Ghana’s musical treasury, highlife, hiplife, gospel, highlife-jazz hybrids, and other forms, has shaped national identity and influenced music across West Africa.
Yet too many early architects of these sounds grow old in precarity. Reports and public appeals from senior musicians make clear that talent and cultural contribution alone do not guarantee economic security.
This is not a moral failing of artists but a structural failure of the systems that should monetize, protect, and distribute value from music. When copyright collection, digital distribution, broadcasting licensing, live-music economics, and social protection are weak or opaque, creators lose out.
Fixing those systems would mean fewer veterans pleading for assistance and more living dignified lives on the royalties and recognition they deserve.
Sarkodie has called for stronger industry structures to protect the financial future of Ghanaian artists, insisting that no veteran musician should be left in poverty if the music business were properly managed.
The award-winning rapper argued that music has the potential to generate steady income for artists well into old age. He said the financial hardships many face today stem from exploitative contracts that deprived them of ownership of their catalogues.
“All these old-age artists, what music can make for you monthly, there’s no old-age artist who should be asking for any money from anyone. But if you listen to their stories, somebody gave them some small change and then took the music, so now they have nothing to live off. If the system was right, nobody would have been able to get them to sell their catalogue. So, it’s a lot.”
Sarkodie
He emphasized that investment and monetization remain the two pillars the industry must strengthen to thrive.
“But these two, the investment part and the monetization of the industry, if we get that right, Ghana wouldn’t need to go anywhere. We’d just go out there for the looks, but we’d still make money even if we stay local.”
Sarkodie
Many veteran artists made their most valuable recordings before digital registration, leaving ownership and attribution unclear. Master tapes, publishing records, and contracts, when they exist are often lost, ambiguous, or tied up in opaque label arrangements.
Without clear metadata and registered rights, collection societies and digital platforms cannot pay them.
Performing rights organizations and copyright enforcement are critical. Ghana has bodies such as GHAMRO (Ghana Music Rights Organization) and unions like MUSIGA tasked with representation and collection.
But chronic underfunding, weak enforcement against unlicensed public performances, and limited technological infrastructure reduce the collection and fair distribution of royalties. Radio stations, bars, and hotels at times skirt licenses; unauthorized sampling and use of recordings go unremedied.
Many older musicians relied on gig income. With fewer formal contracts and no standard minimums for pay, an aging musician’s market value declines even when their recordings remain in circulation.
There is no systematic pension, health insurance, or social safety net tied to musical work, so retirement equals destitution unless ad hoc charity intervenes.
Moral and Economic Case
Culturally, veterans are public goods, their repertoire forms part of Ghana’s national heritage. Economically, keeping veterans in dignity is efficient: their recorded works continue to generate cultural tourism, sampling opportunities, and education value.
Investing in systems that capture and equitably distribute value is not charity; it is paying for ongoing public benefit.
It is neither inevitable nor acceptable that the creators of Ghana’s musical heritage must beg. That outcome is the product of weak institutions, inadequate legal protections, lack of digital infrastructure, and social policy gaps.
With political will, industry cooperation, and targeted reforms, digitization, stronger and transparent rights management, enforceable licensing, and social protections, veteran musicians live on the proceeds of their life’s work rather than on the goodwill of the moment.
In short: if music systems worked right, veteran Ghanaian artists would not have to ask for help, they would already be paid, protected, and celebrated.
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