Even though some industries has suffered and collapsed since the outbreak of this deadly coronavirus, the creative arts industry is one of the industries that have suffered probably the most during this coronavirus pandemic.
Musicians, who fall in this industry, are some of the worst hit by the pandemic.
In our part of the world where musicians make the most of their money by playing shows, concerts, and endorsement have seen that the revenue stream has completely dried up due to the ban on social gatherings.
Most of them now have to rely on revenue from online streams of their song – mostly a paltry sum of what they can make when the play shows or hit the road.
However, another challenge for Ghanaian musicians is that most of these streaming platforms are foreign companies and sometimes it makes it difficult for them to get their music onto these platforms.
It is for this and other reasons that, multiple award winning reggae-dancehall artist, Stonebwoy is urging the government to consider helping the music industry to create its own local streaming platform.
Stonebwoy who joined the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah in a Live Instagram session, took the opportunity to ask him to help the industry.
The conversation monitored by SVTV Africa saw Stonebwoy asked that, the government should hold a dialogue with himself and some of the other musicians such as Shatta Wale, Sarkodie, Samini and others about the matter.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, after receiving the request from the Dancehall heavyweight, assured him of his support and advised Stonebwoy and other Ghanaian musicians to diversify their revenue portfolios to let them make more money.
The MP for Ofoase-Ayirebi also promised that he would secure a meeting with the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Barbara Oteng Gyasi and the musicians to discuss the matter to help the ailing industry.
Maybe, one benefit from coronavirus is that the Ghana music industry will get its own government-sanctioned music streaming platform that generates revenue for the musicians
