Ghana Music Rights Organisation to disburse royalties

The body will disburse 700 000 cedis ($145 000), which it says is a percentage of its collections.

“GHAMRO is very grateful for the patience exhibited by its members in the face of the delay and assure them of doing everything in our power to protect their interest,” reads a statement from the body.

GHAMRO said it was still invested in educating the audience on royalties and collection. A statement by the body demanded that commercial music users, including telecom operators, broadcasting stations, shopping malls, restaurants, event organisers, hairdressing salons and other public places apply for a licence from GHAMRO.

The body also said it was working on introducing a levy on devices able to store music: mobile phones, pen drives, hard discs and laptop computers among them. The aim is to secure revenue for music makers holding rights to their music.

In November, it was announced that the body's annual general meeting had been shifted but members of the GHAMRO board recently went across cities in Ghana informing their members of the board's operations. They visited such places as Takoradi, Kumasi, Northern Volta and Kumasi.

"To ensure that information in respect of the exact date and time the delegation would be in a particular region," GHAMRO will forward bulk messages to members and therefore members are strongly advised to participate in this activity aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability," it told its members.