Ghanaian afropop, dancehall and reggae artiste, Stonebwoy reckons that his reason for not being a member of the Ghana Music Right Organisation (GHAMRO) is well founded.

The award-winning artiste indicated that there is absolutely nothing about GHAMRO that attracts him to register or become a member.

Real named Livingstone Etse Satekla, Burniton Music boss stated that an institution like GHAMRO, working in the interest of Ghanaian musicians should intensify its awareness creation.

According to him, when structured policies are made to function and very detailed accountability is demanded by people at the helm of such institutions, where the music industry will experience an unprecedented turnover.

“There could be enough laws but if they’re not working or the people in charge aren’t making it work for us then I think we should re-visit and make it work.”

When asked by one of the pundits if he has received any royalties from GHAMRO, Stonebwoy replied no, adding that he had no idea how GHAMRO works.

“Let that not be the new issue, I don’t know nothing over there. I’m not trying to bash or insult but a drive on the interest isn’t really there so I said a big artiste like myself don’t know anything. But He [My Manager] has actually spoken to me about this whole GHAMRO issue once or twice, but sincerely speaking I do not see any interest.

“This could be my fault because, at the end of the day, I’m supposed to get to know but is there really anything interesting about them. Nothing interests me to know to say Yes this is what I have to do. Originally there should be steps like you buy a car and you know that DVLA doesn’t have to approach you but you have to. DVLA does advert to create awareness but in this case [GHAMRO], it has to be attracted and the laws should work.” Stonebwoy said on Hitz FM

Most registered members of GHAMRO have complained bitterly about the meagre royalties they receive. Other artistes have vented their spleen on GHAMRO over their unpaid royalties since they became members of the institution.

ABOUT GHAMRO

The Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) was established under section 49 of the Copyright Law, Act 690 of 2005 and regulated under L.I. 1962 of 2010 to collect and distribute royalties accruing to authors and owners of copyright and neighbouring rights.

Like all other copyright societies, GHAMRO is a non-profit corporate body (limited by guarantee) and therefore all fees collected are distributed among the right owners whose works have been used, in this instance composers, authors and producers, publishers in proportion to the use made of their works.

GHAMRO is duly authorized by written assignments and affiliated to composers’ societies all over the world through the execution of reciprocal representation agreements with Societies outside Ghana whose works Ghana protect under a treaty and other international treaties.

In this way, GHAMRO authorizes all those societies to administer the music of Ghanaian composers and authors in their particular countries.

Conversely, GHAMRO administers in the territory of Ghana, not only the music of its Ghanaians members but also the great store of music in the repertoires of all those other societies – in other words, the music of over 1,000,000 composers, authors, publishers and producers in some 150 countries.

In this way GHAMRO renders an invaluable service to the users of music in Ghana. GHAMRO makes the music user’s task very simple, for a single and very moderate annual payment, GHAMRO issues a licence authorizing the licensee to use any music in the worldwide repertoire which it represents.

Having made that single payment each year, the licensee is secured in the knowledge that GHAMRO holds him covered, and that he can perform in public any music in GHAMRO’s list without fear of being sued for infringement of copyright

How it works

GHAMRO license and collects royalties when music is played and performed. GHAMRO also licenses and collects royalties when music is reproduced.

To make sure that members have a consistent experience, you will have our published rules governing how we work. These includes

*Music registration policy—who should register music and how quickly we will update our records

*Agreement registration policy—how to notify us of publisher changes Samples and arrangement—two areas where copyright infringement disputes can occur.

*Infringement claims and disputes—how GHAMRO will act when one member claims another member has infringed their copyright

*Dispute and duplicate claims rules—how GHAMRO will act when members disagree about who should receive royalties

*Service standards—our commitment to answering members queries

Constitution

GHAMRO is a membership organisation. You can learn more about our formal constitution that gives us a legal right to license and collect royalties for our members

How do we collect royalties

GHAMRO collects royalties for the use of music from the following users

*RADIO

*Banks using music at their working Hall

*Malls, Shops, drinking bars, etc.

*Restaurants

*Live Concerts/Performances

GHAMRO issues licences to each of the above users for the use music within its world-wide repertoire. The actual fee payable vary from users to users depending on the extent of musical content.

Membership Benefits

If you are performing your own songs or compositions publicly, you should be rewarded for these performances and Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) can help you make sure that this happens. However, this is not all GHAMRO can do for you.

What else do we do for you?

*Fast and efficient collection of royalties from users

*Provide detailed and easily understood royalty payment system

*Access to broadcaster logs ensures accurate payments for radio and TV usage, to identify other usages

*An international network of society agreements

*A dedicated team monitors overseas performances and international income to ensure timely, accurate and complete royalty payments

We are poised to start the licensing new platforms – online, podcasts, ringtones, mobile TV and music downloads

Communications

Very soon each member will receive

*regular magazines mailed to all members

*updates by email, whatsapp or GHAMRO platform

*Easy registration/Copyright Office to improve the rights of creators member workshops and networking sessions

*Access to GHAMRO welfare Package