I’ve never received royalties for 12 active years of music – Guru

The concerns about irregular or no payment of royalty in the Ghanaian music industry has recently been the frequently-discussed topic in the industry, as most artistes have revealed that they either receive no royalties or receive undeserving amounts.

The situation is same for Ghanaian rapper and producer, Guru as he bemoaned the irregularities and inconsistencies in royalties’ allocation in the country.

Speaking in an interview with Berla Mundi on the Entertainment Segment of TV3 NewDay, he revealed that he has never received royalties from Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) after doing active music for 12 years.

“I have never received my royalties in doing active music for twelve years.”

According to Guru, some individuals take the royalties on behalf of artistes and the money ends up not getting to deserving artistes as it is supposed to.

“Artistes don’t get their royalties. Someone takes royalties on your behalf but won’t locate you to give it to you.”

Guru stated that due to the ineffective regulation of royalty systems in the country, deserving artistes do not gain their royalties, adding that, artistes who receive gets very undeserving amounts.

He further stated that every artiste is supposed to receive huge amount of money after a hit song but this do not always happen due to the irregularities of the royalty body in the country.

“Our predecessors went through the hassle and we are not maintaining the agenda in terms of entertainment. Our leaders are not regulating the entertainment system enough. Who is making sure artistes are getting what they deserve? I have been investing and been a producer, artiste manager, executive producer, and we are left out. We are not regulating the system enough,” he reiterated.

The rapper sadly admitted that he regrets the fact that the system does not offer enough support to artistes and he can personally do nothing about it but only add his voice.

“I regret the fact that the system does not support the artiste and I can’t do anything about it. The only thing I can do is talk about it,” he said.

The ‘Lapaz Toyota’ hitmaker suggested that GHAMRO should adopt technological and digitized mode of running royalty allocation.

He further suggested that young artistes should be encouraged by offering more support to entertainers in the industry as well as protect the Ghanaian music heritage to increase international appeal.