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Kumi Guitar (middle) signing his contract with Zylofon Media
Kumi Guitar (middle) signing his contract with Zylofon Media

Kumi Guitar & Shegah Record Deals - a venture with the Devil or an Angel?

The days of Record Label dominance is rearing its head once again with the likes of highlife singer Kumi Guitar and dancehall artiste Shegah being signed to lucrative deals respectively.

Kumi got signed to what some call – a ‘mouth-watering’ deal with the label, Zylofon Media, which is said to have  given him a 2016 model Hyundai Sonata car, a signing-on fee of $100,000 and a three or four-bedroom house. Good stuff, but guess what; the artist signed the deal for five (5) years.

Shegah, on the other hand, is also reported to have signed a million dollar deal with the label, Magic Records and was also given a three-bedroom house as part of her signing-on package.

According to reports, she also signed a two to three-year deal to be under the label.

It is interesting to note that while some artistes are striving to leave the labels and go independent, others on the other hand are finding solace in the record labels.

By appending their signatures to such deals, Kumi and Shegah may have finally attained that artistic and financial liberation they have craved for such a long time, or they just might have signed their careers away.

Deal with the Angel?

The music industry has become a very tough area, where production, marketing and distribution of music do not come cheap.  Artistes are floundering to get their music heard and for their brands to attain the necessary recognition and relevance.

Kumi Guitar is surely talented but he has struggled to realise his full potential. Even with what was supposed to be a breakthrough hit, ‘Break Into 2’ – he still lurked in the industry as a C-list artiste, with no recognition and no financial leverage.

He was a taxi driver before his song garnered rotation on mainstream media and after the success of the song, he is still in the taxi business and his follow-up tracks could not catapult him to the much desired nationwide recognition and financial freedom.

Here comes a deal that grants him a good car, a house and some very good money that is sure to take him out of his misery as a struggling artiste. All he has to do now is record and let his record label do the rest.

The same can be said for female dancehall artiste, Shegah, who after a brief success with girl group, Triple M, has endured all the challenges in the industry and still found it extremely torrid to break through as a solo artiste.

With a million dollar deal that includes a new home and other impressive packages, Shegah now has everything she never got for the past decade for being one of the pioneers of Ghanaian dancehall.

Magic Records, surely, should be an angel for the artist.

Deal with the devil?

Music business has always been a serious business and any investor who puts his/her resources into such a venture works at getting them back and making profit too.

Record labels are not charity organisations that give out free cars, free houses and definitely do not dole out free cash. Even the IMF has conditions to giving out cash to struggling countries.

According to wikepedia, a record label or record company is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Often, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos; conducts talent scouting and development of new artists (“artists and repertoire” or “A&R“); and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers.

Record companies commonly pay advances to enable artistes to concentrate on writing, rehearsing, recording and performing music. Advances are recoupable against future royalties from sales and streaming, but are not recouped if revenues fail to reach a certain level. The record label is therefore bearing the risk of the investment in a highly competitive marketplace.

This is where it gets tricky for Kumi Guitar and Shegah.

Unlimited control

Record labels, depending on the contract signed, have total control of the works of the artistes. They have the rights to tell the artiste what songs to make, which producers to use and which artistes to feature. They also have the rights on what songs to release, when to launch an album and when not to release an album.

The unlimited control the label wields can be extremely frustrating for the artistes and many are unable to bear it. Their frustration sometimes leads them to openly chastise the label and their works get grounded, bringing their career to a stand-still.

Indeed, some music connoisseurs and artistes have stated that artistes are slaves to these labels. So, in essence, Kumi is going to be a slave to Zylofon Media for five years while Shegah has to grind for the label for three or so years.

Another dicey situation for Kumi and Shegah is the copyright to their songs.

Labels typically own the copyright in the records their artistes make, and also the master copies of those records. An exception is when a label makes a distribution deal with an artiste; in this case, the artiste, their manager, or another party may own the copyright (and masters), while the record is licensed exclusively to the label for a set period of time.

Industry Wins

It is crucial to ensure that the two artistes had an understanding of the contracts they inked.

Whatever is it, it is the wish of music-loving Ghanaians that Kumi and Shegah got some legal counsel before signing their respective contracts and they have very competent management teams to see to them through the agreements, with less or no related issues.

The industry benefits with the sustenance and progression of labels and thrives when there is a better relationship between artistes and record labels.

Congratulations to Kumi Guitar and Shegah; they should start unleashing the good tunes and the labels do the rest!

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