The Ghana Association of Phonographic Industries (GAPI), made up of music producers, has called on government to incorporate the economic importance of copyright into the national development agenda, saying it promises to make more earnings for the country than cocoa.

The call was made by the general secretary of GAPI, Mr. Francis Twum Mensah, at a press conference organised by the association as part of an advocacy initiative sponsored by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) to enable copyright owners interact with the media as part of efforts to highlight the need for long-term financing for the music industry.

Mr Mensah noted that research had shown that the Ghanaian music industry had the potential of earning over US$350 million from the world market, adding if the necessary structures were put in place for effective administration, promotion and distribution, the benefits would be significant.

He said it was in this light that GAPI in collaboration with Bach Technology, Norway, had finally decided to come to the rescue of musicians, producers and distributors by coming up with a Copyright Investment Bank (CIB), which would give long-term financing to producers and musicians.

Mr. Mensah said due to the perceived potential of the industry, GAPI and its foreign partners had managed to get the Bank of Ghana (BOG), Ministry of Finance and some banks to buy into the idea of CIB, adding that in the next six months the initial moves towards the establishment of the bank would take-off.

On his part, Mr Dagfin Bach, Chief Executive Officer of Bach Technology, assured Ghanaian musicians that the package his company was bringing the country had a potential to grow the music industry, the individual musician and the economy as a whole.

He said besides providing soft loans and grants to musicians for the production of their music works, Bach would also provide an avenue for online distribution of music works through mobile phone download and internet sales.

“The benefit from the new system would be a change from having a few thriving music labels to loads of labels dominating the industry as a result of the shift from physical sale of CDs and DVDs to the online distribution which is faster and had a wider market reach,” he said.

Mr Bach said the package would include a technology that would monitor the use and sale of music works on mobile phones, the internet, on radio and TV stations, in bars, restaurants, hotels and even in moving vehicles to ensure that musicians are paid appropriately for the use and sale of their works.