Nollywood has mastered production at scale. It has mastered distribution. It has found audiences across cinemas, YouTube and global streaming platforms. Yet one part of the business still feels surprisingly informal: music clearance. At a time when the Nigerian film industry continues to reach new heights, music licensing should arguably be one of its most established business practices. Instead, it remains one of its most recurring problems. While Nollywood celebrates bigger budgets, international recognition and wider distribution, questions around music ownership and copyright continue to expose gaps in the industry’s legal and business structure.
The conversation resurfaced recently after filmmaker Bimbo Ademoye revealed that her YouTube film Where Love Lives lost monetization following a copyright dispute involving one of the songs used in the film. Regardless of the outcome of that particular case, it highlighted a much bigger issue. Copyright disputes involving music are no longer isolated incidents—they continue to reveal an industry where music clearance is often misunderstood, poorly documented or treated as an afterthought. As Nollywood grows into a global industry, that approach is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. One of the less discussed consequences of stricter copyright awareness is how it has quietly changed the relationship between Nollywood and the music industry. As more filmmakers become aware of the legal implications of using commercial music without permission, many are becoming increasingly cautious about licensing popular records altogether.
For independent productions in particular, clearing a hit song can become one of the most expensive parts of post-production. Beyond negotiating fees, producers must identify the correct rights holders, secure written permissions and ensure every agreement covers the intended use of the music. For many filmmakers, commissioning an original soundtrack from an emerging artist or songwriter has become a more practical alternative. It is often faster, more affordable and considerably easier to clear. That shift may also explain why today’s Nollywood productions rarely feature mainstream Nigerian pop records in the way audiences remember from earlier decades. Rather than licensing an already successful song, producers are increasingly creating music specifically for the film itself. This wasn’t always the case. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, commercial songs frequently appeared in Nollywood films without formal licensing agreements, largely because the industry’s copyright culture was still developing. For many artists, film placements were seen as publicity rather than licensing opportunities. Although the Nigerian Copyright Commission was established in 1989, its early enforcement focused mainly on physical piracy, allowing informal music licensing practices to persist for years.
As Nigeria’s entertainment industry has evolved, so has the understanding of copyright. Artists, labels and publishers are now far more aware of the value of their intellectual property, while technology has made it easier than ever to detect unauthorized use of music. Today, streaming platforms, broadcasters and international distributors often require proof that all music used in a film has been properly cleared before agreeing to distribute it. For filmmakers, clearing music is no longer as simple as getting permission from the artist. In most cases, two separate rights must be considered: the musical composition (the lyrics and melody) and the sound recording (the master). This typically means obtaining a synchronization license from the publishing rights holder and a master use license from whoever owns the recording. Missing either one can expose a production to copyright disputes long after the film has been released.
The confusion often begins because a song can have multiple owners—songwriters, publishers, artists and record labels may all control different parts of the same work. The bigger question, however, is not whether filmmakers should clear music. They should. The real question is why these disputes continue to surface despite the industry’s rapid growth. Part of the answer lies in the fact that Nollywood has expanded faster than some of the business structures supporting it. While film budgets have increased and distribution has become more global, rights management, documentation and music licensing have not always evolved at the same pace. In many cases, producers are left navigating a fragmented system where ownership is difficult to verify, rights can be split between multiple parties and there is no single place to confidently determine who has the authority to grant permission.
That lack of structure creates uncertainty for everyone involved. Filmmakers risk delays, demonetization or legal disputes. Songwriters and rights holders risk losing control over how their works are used. Even audiences can be affected when films are removed from platforms or delayed because of copyright issues that could have been resolved before release. As Nollywood continues to position itself as a global industry, music clearance can no longer be viewed as a box-ticking exercise after production is complete. It needs to become part of the production process from the very beginning, supported by better documentation, clearer rights management and stronger collaboration between the film and music industries.
