Music Industry in Ghana suffering Massively From Piracy
The Ghanaian music industry continues to suffer the wrath of pirates in recent times as piracy in the country has gone to its peak according to a recent survey released by the Ghanaian government.
There have been recent crusades and campaigns saying no to piracy, but then it seems that the more musicians complain about piracy, the more these pirates increase their activities.
Alhaji Sidiku Buari, the president of the musicians union of Ghana (MUSIGA) over the weekend added his voice to the campaign to clamp down pirators in Ghana. At a press conference, he outlined measures which the musician body is currently taking to solve this problem.
Piracy in the Ghanaian music industry was costing the nation above ¢20.2 billion (GH¢2.02million) in early 2006. Come 2007, the rate at which piracy is costing the nation has risen by a whooping 68% to ¢34 billion (GH¢3.4 million).
Ghana’s recording industry is currently worth over GH¢6.2 million ($ 7million). Ghana’s domestic music piracy level is between 10 to 25%, whiles Nigeria’s and Kenya’s is over 50%.
In the USA, a report released by Institute of Policy Innovation (IPI) on August 21, 2007 indicates that rampant global piracy of recorded music has cost the U.S. $12.5 billion in economic output and 71,060 jobs annually.
