The 2022 World Music Day has been marked in an extraordinary way by the biggest award scheme in the country, Vodafone Ghana Music Award (VGMA) with a national music summit to address the challenges in the music industry and prepare a good path for the success of the industry.
The summit brought together and engaged experienced musicians, music producers and managers, distributors of music, music promoters, media and other industry players nationally, to discuss core industry issues within the industry and share their knowledge on how the industry can be transformed through educating young musicians on steps that can be taken to make them successful in their career.
The Public Relations Officer for Charterhouse, Robert Klah, indicated that there is a big gap in the music industry, and as part of plans to close it, such platforms like the summit are mounted to keep the industry people informed about the dynamics.
“There is a huge gap within our industry because we do not really have a school for music business. So what it means is that people do not have a platform for engaging knowledge when it comes to music business, so I am very glad the VGMA seeks to address that,” he said.
Mr. Klah mentioned that he would be glad if an institution responsible for music business will be set up to help grow the sector.
The summit, which was organised under the theme: ‘Route to Success in Ghana Music’, was graced by the Deputy Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku Mantey, where he called on the industry members to build a strong interpersonal relationship that can help them rise to achieve whatever aim they have.
“For me, I think the industry must begin to know that it cannot work in silos, they must work together. The musician needs the fashion designer, a musician needs a film person to help shoot music videos. So it is supposed to be a collaborative effort to be able to get a good result,” he advised.
Chairman of the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO), Rex Omar, took the opportunity to address the challenges in the collection of royalties in the country. He stated that the organisation has put a lot of measures in place to reduce the hindrances that are attached to the royalties’ collection.
According to him, a lot has to be done to help artistes and the respective persons in the music industry receive what is due them in terms of royalties; but support is needed to help put things in the right place, stating that government should make available some funding to help the organisation function well in terms of royalties’ collection.
Some musicians, at the end of the summit, shared their sentiments stating that there has been a lot of enlightenment, adding that the summit has thrown more light on certain things which they had less knowledge about. They added that it is a fruitful one and must continue.
