Ghanaian musicians for sometime now have not benefited from the global impact of online marketing and distribution. When Jay-Z was releasing Blue Print 3, people knew to go to iTunes and download his album for $9.99, same with many other artists all over the world. So why can't the same be said for an Okyeame Kwame, Okomfour Kwaadee or Bradez' albums? Even though there is a demand for Ghanaian music abroad, often times, there isn't a reliable and efficient system to handle the nuances of distributing Ghanaian works across the globe. This is what a team of young and passionate Ghanaians at home and abroad hope to achieve through the synergy of SriBuO.
SriBuO is a service that seeks to help Ghanaian musicians and record labels to market their music worldwide via the world's largest and best online platforms. Currently it is able to market to iTunes worldwide, Amazon.com, Real Rhapsody, eMusic and a host of other online music stores.
All that musicians and record labels have to do is to approach SriBuO with their music. After the necessary permissions are obtained, their albums are put online. SriBuO collects and distributes sales payments to the musicians and record labels. They also provide other services that include handling copyright registration, registration with performance rights organization and online promotion/marketing.
“We deal with whoever owns the copyrights to the album/music recordings. That could be the distributor, artist or record label. SriBuO takes care of all the hassle involved in getting your music ready for online distribution, we help you market your music and handle payments involved in addition to any tax issues”, says George Armah, Chief Dreaming Officer. "We send monthly reports to our clients each month. Whenever they are ready, they can withdraw their royalties via Bank Transfer or Western Union.", he adds.
Various other platforms have tried to market Ghanaian music via popular online music stores. Others have also built niche websites that are not easily discoverable. There are also some other platforms that offer illegal downloads of Ghanaian music without paying the copyright holders anything. SriBuO on the other hand is trying to put Ghanaian music on the world map like it has never been done before. The team is trying to market more than just music, but also marketing Ghanaian culture.
SriBuO has partnerships with other media houses and organizations in Ghana who are trying to market Ghanaian music to the rest of the world. Some of these partnerships include partnerships with websites like:
SriBuO is soon going to be expanding to other genres of Ghanaian music - Traditional, Highlife, Gospel etc. There are also plans for mobile apps and other marketing channels in the near future. Check out SriBuO's Facebook fan page for more albums.
