Did you know that every typeface has a voice/tone?
Even though the voice /tone of every brand or business remains unique, and is determined by a lot of things.
One significant influencer is the choice of typeface.
Swipe at the images above to gain clarity.☝🏽😌
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In 2020, Nigeria was named home to the ‘largest’ music industry in Africa and undoubtedly continues to gain local and global attention; due to numerous internationally award-winning musicians, artists, managers, producers, promoters, record labels, marketers, and distributors.
This global attention also extends to international recognition, comprising innumerable international performances and collaborations with renowned foreign artists and record labels.
The Nigerian music industry has birthed several genres of music with a hearty mixture of hip-hop, R&B, reggae, and gospel as it continues to flourish in the spotlights; as a result, one might be curious about what the financial and economic implications are for these artists and Nigeria as a whole.
According to Statista Research Department[1], This industry’s revenue grew from 26 million U.S. dollars in 2014 to 34million U.S. dollars in 2018 and is estimated to generate about 44million U.S. dollars by 2023.
This contributes a tremendous amount to Nigeria’s GDP[2], which was 448.1 billion U.S dollars in 2019 only.
For this article, we would be considering the importance of protecting the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) [3] of creatives in the Nigerian music industry.
Further considering how profitable this industry currently is, one would envisage that ‘top’ safety measures are put in place to secure the intellectual properties of these creatives from infringement both locally and internationally.
One would expect that these creatives fully profit from their works without undue hindrance.
However, that is not the case as there is an unusual norm that plagues both the upcoming and the ‘biggest’ artists in the Nigerian music industry. There is an inability to protect IPR from infringement.
According to Celebrity Net Worth[4] Wizkid is a Top Nigerian singer, performer, and songwriter who has a net worth of 4 million U.S. dollars. He is widely recognized across Africa and in the Afrobeat community, reaching international prominence by collaborating with famous persons in the music industry such as Drake, Beyoncé, Tyga, Swae Lee, and Major Lazer to name a few. After working with other high-profile musicians, Wizkid branched out into the mainstream music scene. Being the first Nigerian citizen to amass 1 million followers on Twitter; He is undoubtedly one of the most famous Nigerians of all time.
A Wizkid imposter ‘Wisekid’ set up to illegally profit from copying Wizkid on the digital space. ‘Hosea Yohanna’[5] an upcoming Nigerian artist; acquired millions of streams in just 7 months, starting from October 2020 by cloning Wizkid’s ‘Made in Lagos’ album with his album named ‘Lasgidi Made’ having 9.3 million plays and 1.2 thousand purchases on Apple music alone.
The similarities of both names were unmistakable, and though the album songs had different lineups, all Names were the same. Even the songs sounded similar. Wisekid also went ahead to create a clone Twitter and Instagram account with the handle ‘@wisekidaya’ which was indisputably made to look just like Wizkid’s handle ‘@wizkidayo’ for both accounts having a following of over 8.4 million on Twitter and 12.1 million on Instagram.
Wisekid was discovered sometime in early April 2021 by Wizkid fans when he posted screenshots of his Lasgidi Made album streams on his Twitter page captioned ‘on God’, stirring up so much controversy. After ‘@africafactzone’ on Twitter reported that he was making 30 million Naira monthly, which amounts to about 79 thousand U.S. dollars from copying Wizkid.
Wisekid replied to that tweet stating, “…I’m just an upcoming artist, I know nothing about this…”
He also tweeted that ‘Freeme Digital’ distributed all his songs and said that he had no idea, ‘Freeme Digital’, however, stated that although they distributed his old songs, the album Lasgidi Made was never one of them.
Although Wizkid did not respond to the social media frenzy, one of his managers ‘Jada Pollock’ shared on her Twitter that the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) had begun working on taking down the album. Lasgidi Made was taken off of Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify. Consequently, the wisekids Twitter account got suspended.
Akinyemi[6] Opined that ‘Wizkid’ had become a trademark attached to the person ‘Ayo Balogun’, his public ‘goodwill’ building for over 10years. Therefore such ‘goodwill’ is attached to the name Wizkid. He explained; that the trademark was associated with a certain level of excellence. Hence, whatever bears such a mark would attract the loyal audience of the brand who associate it with excellence and cause them to consume its products.
Consequently, if unauthorized persons benefit from the name Wizkid by exploiting or posing as though such a name belongs to them, the person named ‘Ayo Balogun’ the owner of the registered Copyright and Trademark to that name, has the right to bring legal actions against such individuals.
A farmer, who owns farmland with cattle and cash crops before he starts farming, puts up a fence around his property to protect it. That, in turn, prevents his cattle from straying and also discourages persons from trespassing. The farmer protects his farm and yields a lot of profit in return. Such a farmer experiences little or no loss in his business.
Similarly, if a person would put a fence around his physical property to protect it, what stops an artist from putting measures in place to protect his intellectual property(IP) of great value? Could it be due to the extreme intangible nature of IP; that he does not know how to protect it? Or has he refused to do so for other reasons?
There are hosts of reasons why creatives do not protect their IP. These reasons narrowed to a few such as;
Reasons as these often pose ‘major’ threats to IP growth and development in the Nigerian music industry.
Nevertheless, there are ways in which one can protect their IP rights.
Akinyemi Ayinoluwa, a Music and IP lawyer and partner at Hightower solicitors and advocates, stated in his interview[8] with Entertainment News that; regardless of the persistent problems of creation safety, artists still have options. He noted that the best way for an artist to protect their works is by constantly policing all aspects of their IP.
He further stated that handlers should always be on the lookout for infringements such as Copyright and Trademark, as seen in the case study above. Akinyemi advises that there would always be those who would try and illegitimately exploit the works of others. However, a creator must always be alert and have an infrastructure or Team that constantly policies IP rights.
The writer advises that every creative must prioritize the protection of their works from the onset. Such can either be by way of Copyright, Trademark, or Trade secret protection. No idea or creation is too little; so long it is the creator’s IP.
Creatives may not be able to stop infringers, but they can adequately protect themselves by being aware of their IPR, seeking professional help, and constantly keeping the IPR under scrutiny. Not only does this discourage infringers, but it also gives creatives full access to enjoy and exploit the benefits accruing from their works without interruption.
Creatives at various levels get affected by intellectual property infringement; no one is out of the grasps of this menace, big, small, upcoming, or established.
There are always those seeking to take advantage of the IPR of others and make an undue profit. Others ride on the goodwill of creatives which they have worked hard to establish over time. Therefore one must be on the watch at all times.
Article by Ibukun Adeyemi.
LL.B 2020 || Intellectual Property Law and Media and Entertainment Law Enthusiast || Legal Assistant.
Did you know, that colors have a voice of their own and they speak in diverse tones?
When it comes to colors, many people are usually inclined to choosing something they like or are comfortable with, like their favorite colors.
However, when it comes to branding for business and choosing colors for your brand identities, designs and print materials, there are certain principles that should be taken into consideration to reflect an organized entity and professionalism as a business.
This is because colors have over the years been associated with certain interpretations and meanings and there are also some rules pertaining to color application. These need to be considered, for a brand to be well positioned, attractive and still reflect its brand’s values.
Let’s begin with the basic things, we think you should know about colors.
The color wheel reflects the primary colors (any color that cannot be made from the combination of other colors), the secondary colors (colors derived from mixing two primary colors or additive primary colors in equal proportions) and tertiary colors (colors derived from the combination of a primary and secondary color in equal proportions).
The color wheel is the foundation of any brand’s color application for design, as well as its brand identity and colors choice; whether you choose to make use of primary, secondary or tertiary colors or other colors that can be derived from the combination of any of these three.
This Includes the use more or less saturation (lightness, with the combination of the white hue and any other color) or more of less value (darkness, with the combination of the black hue and any other color).
Your choice of colors should reflect your brand’s values and the kind of image it intends to project to its target audience.
This is why certain well-known global brands, as well as smaller brand have over time selected specific colors for their brand identity.
As we go through the meaning of some predominant colors, think of well-known brands and why they may have selected certain colors to represent their business.
Below are summaries of some of the most principal colors and their meanings.
Red, know to reflect: Passion, energy, love, romance, danger, style, excitement, pain, bravery, active, bold, power, ambition, youthfulness and assertiveness.
Yellow, know to reflect: Joy, cheerfulness, friendliness, intellect, energy, warmth, caution, optimism, understanding and smartness.
Blue, known to reflect: Stability, leadership, trust, responsible, truth, confidence, calmness, tranquility, affection, success, loyalty, authority, peace and sincerity.
Orange, known to reflect: Creativity, productivity, thoughtfulness, warmth, instinct, freedom, impulse, motivation and new ideas.
Green, known to reflect: Growth, clarity, generosity, freshness, life, money, safety, healing, environment, hope, youth and nature.
Purple, know to reflect: Vision, royalty, diplomacy, fashion, dignity, passion, spirituality, luxury, wisdom, magic, plentiful and loyalty.
Black, known to reflect: Sophistication, power, mystery, death, grief, strength, finesse, subtlety and infinity.
White, known to reflect: Purity, cleanliness, peace, goodness, simplicity, hope, freshness, light and coolness.
Gold, known to reflect: Supremacy, royalty, creativity, warmth, loyalty, friendliness, loyalty and strength.
Silver, known to reflect: stability, authority, security, strength of character and maturity.
After examining all of these colors and some of their generally acceptable meanings. You may be very tempted to make use of a lot of them for your brand representation. This is quite understandable, since many of them reflect some very good and desirable qualities and values.
However, this is not always the smartest route, especially when choosing colors that would in the long run reflect your brand’s values, style, creativity and organization.
Your vision and mission statement for your brand, as well as service offerings should be carefully considered before the choice of brand colors are made, such that your color choices remain pleasing to the eyes and reflect balance.
Below are some formulas that can help you decide on how you could combine certain colors, taking into consideration the color theory rules and application.
This entails that the application of a single hue from the color wheel, with the combination of more or less saturation or value. Say you picked a blue hue.
You would eventually have a variety of that specific shade of blue to be applied consistently across your brand identity, designs and brand assets.
Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept, that would help with more insight.
See the image sample below for better understanding.
This entails the application of three hues that appear next to each other on the color wheel, with the combination of more or less saturation or value of any of these hues selected.
This gives your brand a lot of creative room for color application and use for your brand identity, designs and brand assets.
Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept, that would help with more insight.
See the image sample below for better understanding.
This entails the application of any two colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel with the combination of more or less saturation or value. Say you picked a red hue, the complimentary color for this hue on the color wheel will be the green hue.
You could decide to apply these two selected complementary colors using a specific saturation or value consistently across your brand identity, designs and brand assets.
Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept, that would help with more insight.
See image sample below for better understanding.
This entails the application of any hue on the wheel and two opposite colors to it on the color wheel, with the combination of more or less saturation or value.
Say you picked the orange hue on the color wheel. The split complementary colors for orange would be the green and blue hues.
You could choose to apply these three selected hues using a specific saturation or value consistently across your brand elements, designs and brand assets.
Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept. This should help with more insight and creativity.
See image sample below for better understanding.
This entails the application of any three (3) equally spaced hues from the color wheel, using a triangular method of selection (an equilateral triangle).
This can be a very dicey method of color application, however care must be taken to ensure that the three selections are not hard to the eyes and remain balanced.
This can be achieved by applying more or less saturation or value to the three selected colors.
Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept. This should help with more insight and creativity.
See image sample below for better understanding.
This entails the application of any four (4) hues from the color wheel, using a rectangular method of selection.
This also has to be selected carefully using a suitable saturation or value of the selected hues and applied across the brand identities, designs and brand assets.
Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept. This should help with more insight and creativity.
See image sample below for better understanding.
Even though these are great formulas that can be followed when creating designs for your brand’s assets or designing in general.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box or try something new or unique.
Remember, there is beauty in moderation and balance, but there is also a beauty that comes with variety. As long as your choice of colors are balanced and have great contrast, without being hard to the eyes. This ensures that such designs or branding efforts remain attractive, irrespective of your colors choices.
Don’t also be skeptical about nature’s inspirations.
Some of the best designs and color combinations of all time for some brands have been obtained from the natural things around us.
Also remember to generously make use of neutral colors: white, black and grey (using a saturation or value of hue that comes off as most suitable for each design) to bring balance to your all of your branding and design efforts.
We hope all of these information remains helpful in making concrete decisions about your choice of brand colors for your brand identity and design efforts.
Article by Opeolu Adeyemi.
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant
Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!
Brave Publicity Ink! 