Imagine spending months, maybe even years, pouring your heart and soul into a song. You go through countless sleepless nights perfecting every lyric, tweaking every melody, and ensuring the song comes out just right. Then, one day, you turn on the radio or scroll through social media, and suddenly—you hear a popular artist singing your song. The same melody, the same lyrics you carefully crafted, yet not a single bit of credit is given to you. How would you feel? Devastated, right? That’s exactly what musical theft does to artists.
So now what is Musical Theft?
Musical theft is basicaly a situation where a person takes another artist’s work—whether it’s lyrics, melodies, or even a rhythm—without proper credit or permission. It’s one of the biggest problems in the music industry and has been happening for decades. While some cases are accidental, where artists unintentionally create music that sounds similar to an existing song, many cases involve outright theft—taking someone else’s hard work and claiming it as their own.
This isn’t just about hurt feelings; it’s about money, respect, and an artist’s livelihood. Musicians rely on royalties and recognition for their work. When someone steals a song, the original creator loses not only credit but also a lot of money. Music is a business, and just like in any other industry, if someone takes your work and profits from it, they are essentially taking food off your table. This is why many musicians take legal action when they discover their music has been stolen.
Talking about legal action, there have been many high-profile cases of musical theft throughout history. However, those with power, influence, or a skilled legal team can easily get away with it. In Nigeria, for example, copyright laws exist, but enforcement is weak. Many artists, especially independent ones, struggle to get justice when their work is stolen because they lack the financial resources to pursue legal action. In most cases, they are forced to let it go because they can’t even afford a lawsuit.
How Can This Be Stopped?
1.Raising Awareness – People need to respect the effort that goes into creating music. Giving credit where it’s due should be a standard practice in the industry. This is one of the reasons I love Davido—he always acknowledges and gives credit to those who help him write his music. More artists should follow this example.
2.Stronger Legal Protections – Laws should be enforced better, especially to protect independent artists. Platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music should implement stronger copyright detection tools to prevent stolen music from being uploaded.
3.Supporting Original Artists – As music lovers, we can play a role in fighting musical theft by supporting artists who create original content and calling out cases where music has been stolen.
At the end of the day, music is an art form that thrives on originality and creativity. If we don’t take musical theft seriously, we risk discouraging talented artists from making music. Because honestly, who would want to spend their time perfecting a masterpiece only to have someone else take all the credit?
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Omo, it doesn't sound nice at all to see someone making fortune out of what you poured so much sacrifice to made without giving credit or asking for permission. Unfortunately, many artists do these things
There are actually many artists that are still engaging in these kind of things and it actually needs to stop because it is affecting the music industry in many ways.