�GHAMRO`s Elections Is A Waste Of Musicians Royalties�

The Presidents of Veterans Musicians Association of Ghana (VEMAG) and the Musicians and Dancers Association of Ghana (MUDAG) Mr. Daniel Agyei and Mr. George William Dickson respectfully, have cautioned the Executive Board of Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) not to hold an election until the downloading issues by GAPI is resolved. According to them, GAPI engaged in an online music project which resulted in illicit download of works (songs) of their members with a Norwegian company called Phonofile since 2007; unfortunately, their members received nothing in return. The Presidents of Veterans Musicians Association of Ghana (VEMAG) and the Musicians and Dancers Association of Ghana (MUDAG) are thereby entreating GHAMRO, to instead of spending huge sum of money to hold elections, they should channel it to the other associations to embark on other plans and projects which will generally benefit the music industry. They said the leadership of GHAMRO must wake up to see to it that justice prevails, regarding the downloading issues now going on in our industry. How can somebody take our songs without our authorization, does GAPI own copyright? What is the copyright right office doing? Some members barked. They also said that due to observations, they suspect that, the ploy to hurriedly undertake an election is spearheaded by the Ghana Association of Phonographic Industry (GAPI) and the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA). Speaking to the President of VEMAG and MUDAG separately, they both reacted with one accord �GHAMRO's elections will amount to a waste of musicians' royalties� � Dan Ray and �That huge money can be shared to the already poor musicians who are dying as paupers� � George Dickson, they said respectively. The Presidents of the Veterans Musicians Association of Ghana and the Musicians and Dancers Association of Ghana are therefore sending a critical caution to GHAMRO to withhold their purported elections until unsettled issues are ironed out; if not, they will advise themselves.