Professionalism can move mountains

One of the major reasons why music makers in Ghana are struggling to breakthrough is lack of professionalism. There is mediocrity in every aspect of the music business making it very difficult to sell. No one will buy a product that does not look right. The food can taste nice, but if it does not look nice, no one will patronize it.

When you look at how artistes manage themselves in Ghana, you will think they are just doing what they do for the fun of it.

Majority of people in the music business in Ghana are simply not serious. The music makers themselves do not have a bearing and the producers are not generational thinkers. The managers walk in the shadow of their low achieving artistes and pretend they are working.

Until those in the music industry see music as a multi million dollar bag avenue, we will still be trailing behind. The song the artiste makes is his product and the price tag he puts on it is what he will get. This means that the artiste and his entire management team must be market oriented.

Carving a niche and creating a brand image is a success key for any artistes. George Ampofo is a financial analyst. He told me in a conversation “the music industry in Ghana loses million of Ghana cedis every year because it is not organized”.

There are a thousand and one record labels in Ghana because every artiste wants to be on his own. The music success in America and currently in neighboring Nigeria is just because they are organized. Most of the hit records in Nigeria are signed on to Mohits, Kenny’s Music or Storm Records. Why do you want to do it yourself when some one can do it for you in a better and a more professional manner?

The pathetic thing is that, an artiste can pay so much for his song to be played on radio and television and eventually not sell up to ten thousand copies of his CD.

Our music is like the farmer who plants so much but because of poor roads, the products get rotten in the farm. The pieces we produce in Ghana are good and pleasant to the eye, but hardly move beyond the nation’s borders.

The likes of Phamous People and OM Studios have brought massive class and quality in the making of local music videos and if we can get three more video directors like OG and Abraham, the face of Ghana music videos will changed for good.

“My friends and I love Ghana music and we listen to it a lot; but we don’t buy. And I wonder how we get the tracks”, Derrick Andoh, an insurance broker told me in a conversation.

I look forward in earnest to the day when players in Ghana music will say that “we are there.”

By: Selase Attah