VIDEO: Eze jabs Obour, MUSIGA & GHAMRO; says “they are not doing well”

Blame here, blame there! Ghana-based Nigerian musician, Eze, has schooled MUSIGA president, Bice Osei Kufour (Obour), on how to deal with the body’s many problems.

In an interview at his Dansoman studio in Accra, the organizer of the Loud in Accra concert sought to question the organizational acumen of the body’s structure, insisting they’ve done little to help the average musician.

When asked to speak briefly on the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and Ghana Music Rights Organisation of Ghana (GHAMRO), he said, “They are not doing well.

I’m blaming it on the structure of the industry so far. They are not doing so well. The way I expected MUSIGA and GHAMRO to play their role, they are rather deviating from the points.”

Adding, “If I’m supposed to be given that opportunity, which of course I will not adhere to it because of criticisms and so on, I would rather play a backyard role like the way I started from the music and promotion.”

According to him, Ghana is gifted with music talents but the industry has failed to identify and take advantage of it. This, he said should be blamed on the fact that, the appropriate authorities have failed to tackle the basic problems in the industry.

“Ghana is blessed with music and we refuse to identify that but when you go to Nigeria or other developed country to be able to decide who leads in a year its being measured by the number of CDs you sold, even in the States, even in UK, everywhere,” he elaborated.

Eze said one of the many problems in the industry is the cost of CDs, “how many CDs you sell this year; it’s not how many times your song is played on air. Now the CDs are very expensive for people to afford.”

According to him, even though the target market for CDs are mostly students, they are not able to afford even a Sarkodie and Kojo Antwi CD because they are sold over 10ghc, which he finds very expensive, "that is the problem we are having. That’s the first problem. I see that they are neglecting that are.”

He continued, “that is the first problem I expect MUSIGA to handle. I have said it many times to Obour and his conglomerate, but I think they feel it’s too primary which is the foundation of the beginning of success in the music industry in Ghana.”

Addressing issues on Ghana Music Right Organisation (GHAMRO), Eze said, “I feel GHAMRO is too small to stand on its own. I see it as a branch subsidiary of MUSIGA. But what I see now is that, even MUSIGA is trying to sue them. Which means; these two people are different, which is not supposed to be like that.”

Eze bemoaned the lack of appropriate Commissions in the MUSIGA setup to regulate affairs of musicians, calling for different Commissions.

One of such he is pushing for, is a Screening Committee that will look into the artistic life, behavior and standardization of the musicians in Ghana.

“Anybody gets up [and says] I’m a musician. Even a carpenter can say I’m a musician. Is that how the musicianship goes about [in Ghana]?”he asked.

Watch the interview below: