Come May 20th and 21st, the city of Lagos will play host to the Who’s Who of Africa’s music industry at the Lagos Music Conference – the continent’s first pan-African Music Business conference.
According to the organisers Leke Awoyinka and Jenny Tan, the mission of Lagos Music Conference or LMC in short, is to connect music industry professionals who do business in Africa. “While local music industry conferences do exist in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya or Nigeria, none of the events on the continent have a pan-African spirit, and our music industries are very disconnected. One of the key reasons why the US, the European and even the Asian music markets are so strong, is that there are synergies between the countries in the respective region, which is important for growing revenues from show bookings, streams and downloads. In Africa, there is very little spillover between the markets, which means that each country is practically on its own”, according to Jenny Tan, one of LMC’s co-founders.
As the first industry event on the continent that brings together music business pace-setters from Africa’s key music markets, LMC is first and foremost a platform for high-profile networking. The international speaker lineup is truly top-notch and the first set of speakers that have been announced include Sipho Dlamini (MD for South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa at Universal Music Group), Tuma Basa (Global Programming Head for Hip Hop at Spotify), Tunji Balogun (Senior Director for A&R at RCA Records, who was responsible for the signing of Kendrick Lamar to Interscope and Bryson Tiller to RCA), Marek Fuchs (the manager credited with Sauti Sol’s recent international success), as well as award-winning artist and songwriter AKA (Vth Season) and Michael Ugwu (GM at Sony Music West Africa). More high-level speakers will be announced in the following days.
LMC’s sessions are carefully curated and focus on practical topics and current trends in the areas of A&R, Label and Artist Management, Brand Partnerships and Endorsements, Music Sales and Distribution, and Copyright Law, and in a separate track, LMC runs technical workshops aimed at professional sound/audio engineers, producers, artists and DJs.
For the first time, music professionals from West, East, Central and Southern Africa will be able to rub minds at LMC, and find out how peers in other markets are coping with the challenges that come with the unique African territory. According to co-founder Leke Awoyinka, “At the end of the day, most music industries on the continent struggle with the same issues, such as piracy, the lack of functional collection agencies, and expensive internet data. So instead of each market trying to find its own solution for the same problem, why not come together and share experiences, so we can learn from each other’s successes and challenges?”
Who should attend LMC? Forward-thinking artists, managers, label execs and A&R reps, as well as promoters, brand managers of telcos and FMCGs, tech companies, app developers, digital distributors, social media managers, content developers and publishers, and pretty much all professionals that engage directly with the music industry. According to the organisers, LMC is primarily a conference for professionals, but students and recent graduates interested in joining the industry are also welcome.
“We hope that this inaugural edition will prove the point that we need a pan-African event platform for the music industry, so that we can all grow together, rather than each one by itself”, states co-founder Leke Awoyinka. “If Africa wants to become a music region to be reckoned with, we have to start talking to each other, and we hope that with LMC, Nigeria – as Africa’s largest music market – will finally be seen as stepping up and taking the lead in bringing the continent closer together.”
LMC consists of a one-day conference, with high-level discussions and practical workshops, which will take place on Friday, May 20th, at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, and continues on Saturday at Muri Okunola Park, with the LMC Launch Pad, featuring workshops for students and recent graduates hoping to enter the music industry, and the LMC Festival. The LMC Festival will feature the latest crop of the African New School from Nigeria and different African countries. Artists who have made the cut for the lineup will be revealed later this week.
LAGOS RECEORDS SURPLUS REVENUE OF N4.85B IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2016
The Lagos State Government has recorded total revenue of N101.69 billion in the first quarter of Y2016 budget with a surplus of N4.85bn as against an expected deficit of N29.92bn.
Speaking today at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa Ikeja, during the 2016 annual Ministerial Press Briefing of the State Government in Commemoration of the first year in office of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade stated that the performance was N4.40 billion more in absolute terms compared to Y2015 despite the dwindling statutory allocations from the federal government.
According to him “It is our belief that with the implementation of multiple revenue collection channels and broadening of our revenue base, we should achieve tremendous progress in our revenue drive.”
While comparing the year 2015 budget with that of the current year, Ashade said that the capital expenditure at the end of first quarter of year 2016 is N48.88bn (51%), which was better than N15.08bn (24%) in the same period last year.
In the same vein, the Commissioner noted that the recurrent expenditure for the current year stands at N47.96 billion as against N57.50bn in the 2015.
On Internally Generated Revenue through the State Revenue Service, the Commissioner declared that the Agency generated the sum of N67.25bn in the first quarter of Y2016, amounting to 90% of the estimate for the quarter and representing 88% of the total IGR and 66.12% of the total revenue, compared to N60.58bn (87%) of the estimate for the same period in year 2015. This represents 90% of total IGR and 62% of total revenue in year 2015.
He stated further that this performance was N6.67bn more in absolute terms compared to corresponding period last year which is due largely to more participatory structure and systemic re-engineering.
The Commissioner emphasized that State Government relies heavily on statistical data provided by the Ministry in taking informed decisions regarding resource mobilisation and allocation, as well as measurement of the impact of its policies, programmes and projects.
Consequently, the Lagos Bureau of Statistics (LBS) within the Ministry is responsible for generating high quality, relevant and reliable data for planning purpose in the State.
It would be recalled that the Y2016 Budget of N662.588 billion was signed into Law by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday, 4th January, 2016 and has N386.933bn and N275.655bn as capital and recurrent expenditure respectively.
HEALTH MINISTER’S VISIT : WORLD CLASS DIAGNOSTIC CENTRE BERTHS IN A’IBOM
A World Class Diagnostic Centre is to be established in Akwa Ibom State by the Federal Government to facilitate medical diagnosis and standardised health care delivery in the state.
The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac F. Adewole announced this at a Special Banquet held in his honour at Governor’s Lodge, Government House, Uyo.
The Minister who is on a two – day working visit to the State, said that the Federal Government holds the health of every citizen in high esteem and has accordingly earmarked funds for the upgrading of medical facilities across the country.
He said twelve Specialist Hospitals are to be established in the country to curtail expenditure on Medical tourism which he explained has gulp more than 5 million US Dollars annually and regreted that such funds could have been channelled to other development programmes to enhance the welfare of the citizens.
Professor Adewole specifically commended the establishment of Ibom Specialist Hospital by the State government saying it is a capital intensive initiative and pledged to partner the state in it development as one of the Specialist Hospitals having been equipped with facilities and personnel.
The Health Minister hinted that the Sovereign Wealth Investment Fund and National Health Insurance Scheme have indicated interest to invest in the Ibom Specialist Hospital adding that with the facility on ground, the State has positioned itself to provide quality health care services to the people.
Governor Emmanuel expressed appreciation for the visit and approval given by the Minister for the citing of a Diagnostic Centre in the state and described the Minister as erudite scholar with profound sense of patriotism who is concerned with the heathy living of Nigerians not minding where the facilities are located.
The Governor stated that the partnership would speed up his initial arrangement for an Air Ambulance Service and that the General Hospital at Ikono and Ini Local Government Areas are to be outsource to investors to cater for the health needs of the people of those areas and those of neighbouring States.
The State Chief Executive called on other members of the Federal Executive Council to identify other sectors and liaise with the State in it development drive pointing out that the State is in dire need of development partners in areas of road construction to open up access with other states to the Ibom Specialist Hospital and other facilities.
Also the Senate Minority Leader Senator Godswill Akpabio said that the National Assembly is committed to transform Nigeria for the better and that the Assembly accords it blessing to every visible initiative that promote the oneness of the country..
He lauded the vision of the Health Minister and Governor Udom Emmanuel in their determination to reduce Medical tourism in the country and described them as square pegs in a square hole.
At the event, Akwa Ibom Saxaphonist David Eka and the Royal Nightingale, in their elegant costumes, spiced the night with melodious tunes.