‘Play Ghana’ campaign to promote local music comes alive
The Creative Arts Agency Ghana yesterday launched a musical campaign dubbed: “Play Ghana” to promote Ghanaian music and art in the country.
Launched in collaboration with music artists and stakeholder in the arts, the campaign aims at promoting a ratio of 70 per cent Ghanaian music played on the airwaves and at other social events.
In addition, it is to ensure that Ghanaian art and music take the centre stage during the Christmas festivities in the country.
Launcshing the campaign, the Director of Creative Arts Agency Ghana, Ms Gyankroma Akufo-Addo, said the time had come for the country to review the Creative Art Sector in relation to local content.
She said most countries, including Nigeria had implemented seven per cent local law when it came to their arts, and Ghana could not be different.
Ms Akufo-Addo said “Today marks the day that we are pledging to push Ghanaian music to the forefront of our audiences, starting at home. The Creative Arts Agency will collaborate with stakeholders and players in the music, film, and broadcasting industries to review our local content regulations.”
She, therefore, called for the amendments to both the cultural policy and the broadcasting bill, taking inspiration from Nigeria’s 70 per cent local content law across music, film, and broadcasting.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Mark Okraku-Mantey, on his part stressed the importance of collaboration among artists and music producers and warned that without such unity, Ghana risked succumbing to the constant influx of foreign music.
Smallgod-Nana Appiasei, a music entrepreneur, expressed concern over the decline of Ghanaian music and urged intentional efforts to elevate local content to regional standards.
He said the campaign if taken seriously would not only bolster the festive atmosphere with local sounds, but also pave the way for a more robust and sustainable future for Ghanaian music on the global stage.
In attendance for the launch were: Reggie Rockstone, Samini, Black Sherrif and D-Black among a host of other artists.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
