Popular broadcaster turned fashion designer, Kofi Okyere Darko (KOD), says song streaming has led many producers and investors to pull out their investments from the industry.
According to him, he has equally retrieved his investment in music since 2008, when streaming sites were taking ground in the country.
Speaking in an interview with Max Morning Show in Accra on Friday, KOD stated that he did not see the relevance of him investing in music for people to stream and download it for free.
That, he said, was a loss of an investment and failed to fund musicians after his hit album with Wutah made waves in 2008.
KOD explained that before streaming and downloading sites, they sold compact discs (CDS) and were making whopping sums from the unit they were selling.
“The last time I released an album was in 2008; it was Wutah’s ‘Kotosa.’ That was my retirement album. I decided not to invest in music again. First of all, where the music business was going, I didn’t understand it.”
“You will go to the studio to record an album, like 12 songs, with various artistes like Appietus, Zapp, Guru, Morris Babyface, and all the best guys around simply because you want quality and diversity. And after everything, you will put it on social media for people to stream and download it for free. Eeii Sister,” he lamented.
KOD explained that those times after an album, a music distribution outlet like Big Ben might call a producer or an investor to give an upfront money worth about GH¢500,000 before the main distribution.
“And we sold units, like 100,000 CDs, so your money is based on individual sales. The music business was profitable and lucrative at that time,” he added.
Touching on how musicians make their money today, KOD said it was through gigs and stage performances.
Before a musician could make money from a viral song, he said the musician had to be top-notch or had reached a certain level with his or her career.
Source: Ghana/MaxTV/MaxFM/max.com.gh/Joyceline Natally Cudjoe
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