Legal Compliance and Musical Documentation on Social Media in Nigeria: A Study of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter

Abstract

Over the years, there has been a strong intersection between music and the social media. Research from Music Watch has observed that ninety percent (90%) of social media users engage with music and musicians; sharing or liking musician’s posts. Different kinds of music or musicians are viewed on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as the social media have become avenue for creating awareness and advertising musical works. In fact, social media has become a platform for documentation of musical works. However, it is expedient to note that the quest for sudden fame usually brings about infringement that is capable of threatening security and morality, thereby escalating issues of copyright and fraud. As a result, it is therefore imperative to investigate the level of compliance to social media regulations and laws on musical documentation, which this study has adopted a descriptive survey design to investigate. The materials used in this research were sourced from books, journals, magazines and Internet. The study observes that there has not been strict compliance to social media laws and also calls for amendment of the regulations and enforcement by government. It also recommends that musicologists who are specialists in content analysis of music should be involved in the regulatory body.