Revered International lawyer, Dr. Ope Banwo has reacted to the crossfire that has trailed the discussion between late Nigerian singer, Mohbad and his former label, Marlian Records.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with www.theoctopusnews.com, the founder of entertainment company, Stingomania 360 said he feels bad about the death of Mohbad but frowned at the fact that everyone seems to be pointing accusing fingers at Naira Marley and referencing the misunderstanding between the boss of Marlian Records and the late singer over his label and management contract.
Naira Marley and late Mohbad signing a contract
While emphasizing that he is not a fan of Naira Marley, Dr. Banwo is is also the founder of Gist House, an audiovisual gist application noted, “I don’t know if Naira Marley has a hand in Mohbad’s death or not, but I am extremely upset at the one-sided narrative being painted about Artistes versus Record Labels. It’s unfair and unjust to the management labels.”
Speaking further, Dr. Banwo added that at a time, he managed some of the biggest acts in the Nigerian entertainment scene including the music industry where he managed artistes such as Konga, DJ Zeez, Trybson, Midnight Crew, Obesere, Baba Nee among other, while handling the affairs of top actors such as Omoni Oboli, Funke Akindele, and Fred Amata, thus experiencing first hand how wicked these artistes can be to their benefactors.
He said that it was this sad experience that led to him walking away from the entertainment industry and deciding that he would NEVER invest his money in any entertainer or musician again.
“So, this whole Mohbad and Naira Marley thing, it’s the same old story where record labels or management companies spend money on artistes and then once they blow the labels become the enemy for wanting to recoup their investment.
“It’s disgusting the way labels all of a sudden are now the enemy when in most cases they invest their own money and spend money they should be using to feed their families on artistes they don’t know and are not related to. These same artistes could not get their fathers or relatives to invest money on them. Yet, they cry to record labels and managers to invest in them and they do after giving them contracts to sign (which they don’t read before signing only to come crying later about injustice).
“I remember telling some artistes to take the contracts home for their parents and lawyers to review before signing. They take it, bring it back, and just sign claiming it’s all good. Later they will scream when it’s time to pay those commissions that were written in black and white. Yet immediately they get their first break, the first thing on their mind is to leave the label and avoid allowing the labels to recoup their investments. They bitch and complain about the terms and then shout to the public to save them from wicked record labels
“It’s a recurring story from Sunny Ade and Abioro. 59, Tuface and Kennis Music, Mohits Crew to Don Iazzy and his artistes, and so on.
“That’s why really serious labels or investors in entertainment have all nearly died out in Nigeria and it’s labels like that of Naira Marley, who know very little about management that are now the only ones available.
“Yet everybody else in other businesses invests and recoups profits for years without anyone thinking they are greedy”, he said.
Stating that Mike Adenuga is still reaping profits from his investment in Glo, Dr. Banwo wondered why label owners are then considered criminals for wanting to make profits on their investments
“To be clear, I feel bad for the death of Mohbad and I hope and pray that everyone who has a hand in his untimely death should be brought to book and if found guilty they should be hanged, but I don’t like how everyone just started hating his record label for wanting to hold him accountable on his record deals.
‘It’s time Nigerians have an honest discussion about this Artistes vs. Record Label wars and understand the issues better,” he concluded.
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