The Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) is the body responsible for collecting and distributing royalties to musicians and other rights holders in Ghana. Established in 2011, GHAMRO works to ensure that music creators receive fair and timely royalties for their works, and to promote and protect the interests of the Ghanaian music industry.
As a collective management organization responsible for the management of music rights and the protection of artists’ rights in Ghana, GHAMRO has faced difficulties related to operations and management practices.
Over the years, the company faces significant challenges in distributing the rights to the most recipients, especially musicians.
Technology use and confrontations
One of the main challenges is the lack of a reliable and comprehensive system to monitor the use of Ghanaian music across various platforms such as radio, television, online streaming services and public spaces. Without accurate data on how much and where music is played, GHAMRO cannot ensure a fair and transparent allocation of rights to its members.
GHARMO partnered with a technology company to help address these challenges. But unfortunately, there was some controversy with the app.
The organization had been involved in a public dispute with Share, a local startup that helps track content and provides music industry stakeholders with real-time data. The dispute stemmed from the startup’s ability to understand and track music for its artists.
The startup that helps track which radio stations are playing artists’ songs and where their songs are being played geographically, made a public statement refuting GHAMRO’s claim that the startup lacked the ability to track music for their artists.
โWhen Qisimah came on board, we decided to pilot. During the pilot, it was very clear to us that Qisimah had the energy and enthusiasm to do the job, but they didn’t have full proof of the knowledge of the systemยป, Abraham Adjateysaid the then CEO of GHARMO in a press conference held on August 31, 2021.
CTO of Qismah, Appier-Signcontradicted the statement saying it was not true that the company had no knowledge of the system.
“It is not true that we did not have full evidentiary knowledge of the system. We really knew what we were doing. Even now, the system still works. We recently had tests with some advertising companies because it can also do ads,” he said.
“We even do offline services. This means we can monitor bars and restaurants as well. This is even more difficult. Because it means that each site must have a device that can listen and while listening to it fire at the server, the server picks it up, recognizes it, and records it“, he further stated.
GHAMRO has partnered with other companies to provide digital monitoring systems that can monitor and report on the use of Ghanaian music in various media. these include Global Music Monitoring (GMM), a UK-based company that tracks music in broadcast media; BOXa South African company that tracks music on online platforms. Ghud music, a local company that helps GMM with data analysis. and Indie Consortium, a local company developing a collection system for GHAMRO.
Leave and financial failures
Another challenge the organization faced was license renewal. The Ghana Copyright Office asked GHAMRO to approve a report from Efua Sutherland Commissionwhich includes recommendations for a new constitution, a forensic audit of the organization and a stay of the ongoing GHAMRO court cases.
Despite meeting the necessary license renewal requirements outlined in Section 24 of the Copyright Act, GHAMRO’s license has been withheld due to legal issues. This situation affected the distribution of royalties, but GHAMRO still has the authority to collect music royalties pending license renewal.
GHAMRO has also faced public criticism over its management practices, including allegations financial violation. Veteran top musician Akosua Adjepong has particularly expressed these concerns.
In addition, GHAMRO’s governance challenges led to annulment of elections held in May 2022 by the High Court in Accra. The court cited GHAMRO’s disregard for an interim injunction issued before the elections as the reason for dissolution. An interim directorate was appointed to lead GHAMRO following this decision.
What the future holds
Currently, GHAMRO is still operating but facing a barrage of criticism from local musicians who claim that the organization is “dead” and currently not fit for purpose.
It’s hard to say what the future holds for the agency, especially with the vociferous calls for reform and the creation of alternative tolling agencies.
The future looks grim.
Follow us on our WhatsApp channel, Twitterand Instagramand subscribe to our weekly newsletter to make sure you don’t miss any news.
Related