Enock Agyepong
CHIEF EXECUTIVE officer (CEO) of Speech Production, Enock Agyepong, has described as unfortunate activities of some leaders in Ghana’s music industry, whose activities are contributing to the collapse of the industry.
Labelling such people as thieves and nation wreckers, Mr. Agyepong said the increasing rate of corruption in the music industry had gravely affected the lives of many musicians especially, aged ones, who were finding it difficult to make ends meet.
The music producer said the fight against corruption should not only target corrupt music stakeholders but also politicians and other leaders, whose corrupt activities had brought the industry to a standstill.
In an interview with BEATWAVES yesterday, Mr. Agyapong appealed to Ghanaian musicians to join in the campaign against corruption and other social ills by using their songs and stage performances to fight these.
“The current crop of musicians should be at the forefront of the fight against corruption,” he said.
He explained that corruption was one of the great problems, which was hindering service delivery in Ghana, as a lot of government funds had allegedly been misapplied by some leaders.
He said the government was fighting corruption but was beset with a lot of challenges.
He warned music stakeholders to desist from corrupt activities, which were likely to retard the industry’s progress, adding “we need the support of all and sundry to champion the war against corruption.”
The music producer appealed to the government to develop interest in funding some of the activities of the creative industry especially, the music industry.
He said investing in music would help the industry break into the highly competitive global music market, which required not only talent, training and technological back up, but also funding.
Mr. Agyepong further urged Ghanaian businessmen to invest in the music industry in Ghana.
According to him, the government as well as business leaders have refused to invest in the music industry because of the bad perception they have about the industry.
He was of the view that if Ghanaian businessmen and organizations invested in the music industry, the country could use showbiz to create a positive image and project the country positively to the world.
He said despite the abundance of music talents in the country, there was its business aspect, which had so far not received much attention in the country, hence, the need for more investment.
By George Clifford Owusu