Richie Mensah
Stakeholders in the Ghanaian music industry have called for extensive talks between music stakeholders to resolve the challenges of music digitisation in the country.
They made the call at the MTN Digital Music Conference held under the theme: “How To Monetise Your Work And The Challenges Of Digital Media.”
The digital music conference was organised by MTN to encourage Ghanaian music stakeholders to take advantage of the digital platforms to promote their various musical works.
The virtual conference provided a platform for players in the music industry to study, understand and access opportunities in the emerging markets around the world.
The focus of the conference was to upgrade the skills of Ghanaian artistes and also geared towards pushing Ghana music beyond the borders of Ghana.
Panelists at the conference were Rex Omar, Chairman GHAMRO; Cynthia Quarcoo, Managing Partner, CQ legal and consulting; founder of Africa 1 Media, Yoel Kenan; Richie Mensah, CEO of Lynx entertainment and Gillian Ezra.
The panelists at the conference shared their experiences and ideas on how artistes could monetise contents in the digital space.
Speaking at the conference, the chairman of the Ghana Music Right Organisation (GHAMRO), Rex Omar, who is also a songwriter and producer, said Ghana had the talents, businessmen, and technocrats to make the music industry very fruitful, but some stakeholders do not want to dialogue but always want to throw accusing fingers without offering solutions.
He, however, urged industry stakeholders to bury their differences and work as a team to move the industry to the next level.
The Chief Executive of Lynx Entertainment, Richie Mensah, who also spoke at the conference, was of the assertion that music stakeholders are not doing enough to solve digitisation problems.
According to him, music stakeholders spent so much on things that would not benefit them and the industry than working together to share ideas on how to solve the problems facing the industry.
“We need to understand that we should work hand in hand to achieve bigger things and also know how to solve our grievances, offer solutions and take necessary actions for the good of the industry,” he said.
Mr Yoel Kenan, Chief Executive Officer Africori, who was the guest speaker of the conference, advised artistes to focus on promotion of their music to help sell their content to a broader market, and also see themselves as business people but not just entertainers.
By George Clifford Owusu