PlayGhana is a patriotic approach, no ill intent –Gyankroma

The Executive Secretary of the Creative Arts Council (CAA), Gyankroma Akufo-Addo, is entreating players in Ghana’s music industry to drop the negative misinterpretation of the PlayGhana initiative.

Gyankroma and the team at CAA seemed to have courted the displeasure and criticisms of some industry players when the council held a stakeholder engagement in December 2023 to gather inputs from creatives and key players in the creative industry for the promotion of PlayGhana initiative.

Interestingly, the PlayGhana initiative, which has been communicated as a means to salvage the declining trend of Ghanaian music on the airwaves wasn’t well received, generating backlash.

Particular among the criticisms was the motive to ban particularly Nigerian music from being played on our airwaves with critics arguing that such a move would backfire, rather hurting the growth of the Ghanaian musician.

But speaking at a recently held DJs and Bloggers Forum-PlayGhana Initiative to solicit for views on making the project viable, Gyankroma expressed surprise at the reception of #PlayGhana, exclaiming that it was just a patriotic approach.

“It’s unfortunate that we started PlayGhana with controversy and misconstrued information with the core goal of the initiative being ignored. However, I want to give an assurance that the initiative is a patriotic approach.”

“It is never to ban any other music, or to make Ghanaian musicians compete with other artistes. Far from that. What we are trying to do is just to push our artistes to the forefront, which will have a ripple effect on our industry.”

“We need more money in the industry. If people come and they don’t hear us, they won’t stay to give money. Yes, we can pass the law which is everything great on paper but how do we enforce it. How do we actually make sure that the radio stations are adhering to this law?”