Veteran Ghanaian recording engineer and record producer, Zapp Mallet has emphasized that Ghana can change its tourism fortunes through the music and art industry.
According to him, there is a lot Ghana can do with its music and arts industry to make the tourism industry better “but unfortunately we are not seizing the opportunity”.
In an interview, Zapp Mallet said, “I had the opportunity to listen to an interview on BBC and they asked someone’s thoughts on why their country’s tourism industry’s fortunes had dwindled and he attributed it to the change happening in their music scene. He said the new generation was changing their style of music”.
According to Zapp Mallet, he believes that most tourists come into a country to listen to the local music because, “If they wanted to listen to Beyonce or Jay Z, they’ll go to America but if they come to Ghana, it means they want to listen to the kind of music being produced here.”
He went on to say that beyond that, the music itself can bring tourists into the country because, “even if we don’t hear it in the country, those out there can because music travels faster than a lot of things and can sell the country”.
Citing an example he said, “For instance, a tourist coming into Ghana will not come to find out our GDP, they will not come to our Ministry of Finance or Energy for anything. They will rather lookout for our music and movies.”
He further explained that it is music and Hollywood that made America what it is today and now Nigerians are also trying to use music and movies to rebrand their country.
“Upon all the negative notions people had about Nigeria, they’re trying to change it with music and the arts which we also need to do because that’s how we’re going to transform Ghana’s tourism”
He believes that if stakeholders can transform the movie and music industry with high-quality productions to match up Netflix and the others then, it can improve the tourism industry.
“We should not be thinking that because Ghanaians like it, everyone else will like it. Somethings that are accepted in Ghana don’t even cross the Aflao border so there’s more we can do.”
The veteran recording engineer also touched on the awards scheme in Ghana. He described the award schemes in Ghana as “popularity contests that do not measure excellence and hard work”.
Zapp Mallet noted that just as fighting the coronavirus pandemic has been left to the experts, so should award schemes celebrating music excellence.
“I don’t think awards schemes in Ghana recognize excellence, they are just popularity awards. They are for those who made the most noise in the year under review. If we want our music to remain at a high level, we should leave award schemes for experts to handle because the public can go in for just anything if they are allowed to decide”.
Comparing local music awards to the BET Awards and the Grammy’s which are coveted by most Ghanaian musicians, the sound engineer quizzed: “Are the BET, Grammy, and American Music Awards decided by votes? But our story is a different one”.
Zapp Mallet who sees several loopholes with awards schemes in Ghana believes they should be named for what they are, “If it is not an excellence award, the name should make it clear”.
