from all over the world.
“Today, when you listen to Nigerian music, with the transition from analogue to digital recording, we have clearer sounds but there are still some missing links.
“Even in the past, we had a lot of music going on but the areas that we need to deal with relate to the management and organisation of artistes; their composition, equipment and production,” he said.
Biosah recalled that he toured South Africa in 1988 as the head of the largest-ever Nigerian contingent of professional musicians and dancers, which included artistes like the late Sonny Okosun, the late Christy Essien Igbokwe, Onyeka Onwenu, Chris Hanen and Mike Okri.
Echoing a similar viewpoint, Prof. Tunji Vidal, a Professor of Music and Musicology at Mountain Top University, Lagos, said that the Nigerian contemporary music industry had fallen below standard.
Vidal made this assertion at a public lecture organised to mark the 70thbirthday of legendary Juju musician, King Sunny Ade, at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
The don, who spoke on “Nigerian Music Industry: The Falling Standard’’, said that the present crop of Nigerian musicians did not have the requisite preparation before taking up a career in music.
Vidal, who noted that the old generation of musicians attended mission schools for training before venturing into music as professionals, said that such training was lacking in today’s music.
He said that the lack of adequate experience, training and skills, on the part of several contemporary musicians, had created a lacuna in the Nigerian music industry.
According to him, many of the musicians do not spend time in carrying out research on their music composition and lyrics before producing the music.
The professor of music noted that songs of the olden days were more meaningful than contemporary songs, adding that the old songs could also withstand the test of time more than the present-day songs.
“Musicians of today’s generation lack the vital preparation for a musical career. Unknown to many people, every profession requires talent, training, skill and mentorship.
“How many of the young people taking up music as a profession nowadays have talent for music, how many have developed skills for music making?
“Who trained them, who mentored them, who coached them and who were their songwriters?
“For Nigerian music to move forward and maintain its aesthetic qualities in the global competitive market of today; these questions must receive adequate attention by all those involved in our music industry.’’
Sharing similar sentiments, Prof. Christopher Ogbogbo, Head of the Department of History, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, said that the high standard of Nigerian music and dance steps had faded away.
Ogbogbo, who was the first discussant at the lecture, said that musicians of nowadays failed to spend ample time in doing research on the lyrics and composition of their music.
He, however, said that there was room for improvement in spite of the falling standards of the Nigerian music.
Ogbogbo, however, said that Nigerian music industry had given the country global recognition more than any other industry.
He added that Nigerian music industry was also projecting the country’s image in a positive way.
Going from the general to the specifics, Biosah reiterated that in spite of the remarkable growth of the Nigerian music industry, the quality of Nigerian music had waned considerably.
His words: “If you are looking at Nigerian music today, you will say there has been a lot of progress but as I have earlier pointed out to you; we have been on Billboard number-one with Tee Mac, and that is more than 30 years ago.
”So, where are the other number ones on the Billboard?
”Nigeria’s first Grammy Awards nomination was Sunny Ade; so, where are the other nominations apart from Femi Anikulapo-Kuti?” he asked.
Besides, Biosah bemoaned the quality of sound engineering in the Nigerian music industry, saying that he had always underscored the need to ensure that the sound aspects were well taken care of.
According to him, this is because a lot of good music is usually lost during recording sessions due to poor sound engineering.
Also commenting of the current state of the Nigerian music industry, Chief Ebenezer Obey Fabiyi, a veteran juju musician, said that the music of the past had more meaning than the contemporary music.
Fabiyi said that present-day musicians were not spending much time in conducting research or thinking about the composition and lyrics of the songs they intended to bring out.
“This is one of the things which the present generation of musicians lack,’’ he said.
A music analyst, Mr Mike Aremo, insisted that the music of yesteryears had been able to stand the test of time, adding that was the reason why some ancient songs were still evergreen.
“Funny enough, some music that were released just last year have fizzled out; they are no longer relevant.
“The music of yesteryears is more meaningful than the music produced today by our contemporary artistes,’’ he added.
Mr Cletus Nwachukwu, another music expert, emphasised that contemporary Nigerian music was purely computer-based and structured inside the recording studio.
He said that most modern-day artistes were bereft of musical skills, insisting that they could hardly read musical notes or understand the marking of chords.
”Apart from the promoters and corporate sponsors of these so-called artistes, who encourage mediocrity by allowing the miming of songs from CDs (compact dicks) to the detriment of musical brands, the other major culprit is the press.
”The media heap accolades and undeserving hype on many of these artistes, while awards are bestowed upon them for glorifying vanity, profanities, fraud and high-level immorality.
”Where lies the legacies of the older generation of musicians?’’ Nwachukwu asked.
Analysts, nonetheless, insist that ethos of music critique ought to be revived as a means of arresting the falling standard of Nigerian music.
They say the aim of music critiques is to uphold the standards of a particular music — artistically and aesthetically.
”A critique starts with a description of music, the musical event, the place, the time, the content, the rhythm and the melody as well as the person involved, among others,’’ Dr Yomi Pinhero, a musicologist, said.
“Through critiques, artists would be informed of their responsibility to the audience and the community which provided the wherewithal and the course of music,’’ he added.
All in all, experts underscore the need for all stakeholders in the music industry –artistes, audience, composers, recording studios and society – to initiate pragmatic efforts to shore up the quality of Nigerian music.
Adeoti writes for  News Agence of Nigeria (NAN).

Victor Adeoti