In the world of music, it is imperative for an artiste to belong to a record label, be it a major or independent record label. Record labels like P.Diddy’s Bad Boy, Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def, and Ludacris’ Disturbing Tha Peace (DTP) and Irv Gotti’s The Inc. have catapulted artistes from obscurity to stardom.

In Ghana presently, there are no major record labels that live by the real sense of the word. Five or six years ago, you could gloat about effective record labels like Megastar, Slip Music, Abib Records and Precise Music. Now, every artiste belongs to his/her own label, or one that is run by two or three persons.
Kofi Nti

In the music industry, a record label is a brand or a trademark associated with the marketing of sound, recordings and music videos. A record label is also a company that manages such brands and trademarks; coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, promotion and enforcement of copyright protection of sound recordings and music videos, conducts A&R (Artiste and Repertoire) and maintains contracts with recording artistes and their managers.

A record label must have definitive roles, CEO or General manager, A&R, the PR, the record attorney, financial management, Events management, and Security personnel. Watch around and tell me which so-called record label has all the aforementioned departments in place! Ofori Amponsah would not be be grappling with internal wrangling in his management if he had all that in place. Why would he want to pick radio presenters as management crew? What was he thinking? That radio presenters know everything and are the best persons to run a management? Airplay is important, but there’s more to management than airplay.
Tic Tac

Having an attorney in a record label is not quixotic. An attorney is very important, especially when it comes to the signing of contracts betwixt labels and artistes. A label typically enters into an exclusive recording contract with an artiste to market the artiste’s recordings in return for royalties on the selling price of the recordings. There would not be altercations between Barosky and Ofori Amponsah’s 4Reez Entertainment or between Agiecoat and Azigiza Jnr. if there were an attorney present in the signing of contract.

The only record labels that I can state with swagger, that had almost everything in place were Megastar and to some extent, Slip Music. The likes of Carlos Sakyi and Kwesi Kyei Darkwa presided over the smooth running of the Megastar label, which boasted of an impressive line up of artistes including the Tagoe Sisters, Naana Frimpong, Rev. Prince Yawson, Amakye Dede, Nana Tuffour and a band to back its artistes for live-band acts.
Ceasar on stage

It is a plus for any record label to have many musicians of different genres and good ones at that. That way, it will be gratuitous to go outside your label for a highlife artiste to feature for a hiplifer within your label. Why would JA Rule go in for Alicia Keys to do a hook on his album when an equally good Ashanti is in his record label?

I highly respected the former set-up of Mark Okraku Mantey’s Slip Music which had an impressive roll-call of artistes like Adane Best, Daasebre Gyamena, Lord Kenya, Joe Frazier, Swazzy B, Blackface and an in-house recording engineer, Zapp Mallet who was also a vocalist. If contracts were duly signed and respected, Slip Music would have been competing with Jay- Z’s Def Jam now.

It is also good to have a songwriter in a label. Not every musician can sing and write. Some are very good at singing but their lyrics are wacky. The likes of Daasebre, Kojo Antwi, Nana Quame and Ofori Amponsah are excellent songwriters and crooners.

The role of A&R in any record company cannot be underestimated, and how many A&R’s we have, I don’t know. Artiste & Repertoire is a term that refers to the division of a label responsible for scouting and developing talents. An A&R person is often required to handle contractual negotiations, find songwriters and record producers and schedule recording sessions. Acclaimed A&R persons are Clive Davis, who discovered Whitney Houston and Simon Cowell, the nightmarish Pop Idol judge.

Artiste are billed to perform every now and then, schlepping from town to city to village, which makes it necessary for any label to have an official transport. It is exasperating to see renowned artistes moving in taxis from shows to radio and TV interviews. It is unwholesome for artistes and friends to drive themselves. Need I remind you about Terry Bonchaka and Obour? Thumps up for 2Toff and their manager for having an official car.

Security is essential for every musician and a record label in general. Audience in most situations get disgruntled for a below-par performance of any artiste or the delayed commencement of a show. In such situations, an artiste must be protected. Need I remind you of the assault on Mzbel at KNUST?

Those who claim to run a label should put the right structures in place to make the business as enjoyable as possible and incident-free. Managers and producers should not be cavalier about the welfare of artistes.