UK-based Ghanaian talent manager and music publisher Mark Darlington Osae has raised alarm over what he describes as unfair treatment of music producers by some top Ghanaian artistes, particularly regarding copyright and royalty issues.
In a Facebook post, the manager of Skrewfaze and Reggie & Bollie alleged that some artistes are selling their music catalogues while deliberately removing producer credits in the process.
“The way some of our big GH artistes are treating producers is bad! Producers, please monitor credits of your songs on DSPs. There is a trend where your credits and/or split shares are being taken & songs sold or re-registered as 100% owners to third parties!” he wrote.
Expanding on the issue in an interview on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM with Kwame Dadzie, Mark explained that music producers are entitled to more than just mechanical and publishing royalties.
“When a producer works on a song with an artiste, apart from the mechanical and publishing splits that they agree on, they also have a share in master rights as well—unless the producer has sold and relinquished those rights to the label or the artiste. If that hasn’t happened, they have producer points on the master recording,” he clarified.
He noted that the issue partly stems from a long-standing industry practice in which producers offered beats to artistes for free in hopes of gaining exposure.
“Some of them [the producers] were not paid a penny. To take away their rights to the songs as well is an injustice we need to talk about as an industry,” he said.
Mark Osae urged affected producers to consult professionals with expertise in copyright and publishing law to reclaim their rightful entitlements.