Don’t impose #PlayGhana on Ghanaians -Francis Doku

Rather, he recommends using moral argument to win over Ghanaians.

The goal of the #PlayGhana initiative, which was started in December of last year by the Creative Arts Agency (CAA), the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC), and a few other creative industry stakeholders, is to promote Ghanaian music to both domestic and foreign listeners.

During his panel discussion on the topic of "Is #Play Ghana Agenda a worthy cause?" on Graphic's Showbiz's X Dialogue series, Mr. Doku brought attention to a few possible weaknesses in the PlayGhana project.

He contended that the initiative's effectiveness could only be evaluated on conventional media channels and that it would be ineffective on new media. Therefore, it was necessary to deliberately promote music consumption as opposed to using legal measures.

He clarified that voluntary involvement, as opposed to coerced compliance, was essential to the #PlayGhana initiative's success.

More moral persuasion is required for this particular purpose than legal persuasion. The challenge, in my opinion, will be in implementing and overseeing the playing of more Ghanaian music in a 70:30 ratio.

"The fact that music consumption is influenced by more than just what is aired on TV and radio puts us in a very challenging position. It's also what's available on new media. The content that appears on new media is not adequately regulated. How are we going to quantify that? Since new media is not DJ-driven, it is even harder to regulate what the general audience views. We need to encourage consumption and not impose it on the people.

The best course of action, in my opinion, is to persuade people that playing Ghanaian music at social gatherings and on the radio is imperative, as we are unable to oversee the initiative's correct implementation. This requires moral persuasion; otherwise it won't go anywhere, he added.