Anyone reading the recent gloomy press about the music industry would conclude that labels are closing up right and left, but the question is do we have real record labels in Ghana?

Should the death of one producer be a source of grave concern to artists on that label? How can the music industry be rest assured that the demise of Apor will not be the end of PRINCE DAV RECORDS?

If the label is well structured then the likes of Bright, 4X4, Pope Skinny Castro etc will have no cause to worry but am sure that typical of all record labels in Ghana, Apor is gone with his label and all the artist on that label will have to go elsewhere; sad indeed.

In this period where hiplife artists are finding it difficult to find producers the only producer who really understands the plight of our hiplife artists is gone but is this scenario really the true happening within the industry?

Quite to the contrary, the industry is going through one of its typical, yet unwelcomes, periods of cyclical transitional uncertainty, but remains quite healthy both in product volume and revenue. Most people will not agree with this assertion but it’s very clear that the music industry in Ghana is still viable if products are properly marketed and channels of distribution expanded.

The high rate of piracy up country shows that even in Ghana certain regions are not properly taken care of hence people living in these areas take solace in buying pirated music since the original music is not available. Does it mean that record labels are not doing what is expected of them?

The growth of the independent labels which began in the mid-90`s shows no sign of slowing down, record labels like Slip, Agiecoat, Abib Records Miepo Records just to mention a few. Its no secret that most of the labels are dead because of huge loses mostly through bad sales or the signing of weak artist to the label.

Independent labels are started out of necessity and ambition. The necessity often arises from an artist e.g the likes of TicTac Kojo Antwi, Kontihene etc seeking a means to manufacture and distribute their music outside the traditional established label structures. The question one asks is that why should an artist go out of his core business of music to add the extra burden of running a label?

The answer is simple our artist don’t believe that, the labels we have around have the capacity to effectively take care of business on their behalf, that is the only reason why some one like Rex Omar after writing, recording will have to market his own product. It’s really funny for a country that used to be the heart of West African music some time back to have such a defect in our music structures if only we are a country that really takes the arts serious.

It is an open secret that most of these one-man record labels are not truthful to their artist except a few who are really doing well most of them are not well structured “touch wood” if these labels owners are no more what happens to artists on these labels.
Starting up a label involves a number of preliminary issues such as Capitalization and Structure.

It might be assumed that a small label like most of the labels in Ghana now would not need as much paperwork as a major label, but this is not necessarily the case. Any start-up label is advised to seek the assistance of an experienced entertainment attorney to prepare the necessary contracts which will be necessary to acquire and develop new talent and to build a successful catalog, do we have experience entertainment lawyers in the industry or the same lawyers who go to court to handle criminal case handling entertainment business as well?

The music business like any other business is a specialized trade, hence you need people who are well endowed with the intellectual competence to run things around and not the half bake people we see around who are rather becoming liability to the industry.

Recording Agreements

The heart of virtually all record labels is the signing of artists to exclusive recording agreements. These agreements are substantially similar to those used by the majors, except they tend to be far more concise. In addition, small labels often make up for lack of financial resources with a down-to-earth and artist-friendly approach. This is often reflected in the contracts, which tend to be structured as letter of agreements rather than traditional contract forms that the major label hand over to their artist.

Most records labels in Ghana will quickly change the contract from a letter of agreement to professional contracts with serious strings attached without the consent of the artist; this normally leads to problems especially when the artist becomes the cash cow. This has been a real big issue between artist and label owners in Ghana.

It is a common fact that, the provisions of the exclusive artist agreements are fairly constant. Ghana is no exception to this rule where labels alter this simple norm with impunity to the chagrin of artist who know their rights leading to serious stand-offs between artist and label owners in Ghana.

The primary (and most negotiated) issues set forth are the Terms and delivery commitments, options, royalty, rate(s) and advance (if any) any efficient label will often propose these issues to the artist in a preliminary deal memo.

Obviously, the label would likely be compensated for example by:
1. Paying at a lower royalty rate,
2. Calculating the royalty based on a lesser percentage of sales (e.g., 80% - 85%),
3. Recouping for artwork costs, or
4. Any combination of the above.

In addition, a label that does not demand a controlled composition mechanical rate from the artist is more likely to insist on an assignment of half the publishing. On this issue one can’t really blame the labels because the system is so bad that calculating royalties is impossible in Ghana.

Co-Publishing Agreements

As indicated above, labels often rely on co-publishing arrangements with their artists to balance the label’s books. Co-publishing involves acquiring a partial (usually 50%) interest in the compositions written by the artist.

The acceptance of co-publishing by the artist (or artists representatives), depends on the relative bargaining power of the parties and to some degree on the type of music involved be it Hiplfe, Gospel, Hilife or Traditional music.

In rap/hip-hop/R&B, co-publishing has far greater acceptance than in other forms of music deals.

To some degree this derives from the fact that there tends to be more input from the labels and in-house producers into the writing process in rap and hip-hop projects than in alternative projects. In any event, the label can often attempt to justify the co-publishing agreement by pointing out that the value of writer/artist’s compositions is directly attributable to the promotional efforts of the label.

While the co-publishing agreement is often a separate document, for the sake of brevity (and also to avoid burdening the artist with another 10 page document), many labels incorporate the co-publishing provisions into the body of the recording agreement.

In addition, this practice has a practical legal basis, in that it connects the assignment of the composition copyrights to the recording obligations, thus providing legal mutual consideration. This is particularly important since most labels lack the funds to provide any advance to the artist for the publishing rights in most developing countries like Ghana labels can have an arrangement that should be beneficial to both parties.

Licensing Agreements

Signing up and developing new artists for exclusive recordings for the label can be a time intensive and expensive endeavor. Many small labels cannot afford to sign more than 2 to 4 new artists for album projects at the outset. However, in order to maintain a viable commercial profile with the public and with distributors, it is necessary for labels to have a regular volume of product for release.

Some labels attempt to create a continues flow of product by signing artists to singles deals with options for follow up albums, and/or by assembling artist for compilation albums. Apart from Reggie Rockstone and Obrafour who released singles some time ago, singles are not regular feature of the music industry because of low patronage.

Album compilations are profitable because they are readily accepted and are a good source of income for labels if properly managed.

I Am confident that music marketing and distribution in this country will be better if we get the fundamentals right. How about labels merging? Only God knows what will happen if Goodies and Slip comes together to form one record label am sure payola will not be an issue anymore.