Indigenous societies in Ghana practised the oral tradition for many decades as means of sonic archiving before the emergence of mechanical recording (Owusu-Poku 2021a, 2021b). The establishment of major record companies in West Africa around the 1900s, such as Gramophone, Zonophone, EMI and Decca, led to the emergence of recording studios and the recording industry in Ghana. It is worth stating that all West African recordings at the time were produced in London by the Gramophone Company under the Zonophone 3000 trademark. Consequently, this socioeconomic stride became a colonial footprint that introduced Ghanaian artistes to commercial recordings from the mid-1920s onwards. The record companies did onsite recordings locally conducted in three locations: open spaces, shaded areas and enclosed rooms/halls (Owusu-Poku 2022). The indigenes loved their music, hence the record companies made indigenous music a commercial enterprise. Decca established West Africa’s first recording studio in 1948 in Accra (Collins 2004, 2018). This company recorded and produced most of the classic highlife albums of the 1950s and 1960s. These albums encompass bands such as E.T. Mensah’s Tempos, King Bruce’s Black Beats, Stargazers, E.K. Nyame’s Guitar Band, Akompi’s Guitar Band, Jerry Hanson’s Ramblers International Band and several others.
The quest of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, for Ghanaian nationalism after independence led to the establishment of the Ghana Film Studio in Accra. As much as the studio was for film production, it also had a music recording section, which recorded several classic highlife songs in the 1960s and 1970s. Around the mid-1960s, a Kumasi-based businessman called Augustine Kwasi Badu, popularly known as A. K. Badu (1928–2006), also established Ghana’s first private-owned indigenous recording house, Ambassador Records Manufacturing Company (Ghana) Limited (ARMCGL), in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Ambassador Records also recorded many classic highlife songs as the first in West Africa (Owusu-Poku 2022). From the 1980s–2000s, many recording studios proliferated due to technological advancement and the high rate of many individuals’ desires to become artistes. This development has also led to the establishment of more home studios with just a computer and recording software. As for issues of remuneration of music practitioners for record productions over the years, Nketia (1955, p. 196) states as follows:
This remuneration policy appears to have been maintained throughout the country’s commercial recording scene’s developmental stages until today. However, Ghanaian music producers and practitioners only receive a one-time premium for their services from their clientele presently. This remuneration caters to their creative ideas and extra artistic or creative tasks, including performing either as a vocalist or instrumentalist during a record production. Therefore, it is quite surprising that the
Sources of revenue generation in the music industry are of prime concern to creative artists. Often, one hears an author of a creative work firmly asserting that
We refer to creative artists in this context as all the music artistes who get to play a part in a recorded song. The list is not limited to adult human beings or babies but includes any of the following whose sound or noise gets to be purposefully recorded as part of the song:
Human adults or baby clap, foot stomp, shout, cry, laugh, giggle, hum, yawn, etc.;
A live animal sound recorded at the studio as part of the song;
Backing or background or supporting vocalist;
Instrumentalist (any instrument that is played and recorded by any human as part of the song or music);
Producer (the one who uses imagination and creativity to (craft and determine the entire process of recorded music or song from its beginning to the end as a finished product ready for sale and subsequent consumption). The producer here refers to both the studio producer and the executive producer;
Songwriter (the one who wrote the words and melody of the song);
Singer or performing artiste, or lead vocalist (the one who sang the song).
All these individual contributions must sign the
The primary music creators include performers, composers/songwriters, arrangers and music producers. It is worth stating that all music creators are musicians; however, not all are creators. It is also common knowledge that musicians and music creators, especially popular musicians, aim to make an appreciable living out of their creativity but then grapple with achieving this aim. This situation is a growing concern among music practitioners and industry players in that musicians ought to earn more money than they currently do (Hesmondhalgh et al. 2021). While on the one hand, some music creators strategically copyright their music to generate extra revenue in addition to live performances, on the other hand, some are only stuck with income from live performances. The sources of making money available to an artiste are numerous: digital stores and Internet distribution (Bennett & Hennekam 2018; Thomson 2013; DiCola 2013), advertisement and penalty from copyright infringement and political use of music as indicated by Schütz (2016). In addition to the above, studio bookings and royalties collections last one’s lifetime and even 70 years after the creators’ death or the death of the last surviving creator for co-authors or co-creators. All these are sources of income for musicians, but not all are recurring and do not consistently bring in revenue. In court cases, payment is relevant as and when one becomes aware of an infringement to pursue it. Live performance income will come in as and when the musician is healthy and faces good touring deals coupled with good weather and, all things being equal, a successful performance.
The music industry presents many challenges and opportunities globally; however, being a musician in Ghana, the challenges outweigh the opportunities. For instance, a musician can become a millionaire in other jurisdictions without travelling out of the home country due to the efficiency of the country’s copyright and royalty collection system (Bennett 2010). In Ghana, for instance, a musician’s attainment of millionaire status is inextricably linked to performing out of the home country at a point in the musician’s career or engaging in another vocation. This adverse phenomenon is partly due to the lack of proper industry structures for royalty collection for practitioners (Acquah & Acquah-Nunoo 2021; Coffie et al. 2022; Collins 2000) and practitioners’ failure to explore the various revenue streams of the music industry. As a result, live performance becomes the primary source of revenue generation for most Ghanaian musicians. It is also worth noting that technology has had an enormous impact on the music industry, disrupting many traditional income revenue streams (El Gamal 2012; Lozić 2020; Negus 2019; Kamara 2018).
A preliminary investigation of the Ghanaian music industry reveals complaints of musicians oblivious of all incomes due to them and their income sources. In another development, some inactive creative artists in Ghana (probably due to old age or ill health) eventually
Surprisingly but sadly, the Ghanaian media space is gradually becoming a begging hub for renowned ailing artistes for support despite their significant contributions to the Ghanaian music economy. The apparent reason for this unfortunate situation is that artistes are oblivious to how the music industry works. However, it is worth noting that modern Ghanaian creative artists are gradually becoming aware of the music business (creative economy) and are exploring the various revenue streams of the music industry. The music industry comprises three parts: recording, publishing and live performance (Hesmondhalgh 2007). Interestingly, the audio recording industry is inarguably the most lucrative but paradoxically poor in Ghana. This situation is so because creative artists within the recording industry fail to employ the music
Royalties from record production in Ghana mainly benefit the singer-songwriter (composer-performer) and the recording artiste. However, the music producer and the other part players can benefit if all the work’s contributors sign a
This study is an extract from more extensive work on Ghana’s Recording Industry and Soundscape. In approaching this study, we employed a mixed-methods in that the mode of inquiry for data collection and analyses is both numerical and narrative (Leech & Onwuegbuzie 2009; Creswell & Plano Clark 2018; Gunasekare 2015; Caracelli & Greene 1993). The qualitative and quantitative data were both collected concurrently. The design involves using a questionnaire for music producers, session musicians, recording artistes and interviews with stakeholders of the recording industry in Ghana. We used a documentary search to discuss the
The recording studio is the first point where all the master recordings of music as creative work as an economic and commercial venture are done and finalised as a product ready for the market. The recording studio is where the music producer and the sound engineer utilise their creative power (Pras & Guastavino 2011). The creative process begins at the recording studio, so if a deal or contract is to be signed to spell and define each person’s contribution, it is the recording studio (Pras et al. 2013).
A music
The date
The song title
Legal names of all contributing writers involved
Role in the song creation (producer, songwriter, singer etc.)
Ownership percentages for each contributor
Specific contributions (lyrics, hook, melody, beats, etc.)
Record Label (if available)
Performing rights organisation or collective management organisation (if available)
Publishing company (if available)
Mailing addresses and contact information
Signature of each contributor
Table 1 shows some music producers and practitioners across Ghana.
Respondents.
Region | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Greater Accra | 108 | 49.5 |
Ashanti | 26 | 11.9 |
Central | 38 | 17.4 |
Western | 4 | 1.8 |
Eastern | 9 | 4.1 |
Northern | 8 | 3.7 |
Volta | 3 | 1.4 |
Oti | 3 | 1.4 |
Upper East | 4 | 1.8 |
Upper West | 9 | 4.1 |
Ahafo | 1 | 0.5 |
Savannah | 1 | 0.5 |
Bono East | 1 | 0.5 |
Bono | 2 | 0.9 |
Western North | 1 | 0.5 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Table 2 shows the responses to the question: Are you aware of
Response | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Yes | 11 | 5.1 |
No | 207 | 94.9 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Table 3 shows the responses to the question: Do you know the benefit of
Benefit of
Response | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Yes | 15 | 7.3 |
No | 203 | 92.7 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Table 4 shows the responses to the question: Do you use
Response | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Yes | 10 | 4.6 |
No | 208 | 95.4 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Table 5 shows the responses to the question: Which year was the recording studio established?
Year studio was established.
Year | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
1960–1990 | 6 | 2.8 |
1991–2000 | 11 | 5.0 |
2001–2010 | 16 | 7.3 |
2011–2022 | 185 | 84.9 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Table 6 shows the year respondents who have ever signed the
Year first
Year | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
None | 207 | 95.0 |
2005 | 1 | 0.5 |
2007 | 1 | 0.5 |
2013 | 1 | 0.5 |
2017 | 1 | 0.5 |
2019 | 1 | 0.5 |
2020 | 3 | 1.4 |
2021 | 3 | 1.4 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Table 7 shows responses to the question: Do you have a copy of the
Availability of
Response | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Yes | 9 | 5.1 |
No | 207 | 94.9 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Table 8 shows respondents who answered the question: How many songs have you produced at your studio?
Number of songs produced.
Number of songs | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
<100 | 40 | 18.3 |
Between 100 and 200 | 50 | 22.9 |
Between 200 and 500 | 70 | 32.1 |
Between 500 and 1,000 | 28 | 12.8 |
Between 1,000 and 2,000 | 10 | 4.6 |
Between 2,000 and 4,000 | 4 | 1.8 |
Between 4,000 and 6,000 | 3 | 1.4 |
Between 6,000 and 10,000 | 8 | 3.7 |
Between 10,000 and 15,000 | 1 | 0.5 |
>25,000 | 4 | 1.8 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Table 9 shows responses to the question: How many
Number of
Number | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
0 | 209 | 95.9 |
1 | 2 | 0.9 |
10 | 3 | 1.4 |
30 | 1 | 0.5 |
40 | 1 | 0.5 |
200 | 1 | 0.5 |
400 | 1 | 0.5 |
Total | 218 | 100 |
Standard multiple regression was used to assess the abilities of when the studio was established and the number of songs produced to predict the number of
Correlations among the variables exhibit a statistically significant but weak inverse relationship between the year the studio was established and the number of
Table 10 shows the model summary of the quantitative data.
Model summary.
Model | Adjusted |
Std. error of the estimate | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 0.155a | 0.024 | 0.015 | 30.174 |
a Predictors: (Constant), number of songs produced, year in which studio was established.
Table 11 shows the unstandardised and standardised coefficients of the model.
Coefficients.
Modela | Unstandardised coefficients | Standardised coefficients | T | Sig. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
B | Std. Error | Beta | ||||
1 | (Constant) | 1,435.356b | 680.025 | 2.111 | 0.036 | |
Year studio was established | −0.711 | 0.337 | −0.160 | −2.110 | 0.036 | |
Number of songs produced | −0.197 | 1.122 | −0.013 | −0.175 | 0.861 |
b Dependent variable: Number of
The data gathered for this study came through a survey of music producers and practitioners in Ghana, of which 218 total respondents were received from the length and breadth of Ghana. Ghana is a country of 30.8 million, according to the Ghana Statistical Service 2021 Population and Housing Census. It was noted that 94.9% of respondents are aware of the
Ghanaian music producers and practitioners lose income as royalties from the songs they have produced over the years. The three most prominent studio engineers who also create
Similarly, Appiah Dankwa, popularly known as Appietus, started studio engineering and music production in 1998. He has won the
Also, Emmanuel Mallet, popularly known as Zapp Mallet, is regarded as one of the most accomplished legendary sound engineers, music producers and especially a pioneer producer of the hiplife music genre in Ghana. He is one of the foremost music producers among all the interviewees. In contrast to Nacee and Appietus, Zapp knows about the
The producers indicated that the musicians they record do not agree to sign the
In this study, we have brought to the fore the level of awareness of the
This study, for clarity, based on its goals and scope, may have excluded other potential digressions. Thus, future research should explore the recording studio landscape in Ghana, how audio recordings are made and why the practitioners are not adequately remunerated.