Lack of institutional structure killing music industry

By Bernard Yaw ASHIADEY

There is no institutional structure that trains and regulates music industry practitioners in this country, says Bice Osei Kufour, President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).

“We pay for our music to be played on radio and TV instead of being paid for the use of our music on these stations.  We receive next to nothing as royalties for the use of our creative works.  

“Piracy is killing our creativity; access to funding for productions and marketing are limited and restricted,” he added.

President Obour, as he is called in the fraternity, spelt out these challenges at the music industry stakeholders’ forum held in Accra recently to share in details the role practitioners and stakeholders can play in ensuring that the research project being undertaken by MUSIGA is completed as soon as possible.

This research, which is under the theme: “Revitalising the Creative Art Industry: The Contribution of the Music Sector to the Socio-Economic Development of Ghana”, is to help in finding the requisite solutions to music industry needs.

The research will also create visibility of the music sector, giving it a higher political and strategic priority and gather information necessary to develop a coherent strategy for the sector.

It will also provide baseline data that can be used to inform evidence-based policymaking.

The Union can then use the outcome as an advocacy tool to drive and direct investment into the music sector. Its outcome will also be used to prepare a four-year medium-term strategic plan to guide the development of the Ghanaian music industry. 

The President stated with concern how musicians in the country have complained about the lack of direct government support and investment into the music sector over the years – calls which have fallen on deaf ears.

“Unlike sports where we witness on a regular basis government’s huge and regular investments and provision of infrastructure among other things across the country, one cannot mention a single performance venue purposefully built for music in the country.

“We have in the past sought to find solutions through the art of complaining, which has never worked effectively because even when someone decides to help, the individual or organisation is saddled with where to begin from.  Specific policies and data are limited or nonexistent.

“We can stop complaining and start living on our music if we establish a scientific tool we can use to advocate dialogue or negotiate for fair and realistic wages from our employers, and equally engage users of our works to pay for their usage.”

He said hotels, restaurants, new and social media platforms, telecommunication operators, commercial vehicles, airlines and shipping lines continue to use their music to promote their businesses, yet many of them fail to pay the appropriate fee for the use of it.

“If we can establish the economic contribution our sector makes to the national economy, we shall get the appropriate legislations and its enforcement to benefit and impact directly on the creators of music.”