Tee Mac blows hot: "T-Joe must cease issuing bounced cheques and under-declaring the sale of CDs"
Coming on the heels of complaints by some of Nigeria’s musical artistes over their unpaid royalties by controversial marketer, T-Joe, the President of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Tee Mac Omatshola Iseli has tasked the embattled marketer to cease issuing blank cheques and under-declaring the sales of CDs to artistes if he is to surface from the various financial scandals that threaten to drown his professional standing.
It should be recalled that the PMAN recently staged a peaceful rally against the contentious marketer in a walk that was kicked off at White House on Toyin Street, Ikeja and climaxed at T-Joe’s residence off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos where placards were hung on the walls and gates.
When SimplySamad asked the PMAN president to justify the association’s decision to single out T-Joe, he cited various factors, which prompted the rally.
“He is a marketer on whom PMAN has received a couple of complaints from artistes that he either issues cheques that bounce or he tells them: ‘Sorry, your CD didn’t sell’ or ‘I’ve only printed 500 copies’ whereas a 100, 000 has been printed and sold in West Africa so we are heading a war against pirates and crooked marketers. If you want to be a marketer and make your money, make it the honest way. Let me give you mathematics. If you print a fake CD for N40 and sell fro N60, you make N20 profit. If you buy a genuine CD for N200 and sell for N500, you make N300 profit. It is a profitable business as long as you’re honest. There’s no other way I can explain it. Those who sell illegal CDs are making little money and they don’t realize they can turn it around and make it big.”
Before now, PMAN had openly declared war against piracy to an extent that the association made it clear that retailers of pirated CDs as well as their patrons would be arrested. However, the declaration does not appear to match the true picture as retailers and their customers still bask in the euphoria of their illegal transactions.
Speaking on this issue, Tee Mac revealed the association actually has some pending cases in court. “We have at the moment NCC doing this on our behalf. They have about eight or nine recent cases in court. The moment the court determines the cases and they get jail terms, we’ll make sure everyday knows that from now on, you will get prosecuted. Of course, it takes a little bit of time with the congestion on our courts. The cases are on at the moment,” he said.
Niegrain artistes have since complained about the low pricing of their CDs at N150 and demanded an upward review by PMAN. This, according to Iseli is a genuine complaint, which must be addressed. “We have a guideline. The wholesale price should be N200 and the retail should be N500. If you go to all those little clubs and drinking places, you spend much more than N500 on drinks so why can’t you spend N500 to buy a CD that will last you forever. We have also advised all the artistes and record labels to have holograms on their CDs. This will show whether it is the real CD or not.”
Lamenting the notoriety of piracy within Nigeria, Iseli also fingered some artistes as being ignorant of the transactions they blindly enter into with the marketers who willingly take advantage of their ignorance. “They have driven away all the recording companies away; Sony Music, Polygram and others have all left because the pirates have ruined the business. The artistes want their CDs to come out and in desperation, they often make bad deals with marketers but this has changed. For any artiste listening to this, any artiste listening to this can come to the PMAN headquarters in Ikeja and you can get a proper contract, recording contract, publishing contract and management contract, which is endorsed by FIM; the world body of all the musician union, which PMAN has joined. So, if you want to sign a record contract, come and pick up the internationally accepted contract form. You can even come for legal advice. We will give you lawyers. Too many artistes are signing ridiculous contracts out of desperation.”
He also advised artistes to cease paying electronic media houses for their music to be aired. “Any artiste who feels cheated or knows somebody who either asks for money to play his record on the radio station or his video on the TV station, come to PMAN, we’ll prosecute him because that’s fraud too. Let’s get our industry forward. Let’s do things properly and everybody can profit if we work together.”
It should be recalled that the PMAN recently staged a peaceful rally against the contentious marketer in a walk that was kicked off at White House on Toyin Street, Ikeja and climaxed at T-Joe’s residence off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos where placards were hung on the walls and gates.
When SimplySamad asked the PMAN president to justify the association’s decision to single out T-Joe, he cited various factors, which prompted the rally.
“He is a marketer on whom PMAN has received a couple of complaints from artistes that he either issues cheques that bounce or he tells them: ‘Sorry, your CD didn’t sell’ or ‘I’ve only printed 500 copies’ whereas a 100, 000 has been printed and sold in West Africa so we are heading a war against pirates and crooked marketers. If you want to be a marketer and make your money, make it the honest way. Let me give you mathematics. If you print a fake CD for N40 and sell fro N60, you make N20 profit. If you buy a genuine CD for N200 and sell for N500, you make N300 profit. It is a profitable business as long as you’re honest. There’s no other way I can explain it. Those who sell illegal CDs are making little money and they don’t realize they can turn it around and make it big.”
Before now, PMAN had openly declared war against piracy to an extent that the association made it clear that retailers of pirated CDs as well as their patrons would be arrested. However, the declaration does not appear to match the true picture as retailers and their customers still bask in the euphoria of their illegal transactions.
Speaking on this issue, Tee Mac revealed the association actually has some pending cases in court. “We have at the moment NCC doing this on our behalf. They have about eight or nine recent cases in court. The moment the court determines the cases and they get jail terms, we’ll make sure everyday knows that from now on, you will get prosecuted. Of course, it takes a little bit of time with the congestion on our courts. The cases are on at the moment,” he said.
Niegrain artistes have since complained about the low pricing of their CDs at N150 and demanded an upward review by PMAN. This, according to Iseli is a genuine complaint, which must be addressed. “We have a guideline. The wholesale price should be N200 and the retail should be N500. If you go to all those little clubs and drinking places, you spend much more than N500 on drinks so why can’t you spend N500 to buy a CD that will last you forever. We have also advised all the artistes and record labels to have holograms on their CDs. This will show whether it is the real CD or not.”
Lamenting the notoriety of piracy within Nigeria, Iseli also fingered some artistes as being ignorant of the transactions they blindly enter into with the marketers who willingly take advantage of their ignorance. “They have driven away all the recording companies away; Sony Music, Polygram and others have all left because the pirates have ruined the business. The artistes want their CDs to come out and in desperation, they often make bad deals with marketers but this has changed. For any artiste listening to this, any artiste listening to this can come to the PMAN headquarters in Ikeja and you can get a proper contract, recording contract, publishing contract and management contract, which is endorsed by FIM; the world body of all the musician union, which PMAN has joined. So, if you want to sign a record contract, come and pick up the internationally accepted contract form. You can even come for legal advice. We will give you lawyers. Too many artistes are signing ridiculous contracts out of desperation.”
He also advised artistes to cease paying electronic media houses for their music to be aired. “Any artiste who feels cheated or knows somebody who either asks for money to play his record on the radio station or his video on the TV station, come to PMAN, we’ll prosecute him because that’s fraud too. Let’s get our industry forward. Let’s do things properly and everybody can profit if we work together.”
By Samod BiobakuSixthsense34@yahoo.com
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