Supporting Your Supporters
We’ve heard it over and over before in this industry; “Ghana music no dey pay!” but I call cap. Standing on the opinion that “Ghana music” doesn’t exist anymore. Maybe it did in the past, when our favourite bands headlined stages and magazine articles across the globe. But today we live in completely different times. The very intentional actions of music executives in the well to do industries have spearheaded music-making in Ghana to new levels. Our creators now have access to resources available to any other creative anywhere else in the world, but with a few limitations because of our region (Africa).
It’s actually been exciting to see artists, labels and music executives working hand in hand to break onto the global music scene while making all the resources available to us here. But for now, our artists rely heavily on investor support as the main source of income when ideally they should be cashing out from their streams, ticket + merch sales and fan support. For artists coming up in Ghana’s scene, I advise this should be the aim and you should plan towards it. Take advantage of the communities to build core fans, explore as many studios and stages as you can to build a network of music professionals and create a path to sell your music to your fans across the world.
The key word is COLLABORATION. Find support using existing frameworks being developed currently by key players such as Spotify, Vibrate Space, iMullar, Camouflart and many others like them to ride the wave and catch your global core fans! That can set you on a set path to make money from your music career as well as attract investor interest along the way. There’s also a number of music service providers available to Independent AND signed artists to help them handle things like sound production, content creation, marketing, bookings and management. Check out Tieme Music and OneRPM.Music business is a multibillion dollar industry, chale let’s get cashing out. Like Tibu said, “Option 4 and I dash!”