Media personality and entertainment critic Austin Woode has called on Ghana Music Awards organisers to go beyond recognising artistes and deliberately invest in promoting Ghanaian music in international markets.
Speaking on Starr Showbiz with Feeling Daddy on Starr FM on Saturday, August 15, 2026, Mr Woode said awards platforms, particularly those organised for Ghanaian audiences in the diaspora, could play a more active role in taking Ghanaian music to new markets.
He argued that the impact of such awards should not end with the presentation of trophies but should include deliberate efforts to expose Ghanaian music to audiences beyond the Ghanaian diaspora.
According to him, a Ghana Music Awards scheme operating in the United States, for instance, could adopt a five-year plan to promote Ghanaian music across the US, Canada, Brazil, the Caribbean and Mexico.
He said such a model would allow the awards scheme to become a vehicle for promoting Ghanaian music internationally rather than simply an annual event.
“So it’s not just about awarding Wendy Sings as Female Artist of the Year or giving Sarkodie a Best Rapper or Shatta Wale Best Dancehall Artist or Stonebwoy Best Dancehall Reggae Song,” Mr Woode said.
“But how, after the awards night, beyond that, we believe that in the next five years, our business model as a private entity is to push Ghana Music beyond Ghanaians in this diaspora.”
Mr Woode also suggested that organisers could identify specific Ghanaian music genres with potential in particular international markets and actively promote them there.
He cited reggae and dancehall as an example, noting that the genres have developed strong roots in Ghana and could potentially be promoted in Caribbean markets where the music has an established audience.
“If we’re pushing it in the Caribbean and other areas who like this genre of music, and we don’t leave it only to the artistes and their management to be promoting it, they would definitely do that,” he said.
“But we as an industry and as a private entity would also want to help push that and that is pushing Ghana music to the world.”
Mr Woode pointed to a Ghanaian carnival in Germany, which he said attracted about 20,000 people, as an example of the potential reach of Ghanaian music when it is deliberately presented to international audiences.
He recalled seeing videos of the event, where German and other non-Ghanaian audiences participated in a carnival featuring Ghanaian music.
He said the visibility generated by such activities could have a wider impact on Ghanaian music and help expose the country’s artistes and genres to new audiences.
Mr Woode further argued that Ghana Music Awards schemes in different parts of the world could adopt similar approaches, with each using its geographical location and networks to promote Ghanaian music.
READ: Austin Woode calls for government to bring Ghana Music Awards organisers abroad under one umbrella
He said the ultimate objective should be to position Ghanaian music as a leading musical force from Africa and expand its reach beyond the continent.
“We want Ghana music and the genre we produce, be it highlife, hip-hop, reggae dancehall, Afrobeats with a T or Afrobeats with a Z, we want to be at the forefront as the ones generating that kind of music to boost tourism and also our creative arts,” he said.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
