Phonographic association approves security of music

Music producers on Monday endorsed security devices to protect musicians saying it would weed out pirates and rake in revenue for government and musicians.

“We are aware that a group of persons is not in support of the introduction of the security device, and are kicking against it. However, we are fully convinced that the security device will be an advantage to the music industry in general,” they said in a statement in Accra.

The security device has been called several names, including hologram.

The Ghana Association of Phonographic Industry (GAPI), which is the umbrella organisation of current music executive producers and owners of most record labels in the country, urged the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to retain the Copyright Act 690 that protected musicians.

It said the security device would serve as an effective mechanism to ensure transparency, accountability and promote trust between executive producers and artistes.

“It will erase doubts and mistrust that have often generated into heated confrontations between producers ad their artistes. “It will significantly reduce piracy by eliminating crooks and pirates from the system. This will afford only genuine owners of copyright works the security device.”

GAPI said the security device would enhance the work of the task force or monitoring team, as it can easily and quickly identify pirated works on the market. “The tax element in the security device would also bring revenue to the government for national development.” GAPI said it was comfortable with every condition regarding the security device and would advocate for its retention.