Musicians in Ghana now ‘in a hurry’, producing ‘disposable’ songs – Obuor
President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Bice Osei Kuffour has said the cost involved in producing quality music has become a disincentive for many musicians.
The days when musicians did songs for fame and recognition, according to him, are long gone, as people are doing songs now because of the monetary gains.
“The days when musicians took time to compose, find section men to add up to the composition is long gone. People are in a hurry now,” he noted.
Reacting to Takoradi based highlife artist, Kofi Kinaata’s assertion that the music industry here in Ghana has been characterized by ‘disposable songs’, the president of MUSIGA said, the singer cum rapper’s claim may not be far from right.
According to him, the influx of ‘disposable’ songs in the music industry is clearly the reflection of the Ghanaian society.
“Music in itself is the mirror of society, musicians create based on their experiences, based on what they have also witnessed, so anytime you hear songs that are on hardship, that means generally there is a lot of hardship in the society,” he said.
Bice Osei Kuffour known in showbiz as Obour said, those ‘disposable songs’ could be the newest strategies musicians are using to keep body and soul together since production of quality music is expensive.
“Just as how people prefer fast food, a lot of musicians are now looking at how they can pick something and eat to sustain themselves rather than looking at projecting a proper full meal that has the rightful ingredients, it is just the reflection of society,” he stressed.
He said to The Ghana Report that music, like any other business, requires capital and therefore the lack of support for the industry will lead to musicians devising strategies to survive hence the influx of ‘disposable’ songs.
“Quality music is difficult to produce. There are some musicians who have stopped producing because they cannot afford the cost and they also do not want to do shoddy music, so it takes people who want to really produce quality music for the sake of it to still be in production,” he noted.
The ‘Atopa Jenjen’ singer said,”The influx of ‘disposable‘ music is a worrying trend but added that those songs were unfortunately what many listeners were keen on hearing.
“It is a worrying trend but a lot more people are no longer interested even in the quality of sound, instrumentation-the key component that people use to look out for in a song, now its fast music that they are after” he stressed.