Mark Okraku-Mantey
Ghanaian highlife musician Kaakyire Kwame Fosu, popularly known as KK Fosu, has appealed to the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government to invest in the Ghanaian music industry as it does for football and tourism.
He indicated that he does not understand why the government was spending so much on football but fail to invest in the music industry.
Although the main challenge the Ghanaian music industry is facing is lack of resources, he said the little investment one makes guarantees profitable returns than other sectors of the economy.
Speaking in an interview on Kantanka TV, KK Fosu, who believes that investing in music would help the industry break into the highly competitive global music market, mentioned that investing in the local music industry is a way of promoting and preserving the rich Ghanaian culture.
Credited with hit songs like ‘Sudwe’, ‘Anadwo Yede’, ‘6 o’clock’, ‘Akonoba’, ‘Toffee’, ‘Am Back’ among others, KK Fosu expressed concern about the attitude of Ghana politicians towards the music industry, saying they only think about the industry when they need the services of the musicians to perform on their campaign platforms.
Meanwhile, reports reaching BEATWAVES indicate that due to lack of support for the local music industry, a number of stakeholders who no longer find it attractive have decided to find alternative jobs.
Some of them, BEATWAVES gathered, have rented their offices and shops to mobile phones dealers whilst some have closed down their offices and distribution shops.
Speaking to BEATWAVES in separate interviews, the producers noted that Ghana is endowed with so many talented creative people in various fields and supporting and investing in the industry would create employment opportunities for the masses.
They lamented the lack of structures to facilitate and grow the music business in the country, which according to them, is impeding the growth of musicians and other creative people in general.
They added that in Ghana today, many investors as well as organisations do not understand the business of music and as a result, are unable to properly fund activities of the musicians.
The producers indicated that there are several opportunities in the music industry where businessmen and organisations can invest and earn colossal amount of money from, but they desist from investing into it because of the bad perception they have about the music industry.
According to them, investors in Ghana do not recognise the gains in the entertainment industry except for a few, but they expressed confidence the narration will change in the near future.
By George Clifford Owusu