Tony Okoroji is a Nigerian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, author and intellectual property activist.[1] He was elected President of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) in 1989 and later became the Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON).[2] Okoroji became popular in the Nigerian music scene in the 1970s when he released albums such as Juliana, Locomotion and Akataka with a number of hit songs including Oh no Baby, Big big sugar daddy , Happy music and Oriaku.[3][4][5] He was the producer of artistes such as King Sunny Ade and Onyeka Onwenu. In 2016, Okoroji established his own record label, TOPs Record.[6][7] In 2017, Okoroji was honoured with Professional Excellence in Entertainment Industry award by Business Hallmark magazine People of the Year.[8]
. . . Tony Okoroji . . .
Okoroji became president of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN) in 1989, at the age of 29 becoming the youngest president of the organisation. He is credited for expanding the organisation across Nigeria. While in this position, Okoroji led efforts for the establishment of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) during military dictatorship.[9][10] Okoroji emerged pioneer chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria[11][12] following its formation in May 2010. As an intellectual property administrator, Okoroji implemented a number of reforms in the music industry. In 2017, he introduced Nigeria’s first online licensing platform, COSON Licensing Application Platform (CLAP)[13] and declared an all-out war against copyright infringements. This reform led to the collection of 300 million naira royalty for artists within a year.[14][15] He introduced the Nigerian ‘No Music Day’ which holds September 1 annually to bringing the attention of the Nigerian nation to the widespread infringement of the rights of song writers, composers, performers, music publishers and record labels. During No Music Day, Nigerian broadcast stations play less music devoting significant airtime to programs which highlight copyright challenges in Nigeria.[16][17]
. . . Tony Okoroji . . .