Volume 12 (2023): Issue 1 (April 2023)

The split sheet used at a recording studio is one of the essential means for any creative artist who understands its implementation benefits from the royalties that the creative work generates as it gets commercial merchandise. However, surprisingly, Ghanaian music producers and practitioners are yet to tap into the full potential of this avenue. This paper investigates the awareness and benefits of the split sheet among Ghanaian music producers and practitioners in the recording industry and the extent to which they have explored it. Using a mixed-methods mode of inquiry for data collection, we sampled music producers and practitioners (n = 218) in Ghana to briefly analyse the moneymaking through split sheets of songs available to music practitioners in Ghana’s recording industry. It was noted that 94.9% of respondents were unaware of the split sheet, while 92.7% did not know the benefit of the split sheet. However, only 4.6% of the respondents had used the split sheet. Subsequently, we conclude that the low awareness of the split sheet among Ghanaian music producers and practitioners compromises the decorum of the business side of creativity in the Ghanaian recording industry. Therefore, we recommend that more intensive education be undertaken to sensitise Ghanaian music producers and practitioners to the benefit of the split sheet in their daily work to enhance revenue generation.

We explain recent popularity in vinyl records by reframing Walter Benjamin’s notion of ‘aura’ in terms of social forces such as alienation and cultural capital. Where he pays attention to specific artefacts’ mechanical reproducibility as a way of assessing their aura, we consider how mediums themselves broadly possess variable levels of aura inversely related to their ability to be mechanically reproduced by consumers. The more easily consumers can reproduce a medium, the less aura it possesses.

Joseph (2021) advanced a detailed qualitative portrayal of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the value network of the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) live music sector. The study culminated by proposing a potential business model for digital live music showcase and monetisation. Supported by a cross-sectional survey with a group of 204 live music fans, this paper pursues an initial quantitative examination of Joseph’s study (2021). It follows-up on select aspects of the sustainability and adoption possibilities of the proposed model. The results outline the customer profiles of online concert fans during the COVID-19 lockdown period in T&T, identifying 25–34-year-old fans as constituting a major audience segment, followed by the 35–45-year-old category. Tertiary education is a defining feature of the audience, who are tech savvy lovers of local music. They thrive in online environments, gaining information from social media, and are familiar with making online purchases using credit cards and alternative payment methods. Expanding on payment technology, the data suggest that there is no statistically significant relationship between the method of payment used for online concerts and spending, making the case for multiple payment options for monetisation of online concerts. Conversely, there is a statistically significant relationship between incorporating augmented reality/virtual reality features as well as on-demand business models, with the majority of fans expressing a willingness to spend on the format.