The President of the Musicians Union of Ghana has led a delegation to visit PPL in the United Kingdom, a leading organization that has succeeded in expanding her territories in collecting royalties for musicians who feature as backing vocalist or session men for sound recordings based on their agreement with the recording Artiste, Publisher or record label.
Even though the new copyright act 690 of 2005 makes provision for the payment of royalties to performing Artistes who feature as session men or backing vocalist based on the agreement they have signed with any employer who engages them in a recording contract, this aspect of the law is yet to see the light of day in Ghana.
The hope for both session men and professional backing vocalist is that, as the local industry is growing in knowledge and experience, the union is spearheading a campaign for the implementation of the copyright act 690 to its fullest. This is to ensure the inclusion of all creative individuals who feature in a recording piece to benefit from same.
The leadership of PPL is more than willing to assist Ghana to improve on our collective management system by providing all the needed support for the development of the Music industry in Ghana.
In order for all prospective beneficiaries (session men or backing vocalist) to be recognized, it is expected that you sign the requisite form at the recording studio which will indicate your exact contribution and the corresponding benefits thereof.
The Union will soon organize a forum to introduce this form to be used by all who qualify and to ensure that in the not distant future they can all benefit from their creativity.
The delegation included the general secretary Mrs. Deborah Anaman and the Director for special projects Fiifi Khan Agyarkwah (Rev).
