Why Filmmakers Can’t Use Afrobeats Songs by Dammy Twitch
Music video director and filmmaker Dammy Twitch has explained why Nollywood producers can no longer freely use Afrobeats songs in their movies, citing artists selling their music rights to distribution companies as the primary reason. The reason is that most of the distribution companies Nigerian musicians use are based in the US or the UK since they don't have the infrastructure to handle rights management in Nigeria. Once artists sell their songs, filmmakers cannot afford the licensing fees required to use them in films. Dammy Twitch stated: "I think because people have sold their song already, so it gets to a point where I want to use this song for my film, for example, I can't afford it." He noted that many artists have already sold their music rights to distribution companies, making them inaccessible or prohibitively expensive for Nollywood […]