MUSIGA organizes health screening and music seminar

The Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) has organized a health screening and music business seminar for its members and musicians in Accra as part of Ghana Music Month.

Ghana Music Month is a month-long celebration of Ghanaian music with a series of activities lined up for the period. These include musical concerts, an African Music Business Dialogue, and Musicians Time with God.

The President of the Union noted, “The welfare of our members is of paramount importance to us hence our decision to have this health screening exercise. Capacity building to enable our members to compete favorably in the new music landscape is one of the reasons for the music business seminar.”

Touching on the need to prepare adequately as a music professional, Mr. Emmanuel Boahen, a lecturer with Valley View University spoke about the need for upcoming musicians to explore alternative revenue generation options. These range from scoring for movies to recording jingles for businesses.

He added that other revenue options include teaching, entertainment journalism and disc jockeying. He said due to the fluid nature of the music industry, musicians must be prepared for any eventuality. He also advised musicians earning revenue from their work to make meaningful investments that can support them in their times of need.

In his presentation on Leveraging Music to Develop the Tourism Industry, the Director of Communications and Special Projects for MUSIGA, Ahuma Bosco Ocansey challenged musicians to work with tour and event organizers to come up with music-themed tour packages.

He also advised them to work closely with metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to design music programmes to promote tourist destinations in their localities noting that there is a symbiotic link between music and tourism which is mutually beneficial to both industries.

The health screening was done by Gyaesu Herbal Clinic and the event was supported by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).