Renowned Ghanaian singer, songwriter, and record producer Rocky Dawuni, a three-time Grammy nominee, has emphasized the need for a more robust music collection system in Ghana.
Speaking at the Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) red carpet, Dawuni highlighted the crucial role of a comprehensive and efficient collection mechanism to ensure that artists receive fair compensation for their work.
“The thing is that, you know, we can do more in terms of the industry because first of all, we need to create a much broader collection system,” Dawuni stated. He underscored the importance of accurately tracking and monetizing the use of recorded music. “The collection system will allow that, you know, when artists have their songs recorded and well registered, you can be able to find wherever the song is played and cast the net of collection bigger so that artists can be able to make something out of their investment.”
Dawuni pointed out the significant investment required to produce music, including songwriting, studio time, and promotion. He argued that artists deserve to see returns on these investments. “Creating music is not easy. You invest a lot. You write the songs, you pay for studio, you pay for promotion, and even to get a song to a certain level requires so much effort. So you want to get some returns.”
He also called on organizations like the Ghana Music Rights Organization (GAMRO) to engage more actively with artists. “Organizations like GAMRO need to embrace and reach out to the artists because it’s a two-way street. Most artists don’t even probably know that they’re owed something, all their music has accrued anything.”
Dawuni suggested that a digitized system could help provide transparency and accountability, enabling artists to track their music’s performance and earnings. “If we have a good way of knowing those metrics, if we have a good way, a digitized system where we can see, oh, your song was played here, this happened to your song here, your song charted here and all of that, then we can be able to strengthen the collection system.”
In conclusion, Dawuni called for systemic reforms to bolster the resilience and effectiveness of Ghana’s music industry infrastructure. “We need to work on strengthening the resilience of our system and then in doing so to be able to strengthen the collection system so that artists can be able to get what is due them.”
Rocky Dawuni’s call to action highlights a critical area for development in Ghana’s music industry, promising a future where artists are rightfully compensated for their creative endeavors.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Emmanuel Mensah
