Since January 22, 2026, there have been intense public discussions around contracts, agreements, record labels, and the recurring disputes that arise when artistes attempt to exit deals they previously signed.
As these disagreements continue to unfold in the public space, one key question keeps resurfacing: are artiste contracts different from the other contracts people sign in everyday life?
Addressing the issue, Managing Partner at LNF Legal Advisors (PRUC), Jonathan Amable, offered clarity during an interview on TV3 on January 29, 2026, explaining what artiste contracts in Ghana truly entail and how they should be understood.
Artiste contracts are not special contracts
Jonathan Amable was clear from the onset that artiste contracts are not a special category of agreements filled with hidden meanings or secret clauses. According to him, they are fundamentally the same as any other contract.
He explained that the confusion around artiste contracts often comes from misinformation, especially on social media, where people suggest there are fixed rules or “magical words” embedded somewhere in these agreements.
“An artiste contract is a contract. There are no magical words. People make it seem as if there are magical words or fixed rules written somewhere. In this field, the main law governing these agreements is largely common law, which applies to general contracting between private parties.
“Then you also have the Copyright Act, which provides one or two frameworks or parameters. Beyond that, everything else is mainly commercial and contractual, which means there are no hard and fast rules about anything,” he explained.
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He noted that while the Copyright Act plays a role, it only sets limited boundaries. Most of what governs artiste agreements comes down to basic contract law and the commercial terms both parties agree to.
Why disputes keep happening
The legal practitioner stated that many of the problems arise when artistes sign agreements without fully understanding what they have committed to. Later, when expectations are not met or circumstances change, disagreements surface.
According to him, there is no shortcut to avoiding these disputes other than carefully reading and understanding the contract before signing.
“It comes down to reading the language in the document, understanding it, and making sure you are comfortable with it. It’s really that simple. Sometimes it’s about how the document is drafted. Legal documents can be difficult to read, the language can be technical or overly legal, and many people don’t enjoy reading them.
“But at the end of the day, they are just words. There are no magical words. These words have plain, ordinary meanings that people need to read carefully and pay attention to,” he noted.
He encouraged artistes to take their time with contracts, seek legal advice where necessary, and avoid assuming there are hidden tricks buried in the wording.
No fixed rules, only agreed terms
Jonathan Amable further explained that because these agreements are largely commercial, there are no universal rules that apply across the board. Each contract stands on its own, based on the specific terms negotiated by the parties involved.
This, he said, is why two artistes signed to different labels can have completely different experiences, even if they are both described as being under similar types of agreements.
The absence of hard and fast rules means responsibility lies heavily on the parties signing the contract to understand exactly what rights they are giving up and what benefits they are receiving in return.
Different countries, different structures
Another key point raised was how artiste contracts operate differently depending on the country and the local music industry environment.
According to the legal practitioner, contracts used to exploit artistes’ rights in the United States often take a different form from those commonly used in Ghana.
The local terrain, he explained, influences how agreements are structured and labelled. In the US, for instance, an “artiste management agreement” typically focuses strictly on management.
In such cases, the manager is empowered to negotiate deals and enter into agreements on behalf of the artiste, without necessarily controlling recordings, publishing, or other revenue streams.
The Ghanaian reality of artiste agreements
In Ghana, however, the situation can be quite different. The lawyer noted that documents titled “artiste management agreements” sometimes go far beyond management alone.
In many cases, a single agreement may combine elements of a recording contract, a label deal, and even a 360 arrangement, all under the banner of an “artiste management agreement.”
This, he suggested, is why reading the content of the document matters far more than the title written at the top.
An agreement may be labelled one thing, but its actual effect depends entirely on what the clauses say and on which rights are assigned or controlled.
The takeaway for artistes
The explanation brings the conversation back to a simple but often ignored truth.
Artiste contracts are not mysterious documents designed to trap creatives. They are agreements built on ordinary words, governed by familiar legal principles.
For artistes, the responsibility lies in taking contracts seriously, reading every clause, asking questions, and seeking proper advice before signing.
AK/EB
