Dakolo, Drille, Blaqjerzee named jury for Greysage’s songwriting contest

As its developmental contribution to engender respect for copyrights in the creative industry, Greysage Consulting, a leading law firm, has launched a songwriting contest with mouthwatering prizes for Nigerian music talents.

The month-long online based competition will begin on September 12, 2020 and end on October 12, 2020. The organisers have also unveiled the jury panel, which cut across popular Nigerian musicians and songwriters such as Johnny Drille, Blackjerzee, Obinna Agwu, Timi Dakolo, among others.

At the end of the competition, the best songwriting talent will walk home with a winner-takes-all reward of N100,000 cash prize, among other freebies including; a photo session, production, music equipment gift and legal consultation with a reputable entertainment lawyer.

According to Akinyemi Ayinoluwa, the convener of the competition, who is a top-rated creative industry influencer and lawyer, the competition has a goal to impact positively on the music ecosystem.

“We aim to support the empowerment of songwriters across the country with financial resources, education, networking opportunities, mentorship, and advocacy. This competition will draw attention to the importance of songwriting as an art and profession”, he revealed.

To qualify, the organisers said that interested participants are expected to share a 90 second video entry of a song with chorus and hook on instagram with the hashtag #securedabag #greysagesongwritercontest and also follow @greysagehq, as well as, her partners and sponsors on instagram.

The songwriting contest is another installment in a series of creative industry interventions by Greysage Consulting, which establishes itself firmly as one of the critical stakeholders in the music subset of the ecosystem. It recently organised a webinar to discuss the importance of BBC 1 XTRA produced Afrobeats Chat, which was subscribed by more than 30 record producers and songwriters.

Similarly, last year Greysage made a modest effort to bridge the knowledge gap on copyrights and royalties among upcoming artistes and creators of music. It held a well-attended event tagged ‘Secure The Bag’, a monetization meet-up at Tenstrings Music Institute, Lekki, Lagos, which had facilitators such as DJ Coublon, Klem, Fiokee, Oyindamolaameen, Damilola Akinwunmi and Femi Salawu.

While reinforcing the commitment of Greysage to the music community and by extension the whole gamut of the entertainment industry, Akinyemi disclosed that it had a lot lined up to help galvanize development in the industry. “We are at a critical period when the demand for Afrobeats by the international audience has spiked. It is critical that all stakeholders get involved especially through knowledge sharing to make the growth sustainable,” he submitted.