Veteran musician and industry executive Bessa Simons has outlined an ambitious blueprint to transform Ghana’s music ecosystem from a fragmented, hit-driven culture into a structured global force.
In a detailed proposition released Wednesday, Simons argues that while Ghana’s musical output remains world-class—particularly during the annual December festivities when Accra becomes a “living, breathing playlist”—the industry lacks the institutional framework needed for sustainable success.
“Ghana has never had a music problem,” Simons writes. “The sound has always been world-class. The system has not.”
The Blueprint
Simons’ proposal rests on five pillars:
- Structured record labels – Three well-funded, professionally run labels focusing respectively on Highlife and cultural roots, Afropop and Afrobeats for export, and alternative genres including Reggae and Dancehall.
- Data-driven infrastructure – A tracking system for streaming numbers, radio airplay, club rotations and social media traction to produce reliable charts based on verifiable data rather than guesswork.
- Strengthened institutions – Efficient royalty collection organisations, a musicians’ union offering health insurance and pensions, and publishing companies to pitch Ghanaian music for films, advertisements and international artists.
- Deliberate promotion – PR agencies and marketing firms targeting Lagos, Abidjan, Johannesburg and London, alongside structured tour circuits across all sixteen regions rather than Accra alone.
- Festival expansion – Multiple large-scale cultural festivals blending music, food, fashion, art, film and technology to position Ghana as Africa’s festival capital.
Corporate and Government Role
Simons called on corporate Ghana to treat music investment the way it treats sports—through talent shows, songwriting camps and reality programmes as core marketing platforms.
He also urged government to recognise the sector as an economic powerhouse rather than merely a cultural asset.
“The real question is not whether Ghana can do it,” Simons writes. “It is whether Ghana will.”
A Challenge to the Status Quo
The proposal takes direct aim at what Simons describes as a reliance on luck over strategy.
“Going viral is not a strategy,” he writes. “It is luck that looks like success.”
Instead, he advocates for music business education, production academies and mentorship programmes to produce “informed professionals” alongside talented artists.
“A thriving music industry is not built on hit songs,” Simons concludes. “It is built on structure. On investment. On data. On institutions. Get those right, and the hits will follow.”
