By: Deborah Amewoyi
The Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) in an indept interaction with authorities of Copyright held a meeting to discuss ongoing collaborations and other challenges tackling the Ghanaian Music Industry.
The meeting which was held on June, 2 was focused on challenges in royalty distribution and the operational issues facing the Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) within the music industry.
At the event, Director of Copyright, William Akwetey Bonsu underscored the importance of the collaboration between Copyright and MUSIGA. He indicated that the move between the two bodies will enhance musician’s right in order to thrive in the music industry.
Additionally, Mr. Bonsu touched on the body’s unreserved motivation to creating youth training programs and initiatives in order to nurture emerging talents in the creative industry.
President for MUSIGA, Bessa Simons on his part
detailed out the Union’s program of activities in the previous year. He highlighted various capacity buildings programs focused on digital trends, activities from the Golden Jubilee celebrations, Authentic highlights night to raise funds for aging musicians and many others.
He then added his voice to the growing concerns of royalty distributions within the industry, Mr. Bessa Simon argued that despite the fact that 80% of musicians have been recognised by GHAMRO, the system is normally plagued with repeated delays and inconsistencies with the distribution. He added that majority of the creatives recognized by body rely on the royalty distributions for livelihood.
Regarding the legal disputes which have halted the operations of GHAMRO, Leadership of Copyright have indicated that it is only the courts that wields the power to impose an interim leadership to steer affairs of the union.
In order to call a truce, the the union called on neutral members of the union to help facilitate discussions regarding the ongoing disputes and urged parties involved to withdraw legal charges in order to prevent further damages of the music industry.
The meeting which brought together notable executives from MUSIGA and high profile officials from the Copyright office shows absolute commitment of these bodies towards enhancing the interests of Musicians in Ghana’s creative industry.
