Ghanaian artiste, Mujahid Ahmed Bello, also known as Fancy Gadam has revealed that he received GH₵374 in royalties from his music from the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO).
Fancy Gadam made the revelation during an interview with Asaase Radio, in a conversation about the system of royalties and revenue in the Ghanaian music industry. The "Total Cheat" singer expressed confusion over the royalty payment, stating that he is unclear about GHAMRO's calculation method, as the amount received does not seem to correspond with the popularity of his songs.
"So you will be there, and then they just sent you a token for royalties. And I don't understand because, looking at what I have brought out this year, I know my songs are everywhere in Ghana, especially the competition album that I dropped. Looking at the streams out there," he said.
Fancy Gadam stated that he pays all taxes associated with the organisation religiously, so the meagre amount of money paid to him came as a shock.
"And I have been paying a lot of things before doing my concerts, like VAT, I constantly pay VAT so I don't understand why they are giving me this token. Is this the only thing I deserve from GAMRO? The last time they paid me it was GHC1,800 or so," he added.
According to him, after publicly sharing the initial transaction details on his WhatsApp status, he received an additional GH₵102 from GHAMRO. However, he clarified that it has been a year since he last received royalties from GHAMRO.
"They sent me GHC102 and after I posted it on my status, and then when my boss saw it he then posted it and yesterday they sent another one. They sent me GHC272. I don't even know the period of this payment. It's been a year since I received money from them," he stated.
Fancy Gadam is not alone in his frustration, as other Ghanaian musicians such as D-Black, Shatta Wale, Keche, and Edem, have similarly expressed their discontent with GHAMRO's low royalties payments, in the past.
GHAMRO is Ghana's premier royalties collection agency, established under the Copyright Law (Act 690, 2005), to protect and compensate music copyright holders for their work.
