Music Producers Empowerment Workshop Returns To Lagos In August

The organisers of the annual Music Producers Empowerment (MPE) workshop in Nigeria have announced that the 2023 edition will be held in August.

The free seminar aims to equip emerging and established music producers with a holistic view of the music industry while offering them the necessary tools to navigate the space.

Aside from being taken through music production, mixing, and mastering lessons, the event has also routinely provided a unique opportunity for the participants to interact with music industry professionals.

Traditionally held in Lagos, the programme founded by Odunayo Yusuf of OY Productions has had notable producers like Mavin Records boss Don Jazzy, Masterkraft Milla Mix, Fliptyce and Rexxie, music lawyer Akinyemi Ayinoluwa and other industry experts as facilitators.

A veteran producer, sound engineer and music instructor, Yusuf is widely respected for his productions across various genres including Afrobeats, Afro-swing, Afro-house, Afropop, reggae, dancehall and zouk. He has worked with artists like Olamide, Awilo Longomba, Patoranking, Stonebwoy and Wande Coal. He believes initiatives like the MPE workshop can improve Nigeria’s music scene, ensuring a vibrant and sustainable music ecosystem. He hopes such programmes will encourage more people to take on similar initiatives or even approach him for a partnership to make it bigger.

The MPE initiative has been lauded across Nigeria’s music landscape as crucial in providing music producers, who are often overlooked but play a critical role in shaping the sound of Nigerian music, with the necessary resources and tools to succeed.

“It is my hope that more such initiatives can be replicated not only in the music scene but in every industry in Nigeria, so that more young people can achieve their dreams,” Yusuf told Music In Africa in 2021. “If we keep waiting for the government to do everything for us, we may end up waiting forever.

So I hope this sparks a fire and a new wave of similar initiatives where established individuals in every industry reach out to help others who are struggling to stand in that industry.”