Socrate Safo is an entertainment personality
Entertainment personality, Socrate Safo, has challenged the widely held belief that music streaming platforms give artistes international exposure.
Speaking in an interview with Graphic Showbiz, Socrate described the idea as a “voodoo analysis” and stated that musicians have been made to believe that just by putting their songs online, they would gain global attention.
“The perception that streaming platforms increase musicians’ reach or make them global is a voodoo analysis. They told musicians that being on such platforms is going to bring the world to their feet. But I want to ask, ‘Do you stream Indian songs?’ he said. There are musicians in India who also put their songs online, but how many Ghanaians stream Indian songs?
“So, where from the idea that if you put your song online, you will have a wider reach? Which wider reach? It is not true. It is the already-made market that is still serving consumers. Ghanaians don’t even stream Congolese or Togolese songs,” he said.
Socrate argued that instead of focusing solely on streaming, musicians should explore all possible markets to reach their audience.
He noted that there is still a strong CD market in parts of Ghana, particularly in the Northern Region, where artistes in that jurisdiction are making profits.
According to him, many musicians have abandoned CD sales and left that space to pirates, who are now profiting from it.
“It’s not about abandoning what we’re doing today and going back to CDs but rather tapping into all available markets. Do you know that there is a CD market in the Northern Region, and the musicians there are cashing out big there. Musicians have left the sale of CDs to these pirates, and they are enriching themselves. Can you imagine a musician like Stonebwoy branding some of his boys to sell his CDs on the streets?” he noted.
He also pointed out the low returns musicians get from streaming, explaining that a single CD could sell for GH₵30, while 1,000 streams on online platforms might not even generate that amount.
“A CD sells for GH₵30, but do you know that our musicians don’t even make that amount with over 1000 streams of their songs on the online platforms? And I quote Shatta Wale on this, he said, ‘As for the streaming di333, it’s not bringing anything because in Ghana, majority of
Ghanaians use Android and with Android, people don’t pay to stream music, it is only Apple that pays good money but the rest of the platforms is free’,” Safo added.
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