Mavin Records has issued a public legal notice disowning Lotanna Harry, a man the label says has been presenting himself as an authorised representative of the company without ever being appointed to that role. The notice, dated September 10, 2026 and posted to Mavin’s official Instagram on September 15, warns artists, labels and business partners not to rely on any negotiation, transaction or communication carried out in Mavin’s name through Harry.
What Mavin’s Notice Actually Says
The statement, issued by Mavin’s Legal Affairs department on behalf of MG Entertainment Nigeria Limited (the entity formerly trading as Mavin Records, now operating simply as Mavin), states that Lotanna Harry “has never at any time been appointed, engaged, authorised or mandated by the Company to act as its agent.” According to the notice, Mavin’s only documented relationship with Harry was as a paid video model engaged on a subcontract basis for a handful of productions, nothing more.
Mavin alleges Harry has been using its logo and claiming an affiliation that does not exist. The label’s language is blunt: “Any person who chooses to engage with the Individual in reliance upon his/her purported authority does so entirely at his/her own risk.” Mavin also says it reserves the right to pursue legal action against Harry, or against anyone else found misusing its name, logo or business interests.
Harry’s Side: ‘A Misunderstanding’
Lotanna Harry has publicly responded to the notice, describing the situation as a misunderstanding and stating plainly that he is not a Mavin employee or member of its management staff. According to Harry, he runs the Record Label Access Network (RLAN), an independent platform he describes as connecting record labels, artists and industry professionals across Nigeria. He says Mavin is one of several labels featured on RLAN for visibility purposes, and that this listing does not mean he works for or represents the company.
Mavin’s notice and Harry’s explanation describe two different pictures of the same relationship: a subcontracted video model on one side, an industry-networking platform operator on the other. What is not in dispute, based on Mavin’s own statement, is that Harry was never given authority to negotiate, transact or speak on the label’s behalf.
Why This Matters Beyond One Label
Public disclaimers like this are not new in Nigerian music, but they land differently at a moment when catalogue and distribution money is genuinely moving through the Nigerian industry, and when Mavin itself carries outside capital after Universal Music Group’s 2024 majority investment in Mavin Global. A label of that scale disowning a self-described networker in public, on the record, with a dated legal notice, signals how seriously verification of who actually represents who has become for labels managing real deal flow.
For independent artists and smaller labels navigating distribution, licensing and management conversations, the underlying lesson generalises well past this one case: confirm any purported representative directly through a label’s official channel before treating a conversation as binding. Mavin said as much itself, pointing business partners back to its verified account, @mavinrecords, as the only channel it recognises.
What Happens Next
Neither party has indicated legal proceedings are currently underway. Mavin’s notice keeps that option open rather than announcing a filed suit, and Harry has not publicly indicated he intends to challenge Mavin’s characterisation beyond his RLAN explanation. Nigerian entertainment outlets including Pulse Nigeria, Leadership, Legit.ng and QED.NG have all carried the story since it surfaced this week, with commenters on Mavin’s own post noting they had been approached by parties claiming Mavin affiliation, though none of those individual claims have been independently verified.
For now, the notice stands as exactly what it says it is: a disclaimer, not a lawsuit. But it is a reminder that as more real money and real deals flow through Nigerian music, the question of who is actually authorised to speak for a label is not a formality. It is the whole deal.
