The Recording Academy Welcomes Top Nigerian Music Executives

Some Nigerian music executives have been invited and admitted as professional and voting members of the Recording Academy’s 2022 class by the renowned body, which also owns the annual Grammy Awards. The Academy sent membership invites to more than 2,700 music industry professionals from various disciplines, genres, and backgrounds worldwide. The Recording Academy announced this through its various social media platforms on Tuesday, June 28: “Today we extend membership invitations to over two thousand seven hundred plus established music professionals from wide-ranging backgrounds, genres and disciplines”. The body went on further to say “Our members are instrumental to fulfilling our mission and fostering a better world for our creators”.

Bizzle Osikoya, Oyinkansola Fawehimi, Oye Akideinde, Sinach and a few more are some of the seasoned Nigerian music icons and industry leaders who have agreed to join the Academy as professional members of the class of 2022.

It comes as no surprise that the Academy enlisted these top music execs given their impressive backgrounds, depth of expertise, and various contributions to the sector. The academy says the invitees represent more than 13 different crafts and 22 different genres, with 56% coming from underrepresented communities.

Fawehimi popularly known as Foza Doza is an award winning visionary entertainment business Leader and a force to reckon with in the Nigerian Entertainment Law Industry. She currently serves as the President of Digital Music Commerce and Exchange Limited a pan African IP valuation, catalog management and administration company based in Lagos with branches in Ghana, Tanzania and Ivory Coast.

Bizzle Osikoya on the other hand is a man in constant demand. A&R, music executive, entrepreneur, renowned culture middleman, and social media influencer with his hand in many pies. He is also the co-founder of The Plug Entertainment; a Nigerian driving management organization. “I’m honoured to be part of the new Recording Academy member class and join the countless creators and professionals who serve, celebrate and advocate for our music community year round,” Osikoya said.

While Oye Akideinde is a music, digital & tech business executive whose 22 years  experience has been primarily in entertainment, consumer goods, eBusiness, financial, media, music, and digital sectors. From co-founding 360nobs to running MerryGo Kids – a children animated edutainment program, he’s been very instrumental to the successes of some of the DSPs on the continent most especially Boomplay Music where he was the Director for West Africa. Awarded The Music Business Executive of 2020 by Scream Awards , he most recently spearheaded the music business at MTN Group.

Osinachi Egbu, better known as Sinach is global and Acclaimed gospel artiste and songwriter In 2021, Sinach became the first African gospel music artist to win the Song of the Year at Broadcast Music, Inc., (BMI).Way Maker written by Sinach and published by Capitol CMG was adjudged the most popular song Christian song of the year by BMI. The Song of the Year award is the top accolade from the US-based music company. In May 2020 Sinach also became the first African artist to rise to the top of the Billboard Christian Songwriters chart. Her songs, especially Way Maker, have been covered by a number of globally acclaimed Christian music artists such as Michael W. Smith, Leeland; Christafari; Passion Worship Bank; Maranda Curtis; Bethel Music and many others.

In a video welcoming the new invitees, the academy’s vice-president of membership and industry relations, Kelley Purcell, said: “Our new members symbolise the future of the academy and represent the direction we are headed in as an organisation and the music community at large.”