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Musician Davido reacts to disagreement that bears his name between singer Spyro and Ubi Franklin over unpaid performance fees.
There is a rather messy situation recently in the Nigerian music industry where music artist Davido has been involved in an issue with singer Spyro and music executive Ubi Franklin in absent payment of the performance fee and business issues.
The turn of events started when Spyro revealed on air that Franklin had used Davido’s name to book a performance at a birthday bash in Ghana. ; The agreement Spyro had with them was based on the fact that they said it was a call from Davido, this was on the understanding that he would be paid $5,000 for the performance. However, as it was alleged, this payment was never made after the performance had been done.
Franklin offered a different story altogether over these allegations, explaining the financial issue. The music executive even said that the nonpayment of the amount was warranted since Spyro once owed him some cash. Franklin also said that since he helped Spyro to source a vehicle recently, he should be paid a 10 per cent commission on that car’s price which according to him Spyro still owes him about N2 million.
The committee has elicited a lot of interest within the industry since it is in the public domain, especially where Davido’s name was used in the initial deal. In responding to the situation, Davido quickly assumed one of his typical low-profile approaches but he provided a massive apology through his Instagram story where he re-posted Franklin’s counter-accusation video; with the simple caption: ‘’Pls, I’m sorry.’’
This case is a clear example of the multifaceted nature of business interaction within the Nigerian music subsector, more specifically, about performance contracts and management fees. It goes a long way in pointing out that adequate contractual provisions and accurate business relationships should be well-defined, especially in the entertainment industry.
This is an indication that disagreements over assumed positions and financial obligations in any business can degenerate into public feuds not positively influencing professional standings among and within the industry. In addition to these business practice concerns, the participation of such luminaries has concentrated further highlight on them.
