Musicians task GHAMRO to go after Churches

The musicians asked GHAMRO to get the churches to pay performing rights fees for the songs performed in their churches.

Performing rights are paid to music right owners whose music are performed in public. The Ghana Music Business Forum is part of activities of the Ghana Music Week (GMW) 2016 Festival.

In response, the Licensing Officer of GHAMRO Jonathan Cudjoe said GHAMRO has indeed taken steps to ensure that churches pay for the music performed in their churches. He said the organization is in discussions with the umbrella organizations in the religious domain to ensure that payments are made.

Mr. Cudjoe assured the musicians that GHAMRO is putting in place systems and structures to address the challenges facing collection management in Ghana and called for the support of music rights owners.

GHAMRO’s Chief Officer, Abraham Adjartey underscored the fact that GHAMRO is working on the payments from the churches, he, however, advised musicians and music rights owners to check their attitudes in dealing with both the churches and GHAMRO.

Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Hon Dzifa Gomashie congratulated the MUSIGA leadership on their performance so far and applauded the President of the Union, Bice Osei Kuffour aka Obour for his persistence, drive, and vision. He called on Ghanaians to celebrate our own citing the exploits of Rocky Dawuni, Shirley Frimpong Manso, Reggie n Bollie and Abraham Attah among others.

The Co-Convener of the Ghana Culture Forum Akunu Dake advised musicians to support their institutions like MUSIGA and GHAMRO since they are mandated to address issues affecting them. He congratulated the leadership of MUSIGA for organizing the forum and said if the participants practiced the lessons offered by the resource persons at the forum, they would be better off ultimately.

The President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) Bice Osei Kuffour said the decision to hold the annual forum as part of the GMW Festival is as a result of the awareness that music business knowledge is low, a view confirmed by the Comprehensive Survey of the Ghana Music Sector by KPMG. Obour reaffirmed the Union’s resolve to continue to seek the welfare of Ghanaian musicians and invited the public to participate fully in the GMW 2016 Festival.

Topics discussed at the forum were Managing Your Finances by Charles Mensa a Financial Management Consultant, The State of Collection Management and Piracy in Ghana by Jonathan Cudjoe of GHAMRO and Make That Tour Work by Pat Kirby an American Tour Manager based in Minnesota.

An International Music Expo is scheduled for the National Theatre on Friday, March 4 as part of GMW 2016 Festival. The Ghana Music Business Forum was under the theme “Developing the Music Industry to Drive Tourism” with support from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts and sponsored by the American Embassy, British Council and Gold Coast Securities. Media partners included EIB Networks, Radio Gold, Citi FM and Pluzz FM.