Entertainment of Wednesday, 25 December 2013

Source: George Clifford Owusu

“Let’s promote and protect the music industry”

The Chief Executive Officer of JMS Music Production, John Mensah Sarpong, has called on the stakeholders in the Ghana music industry to come together and work as a team to promote and protect Ghanaian music.

John Mensah Sarpong, who has produced over 35 gospel music albums noted that the Ghanaian music industry had a bright future and that if it was marketed well the industry would see progress and it would reflect in the pockets of both musicians and producers.

He expressed concern about how certain Ghanaians living in Europe and America were pirating the works of Ghanaian musicians, making it difficult for them to recover the money spent on production.

He stressed that there are a lot of people who have contributed immensely towards the progress of the Ghanaian music industry, but are now bankrupt due to the activities of pirates.

He hoped that the stakeholders would come together and work as a team to check piracy in Ghana and abroad, adding, “Lets come together to promote and protect the music industry.”

John Mensah Sarpong also expressed concern about how the Ghana Gospel Industry Awards is organised. According to him, there are a lot of people who have contributed to the growth of the gospel music industry in Ghana but the organizers of the awards have failed to recognize their contributions.

He condemned the structures put in place by the organizers of the awards, saying the stakeholders did not even know how the categorization structures were put in place and which of the stakeholders endorsed the awards scheme.