P&P, killer of Ghanaian music industry

Showbiz, they say, is 90 per cent business and 10 per cent show?. But there is no denying the fact that without the 10 per cent show there is no business in the first place. In fact the business (biz) rides solely on the creativity and performance (show).

The business men and financiers in the music industry for instance do not set out to look for other business men to do showbiz with; they hunt for creative people like song writers, composers, performing and recording artists and all kinds of people you could classify under creative artist in the industry. That is what showbiz is all about. In fact, if there is any part of showbiz that needs to be encouraged and supported it is the creative part ? the show. But sadly in our country Ghana, the creative aspect of the music industry is not only neglected but it is also left at the mercy of the two most destructive elements I choose call P&P; not the local tabloid but piracy and payola.

The damage P&P (piracy and payola) is doing to the music industry in Ghana is to the extent that on one hand, most musicians are not able to break even due to piracy; and on the other, lots of creative music works do not see light of day due to high demand for exorbitant amounts in payola by mainly radio DJs and presenters.

This article looks at the impact of piracy and payola on the music industry in general and on creativity in particular. I do not intend to mince words on or romanticize this issue before hitting the nail on the head. I would go straight to the root, stem, branches, leaves and fruits of it with a bang.

First off P&P (piracy and payola) are well known illegal and immoral practices and yet very little is being done to hunt down and bring the perpetrators to book.

PIRACY

Globally music CD piracy account for at least $4.5 billion a year. That is huge revenue loss to copyright owners and genuine investors in the industry.

Piracy in the Ghanaian music industry dates back to the 1970s when due to the introduction of cassette technology in place of vinyl discs as a medium of retailing audio music sounds to the final consumer, people, especially DJs, took to making customized copies of collections from various artists for parties and for other social functions. The reason was, dubbing from cassette to cassette was way easier than doing the same with the vinyl disc, otherwise known as gramophone plates.

Later down the line DJs realized that the custom made tapes were on high demand so they started dubbing extra copies of what ever collections they made for social functions and sold them to interested persons without thinking that that was piracy and that was a crime.

It then moved on from just dubbing custom-made cassettes to actually dubbing full albums for commercial purposes and still the perpetrators did not think they were in the wrong. In the cause of time piracy became so big two production houses, Ambassador in Kumasi and Polygram in Accra were reported to have lost the market to pirates and therefore collapsed.

The collapse of those two production houses was economically significant in that according to research reports, prior to their demise they each produced between at least half a million singles and over a 100,000 albums in a year between 1969 and 1975. (Source: Ghana?s Music Industry ? Support for the Extension of Long-term financing ? April 2007).

According to a survey conducted by Professor John Collins of the University of Ghana in 2000, by 1992 when the recording industry of Ghana had changed from the production of vinyl discs to cassettes, it was estimated that pirates had 90 per cent of the music market.

By this time industry players had realized the damage piracy was causing to the industry so protective measures such as the introduction of banderoles was introduced. Initially that measure curbed piracy to an appreciable extent. But not long the pirates found a way around it and refused to be pushed out. They took steps to beat the law; they pirated even the banderoles.

Then as we moved to the digital technology (CDs), gammogram was introduced as a protective measure with more cumbersome security features, and this time the pirates ignored it and sold pirated CDs without gammogram at cheaper rates than the originals.

The thing about it is that the pirates always move to the frontline of the market; on the streets, road side, market entrances and exits and other very strategic places and sold at cheaper rates than the original; in effect they beat the copyright owners on the market.

The Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA) a few years ago collaborated with the good old Ghana Police Service (GPS) and went on the streets and arrested people selling music works which did not have gammograms. They arrested a few people, but that was just a nine day wonder.

As we speak now the pirates are back on the streets and in full flight selling their works without gammogram and the police look on unconcerned. In fact I am inclined to believe that even some police men prefer to buy music works from the pirates than from the original distributors, for obvious reasons, it is cheaper.

Recently I met one of Ghana?s gospel music greats, Esther Smith in the states and she told me a very funny but sad story. She told me that whiles she was away on a two-month tour of the states, Canada, Italy and other parts of Europe, she came across a music retailer selling ?The Best of Esther Smith? all the way in the states.

She later found out that that retailer was part of a piracy syndicate, which has its roots in Ghana. Every single one of Esther?s albums is making waves both here and among Ghanaians in the Diaspora. The pirates just beat her to it and went ahead to compile what they thought was her best songs even though she had not done any such compilation yet.

In the face of such a situation Esther stood the danger of making low sales on her works because consumers would rather opt for the collection of her best at the price of one instead of spending money to buy copies of all of her CDs.

That is the damage piracy is doing to our industry and sadly it has crossed international boundaries. In fact I personally witnessed the owner of a Ghanaian shop in the states dubbing not just music, but films and making coloured photocopies of the sleeve designs in the comfort of his home. Who cares?

Out there, the pirates pay good money to some kingpins who give access codes to specific websites, where they download music and films in original quality, make copies and sell.

The competition is huge. Statistics available indicate that in 1992 piracy accounted for 90 per cent of revenue from the music industry in Ghana. In other parts of the world the statistics are equally very alarming. In China for instance in 2005, piracy alone accounted for 85 per cent (US$411million) of the total industry revenue. That was the highest in the world for that year in actual cash.

For the same year, 2005, Paraguay recorded 99 per cent in music piracy revenue; that?s kind of crazy; In Indonesia it was 80 per cent, followed by Ukraine with 68 per cent, Russia with 66 per cent, then Mexico with 60 per cent, Pakistan, 59 per cent, India, 56 per cent, Brazil 52 per cent and Spain 24 per cent, just to name a few.

Given these breathtaking piracy revenue figures, the CEO of International Federation of the Phonogram Industries (IFPI), John Kennedy could not be far from right when he said ?the music industry fights piracy because if it did not the music industry would quite simply not exist.?

PAYOLA

As if piracy is not enough, in Ghana there exists another virus called payola (payo), which is such a phenomenal creativity killer. In fact Ghanaian musicians need to fight more than just piracy; they need to fight payola else they would fizzle out with time.

The perpetrators of payola are mainly radio station DJs and presenters and to some extent presenters of music programmes on TV, those they call VJs (Video Jockeys). The print media music reviewers are kind. But they sometime take what is known in local parlance as ?soli?, which is essentially payola.

Radio DJs and presenters are particularly notorious for demanding payola as a condition for playing CDs given to them by music producers.

They have a policy that say ?good music is the one that comes with good money?. In other words to the DJs, no matter how good your music sounds, if you do not include some money with it, it would not see the light of day. The opposite is true. Bad music that comes with good money enjoys more airplay than good music with little or no money.

It?s amazing how payola has become a major defining factor of what good or bad music is in Ghana; and the perpetrators have no idea what it takes to come up with a single note in a song.

I am reliably informed that one very popular DJ who hosts one of the big drive time (late afternoon) shows was paid at least ?40 million and given one posh car (brand withheld) by a popular gospel music group to promote their CD over and above all others about two years ago. As a result he played and sung along that group?s promotional song at least four times anytime he was on air.

Another circular musician notorious for his profane songs I?m told gives at least ?25 million to a particular drive time radio DJ to promote his works over and above all else.

In the two instances above, it is obvious that the musicians involved had the money to dole out to the DJs because they had no other choice. But the average musician in Ghana does not have what it takes to survive that competition, especially when some musicians make it easy for the DJs to get used to such huge sums as payola. These DJs have a modus operandi ? they usually learn every line of the promotional song and they ask listeners to phone in and sing at least one line for a reward. That way they get people to be interested in the song and thereby go to the market and buy the CDs and cassettes. Very smart marketing strategy, but selectively applied to the advantage of those who pay good payola. Some DJs also manage particular musicians and so for the period that they are on air they play the songs of their clients more than any other. Clear conflict of interest and no one cares to talk about it.

The other side of this is that among the DJs themselves, they do batter trade; they play songs from each other?s clients and for that they do not take the payola in cash but obviously in kind. There is yet another form of payola they take in kind. I am told that some female artists do some DJs sexual favors in return for their songs to be promoted on air.

That is how far things have come in the industry. Lately what the DJs also do is that they mix songs with similar tempo from their clients and clients of their colleague DJs. That way they are able to determine what the final product of the music production should sound like.

The idea is if one wants his or her music to be included in the drive time mix, then it must have the same tempo and style as the other ones in the mix.

What a subtle way to discourage creativity and endorse mediocrity and maintain the status quo and keep otherwise creative musicians in the box. In fact this kind of thing affects more than just the musician?s creativity but even the recording engineer. I was very sad to hear a studio engineer describe the DJs taste of music as commercial music and all others as probably a waste of time.

Very often you hear the DJs say a particular artist?s payola is running out so he or she needed to bring more money as a condition for his music to continue to feature in the drive time mix. Some DJs would argue that they do not take money before they play music works on air but they would not refuse a reward from a grateful artists. That is a very smart way of evading blame, but in practice they simply do not play your music because they think it is good music, but because they have evidence that you pay good payola whether before or after they play it, or because a colleague of theirs has a vested interest in your music, period. I was absolutely shocked when DJ Abio of Channel R came on TV recently and tried to justify payola by saying that it was just promotional fee musicians pay to the radio stations. I really wonder whether he checked the meaning of payola in the dictionary and secondly does he issue receipts to musicians for the payola he collects ? does he account to his boss for the payola he collects ? does payola reflect in the audited accounts of Channel R? In the west, DJs usually ask permission from producers before they even play music from artists. In fact a release document is filled and signed by the producer before the DJ could legally play any music from that producer?s artist. In some instance radio stations buy the exclusive first time air play rights of top musicians. But in Ghana it is the other way round; you pay for your music to be played; in fact it would be like a beggar?s wish to think that some station would pay you money to have the first time airplay of your music. How can we run an effective music industry with such viruses firmly rooted in the industry?s practice? How can we expect the foreign giants to invest in our local artists only for some DJs to rather get richer whiles the musician and producers struggle to make ends meet? Meanwhile the DJs have no idea of the hustles and bustles of the music production matrix. Unfortunately the administrative and legal regimes, in terms of laws, regulations and policies as well as technical and technological support for the industry are virtually non-existent. No wonder our music is only very popular in Ghana and among Ghanaians in the Diaspora but has no much appeal among other nationals like the way others from elsewhere have such strong appeal among Ghanaians. May God save our music industry from the debris and viruses like P&P (payola and piracy.

THE WAY FORWARD I realized that lately the MUSIGA/COSGA and the police collaborative taskforce is back on the street arresting those sales boys of pirated works. The problem however is that there is a divided front in the industry; we now have POSAG (whatever that is), whose members do not use the MUSIGA/COSGA approved gammogram. Ghana Association of Phonographic Industry (GAPI), a group of CD producers and executive producers are also doing their own thing even though they are supposed to be part of COSGA.

In fact they are on the streets and in houses fishing out the pirates themselves because they have no confidence in the structures. There is a hell of a big issue about who is making money from the gammograms; whether it is the musician or some private persons with vested interest.

But the issue here is there is a common enemy, piracy, and the only way to defeat it is unity. Indeed the clarion call is for the state (government) to put its weight behind the anti-piracy campaign to safeguard the huge potential economic gains the industry promises if well structured and protected.

For instance Prof. Collins in his research noted that Ghana stood the chance of raking in at least $53 million a year from world music market provided the country ran a well structured music industry. Ghana has been selected among six African countries to benefit from a World Bank and UNCTAD facility worth millions of dollars for our music industry but the condition is to get the basics right before we can access the fund. Senegal is currently benefiting.

With regards to payola the DJs involved are obviously united ? partners in crime. They conspire to promote some musicians over and above others.

It is a waste of time trying to fight them as individuals. Musicians must take a cue from the DJs and unite in their fight against payola. Mark Okraku Mantey of TV3 Mentor Fame once suggested during a TV interview that all copyright owners in the music industry should come together and place a ban on airplay of their songs; so that no radio station, TV station, adverts, jingles, discos, bars and others should play their music for one month. That is kind of over the top. But drastic situations demand drastic measures, unless of course musicians are okay with DJs making more money from the music industry than the average musician. It is also very refreshing to note that at last this government has included the music and film industry in the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRSII) 2006-2009 to deal with issues of legal and regulatory frameworks, ICT and technical support as well as capacity building in the industry as a matter of national policy.

Here again the players in the industry needs to unite and undertake serious advocacy initiatives like workshops and seminars to interact with policy makers and find common grounds on how to realize the targets of the GPRS II for the industry. The industry needs that policy framework and long term financial support to weed out the pirates and to over power the payola conscious DJs.

In that regard the research carried out by GAPI with the 680 million cedi support from BUSAC was in the right direction. The report from that research is intended to highlight the challenges and prospects for Ghanaian music industry and provide some pointers to how to cross over from an embattled industry to an economically viable one.

The report is ready and right about now consensus building through seminars and workshops are ongoing across the country to ensure that all players industry and policy makers understood and appreciated the issues therein and thereby chart a common course towards a better future for the industry. Long live Ghana, Long Live the music industry. There is hope yet.