Ayo Maff, record label fight dirty over contract breach

Famous singer, Ayorinde Mafoluku, also known as Ayo Maff, is currently embroiled in a dispute with his record label, Tunesbid Limited, over alleged breaches of their contractual agreement.

In a statement signed by the label’s Chief Executive Officer, Precious Okolie, and shared with Punch Online on Monday, July 21, Tunesbid alleged that despite “investing significant resources to promote Ayo Maff, including the release of singles such as Street Anthem, 7 Days, and Dealer,” the singer and his management team had gone behind their back to engage with global distribution company, Empire Distribution, which had signified interest in distributing two of the artiste’s Extended Play albums.

The statement read in part, “These efforts attracted the attention of international distribution companies, including Empire Distribution, who subsequently offered a deal to distribute two EPs for the artiste, with an option for an LP album. As part of this agreement, Empire Distribution also agreed to make an upfront payment to Tunesbid Limited. The contract details with Empire were finalised with documents sent to Tunesbid Limited for onward execution.

“However, unbeknownst to the label, Ayo Maff and his management team—Oyefeso Oluwamayowa Olumide, Okolie Arnold Chiedu and Oyefeso Ayotunde—had cunningly connived to deceive and defraud Tunesbid by entering into a contractual agreement with the label which they had no intention of honouring.

“And, in a swift unravelling of their true fraudulent intents, the artiste and his management refused to sign the music distribution contract, having gone behind the label to hold separate meetings and discussions with representatives of Empire Distribution. The label, in the course of the aforementioned ongoing discussions/negotiations and following pressured requests from the artiste’s management, had proceeded to finance the recording of songs that would be released as the first Extended Play project under the contract with Empire Distribution.”

It also alleged that “as soon as the recordings were done,” the artiste and his management exited the label’s premises without informing the label or submitting the recorded songs.

The statement went on to note that the artiste and his management then wrote letters (dated May 17, 2024, and May 30, 2024) expressing their intention to breach the contract less than six months after signing.

It added, “The label made several efforts through mediation and formal communications in a bid to resolve this contract breach amicably, but it quickly became evident that neither the artiste nor his management had any interest in peaceful resolution. As a result, Tunesbid Limited instructed its legal team, led by Zaeda Oracle, to begin exploring legal avenues to address this blatant breach of contract.”

However, in another interview with our correspondent, Ayo Maff’s manager, Ayotunde Oyefeso, also accused Tunesbid of not fulfilling its financial obligations to the artiste.

According to him, it was expressly stated in the contract that if the label did not hold up its end of the bargain, the singer was free to take a walk from the deal.

Oyefeso added, “We gave the label a two-week notice of our intention to walk away, as stipulated in the contract, and if they wanted to rectify the situation, they could have done that within that time.
“According to the contract, Ayo was supposed to get an advance sum of N100m, but because we didn’t want to collect the money at once, we asked the company to pay N25m quarterly. But they never paid a dime—except one time that the CEO of the label gave him N100 for his ‘sacrifices’.

“Imagine an artiste who had such wave-making songs, yet he did not have an apartment, but was squatting with friends. The label collects 100 per cent of the royalties and concert fees coming in. So, what is the artiste supposed to live on?”
He added that when the artiste could not endure the situation anymore, he had to take a walk.

Oyefeso claimed that the label did not pay for any of the singer’s videos, as the visual for the chart-topping song Dealer was paid for by Fireboy DML, who was featured on the track.

The artiste manager also alleged that both parties went for a mediation session and the label was encouraged to settle the matter amicably—an offer he reportedly rejected. According to him, rather than accept, the label boss demanded N400m.
However, when our correspondent reached back to Tunesbid with Oyefeso’s claims, the label maintained that it invested financial resources in the singer’s career.

The label also stated that Ayo Maff was still bound by the contract he signed with the label and could not enter into any new agreement.

It added, “We wish to make it clear to the public that Ayo Maff is still bound by an existing contract with Tunesbid Limited and that any representation to the contrary should be duly regarded as invalid and false. More so, any and every individual and/or entity that relates with or enters into a contractual, commercial, or collaborative agreement/contract/partnership with Ayo Maff or OceanStreet Creative Limited (parading themselves as the management of the artiste), do so at their own risk and will face the prospect of legal actions. Ergo, we would like to advise every show promoter/entertainment company who have previously or are currently participating with Ayo Maff and his management team in organising any artiste tours, shows or events to immediately desist from any such illegal association or face the risk of legal actions from Tunesbid Limited.”