Chief executive officer of the Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (MCSN), Mayowa Ayilaran, has said artistes like Davido and Asake are benefiting from the struggles the organisation faced in the past.
Speaking in an interview with QEDNG publisher Olumide Iyanda, Ayilaran explained how MCSN has fought for the rights of music creators, ensuring they receive compensation for their work.
“Creators can look up to an organisation like us for their future, to meet their immediate needs when they don’t even expect that they have money somewhere. They just see the alert on their phones,” he said.
He noted that MCSN supports artistes even when they least expect it, ensuring they are properly compensated.
“Artistes now know that there is an organisation in Nigeria that is doing well to represent and protect their works,” he added.
Ayilaran also revealed that the society collects royalties for foreign artistes whose songs are played in Nigeria.
“We are mandated to protect foreign works just as we protect Nigerian works,” he said.
He further emphasised that MCSN represents composers, performers, producers, authors and publishers, whom he described as “the core owners of copyright.”
Reflecting on the organisation’s journey, he admitted that the experience has been challenging but valuable.
“Looking back, we see that it was good that we went through all these things because it is serving a good purpose now. We are using those experiences to maneuver difficult situations because we can’t see any challenges coming as bigger than the one we have passed through,” he said.
According to him, these past struggles have paved the way for today’s artistes to thrive.
“From these struggles, Nigerian musicians are becoming billionaires. Before, many people saw musicians as beggars,” he said.
Citing a recent example, he mentioned how Fuji icon K1 De Ultimate was called “alagbe” after using the word ‘ganusi.’
“That’s how they saw musicians in the past. But through our challenges, the consciousness has now dawned on creators that ‘so we are really blessed with gold minds from the talents God has given to us.’
“They are now exploiting it. Our musicians are free in concert venues, not only in Nigeria but anywhere in the world. These are some of the things that came from the challenges and fights we went through,” he said.
Ayilaran stressed that many of today’s top artistes might not fully understand the history behind their success.
“These big ones—people like Davido, Asake, and all of them—may not know the history. They just saw that, oh, we are signed to EMI. Was EMI not here in the ’60s and ’70s?” he asked.
With over 30 years of experience, Ayilaran has been instrumental in copyright administration and rights enforcement since the early 1990s.
Under his leadership, MCSN has fought for fair compensation for composers and authors, including leading a N29 billion lawsuit against Multichoice in 2023 for alleged unauthorised use of musical works.
Beyond his role at MCSN, he continues to contribute to music industry discussions.
MCSN’s leadership includes King Sunny Ade as president and reggae musician Orits Williki as board chairman.
Other board members include media executive Kenny Ogungbe, flutist Tee Mac Iseli, Segun Alile, Mojisola Fayemi, Mike Mbala and Kola Olulana.
