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For Ghanaian musicians, getting a hit song is one thing. Getting properly paid for that hit at home appears to be an entirely different concert.
Singer and dancer Mr Drew has voiced frustration over Ghana’s domestic royalty system, arguing that artists continue to invest heavily in music promotion while struggling to see meaningful financial returns from the use of their work within the country.
Speaking on Onua FM, the Dw3 hitmaker questioned the effectiveness of the country’s royalty collection and distribution structures, particularly when it comes to ensuring that creators receive what they are owed.
“There’s no money in the system. You can do a lot of promos after releasing a project, but the royalty system is bad here,” he lamented.
According to Mr Drew, one of the biggest frustrations is that revenue generated within Ghana should be traceable, yet artists often have to rely heavily on international systems to collect royalties from their music.
“You can even track your income locally. We all depend on the foreign system to get our money,” he stated.
The singer also questioned what practical benefit musicians receive from registering with local royalty collection organisations if artists who have been registered for years still struggle to see substantial payments.
“When you ask, they will tell you that you’ve registered, but the person who registered for years, how much are they paying them?” he asked.
Mr Drew further argued that a significant portion of the meaningful royalty income earned by Ghanaian musicians comes from outside the country, despite the fact that music is being consumed and used extensively on the local market.
“The most money comes from outside the country, but meanwhile, funds are here,” he noted.
His comments highlight a long-running concern within Ghana’s creative industry: artists can spend heavily creating, recording, marketing and promoting music, but monetising that work through local royalty structures remains a major challenge.
For Mr Drew, the solution may require more than a few adjustments around the edges. He believes Ghana’s domestic royalty infrastructure needs serious attention if musicians are to turn their creative work into a sustainable source of income.
Because at the end of the day, a hit song may bring the applause, but without proper royalty collection, the applause does not pay the bills.
