Music experts converge to discuss the future of the music industry
Music experts in Ghana will converge at the Accra Tourist Information Centre for a digital music conference on 29th of June, where they will deliberate on the future of the music industry in the digital era.
The conference will include a panel consisting the director of the creative arts program for the National Commission on Culture, Socrate Sarfo; veteran radio broadcaster Daddy Bosco; gospel singer Mary Ghansah; publicist and blogger Jonilar Laryea; and the Musicians Union of Ghana’s Bessa Simons.
Among the panelist, Jonilar told newsmen that he is looking forward to sharing his experience and knowledge about the dynamic nature of the digital music industry.
“At the conference, I will discuss the fundamentals and what independent artistes need to know before they embark on this digital space,” he said. “Then digital music marketing and how to properly promote, distribute your songs on Facebook, Spotify, Apple Music, and Twitter.
He further said that the day is going to be remarkable for the patrons.
He said some artistes still release their music manually, “We still have artistes who release their music physically because they want it to fly quickly so they can play a gig, because that’s where the profit is.”
Apple Music tops the chart of the most popular streaming services in Ghana, next is Boomplay Music. Jonilar says the music industry in Ghana is gradually moving to online platforms, which can help artistes breakthrough into other countries.
“This will also serve as a platform to license and market their music to users globally. Just a handful of people actually understand digital music marketing.”
“Ages back, you could only keep records of your physical sales, but this age you can access information on your streams and the angles they are coming from. This spontaneous information can also be used to plan the future.”
Jonilar believes that there is a need for unity among stakeholders in order to establish effective digital legislation in Ghana.
“The streams and downloads from Ghana are inspiring but not in the interest of intellectual property [IP] owners. Some people are leveraging on the artistes’ ignorance of IP policy.”
“We can’t fight them because many don’t know how the policy works. We need to restrategize in the form of industry and public education on mainstream media platforms. Let’s review the existing legislation to shield content beyond the borders of Ghana. The West has way too much authority over our creativity,” he concluded.
