Winning a Grammy: ‘Headache’ of Ghanaian musicians

 “GRAMMY is not a standard for greatness, I don’t believe that. We don’t have to accept the notion that a musician must win a Grammy before being respected. If an artiste is able to grow from step one to two, that’s enough. If the Grammy comes, fine; that’s a bonus”, rapper Amerado is quoted to have said in an interview with Asaase Radio in November last year.

Just like Amerado, a winner of Best Lyrical Performer at Ghana Music Awards, a scheme touted to be the most prestigious awards ceremony in Ghana, many Ghanaian musicians may silently be harbouring such opinions.

And why not when they continue to be subjects of public ridicule and social media trolling for missing out on securing a Grammy nomination or win since the Recording Academy Awards, popularly known as the Grammys, started more than 60 years ago.

The woes of the Ghanaian musician was further deepened last Sunday, February 4, when music lovers and millions of viewers across the world watched the Grammys with Ghana once again losing the opportunity to catch the attention of millions on the platform.

For over decades, the Grammys has been globally recognised as the biggest thing and perhaps, an endorsement of an artiste’s influence around the world.

Interestingly, big names such as Bob Marley, Snoop Dog, Nicki Minaj, Sia, Katy Perry, Jimi Hendrix, Backstreet Boys among a host of others are yet to taste the glory of a Grammy win after many years of nominations.

But that is not a reason for some Ghanaian musicians including Amerado to make excuses for not earning a Grammy nomination and perhaps undermining its relevance to their brands.

For the first time, expectations leading to the release of nominations for the 2024 edition of the Grammys were high in Ghana when the likes of Stonebwoy and gospel singer, MOGMusic openly declared their desire for Grammys recognition by publicising their ‘For Your Consideration’ (FYC).

Unluckily, Ghana lost out and not even Rocky Dawuni who has been Ghana’s ‘saviour’ after receiving nominations in 2015, 2021, 2022 earned a nod this year.

Once again, Ghana missing out on the Grammys generated relevant conversations which encouraged some of our artistes to downplay the importance of how such a huge and globally recognised award scheme contributes to their brands.

Grammy is huge, it’s a big deal and Ghanaian artistes must see it as such and work at making bold statements on the huge platform.

On Sunday during the Grammys for instance, there’s no shred of doubt that Ghanaians all over the world would have been proud to see the likes of Sarkodie, Black Sherif, Stonebwoy, KiDi, King Promise, Efya, Shatta Wale and other artistes seated among the audience as nominees.

Besides, Nigeria had Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr and Asake as nominees so why can’t it be Ghana also. However, such feats are not achieved by mere words but hard work, right network and meeting the requirements.

The time is now

For the first time, African music received recognition at the recently held Grammys with its own category–Best African Music Performance. Harvey Mason Jr, CEO of Recording Academy, told BBC that he was excited at the inclusion of the Best African Music Performance category.

The decision to include an Africa-specific award came about because music from the continent is now "prevalent everywhere in the world".

The question is, “Is Ghana’s music part of the African music prevalent everywhere in the world?”

African artistes have won Grammys in the past. South Africa’s Miriam Makeba was the first in 1966 when she picked up the prize for Best Folk Recording for her collaboration with Harry Belafonte.

There have been several others including Nigeria’s Burna Boy, who won in 2021 for Best Global Music Album.

With the likes of CEO of Recording Academy acknowledging the impact of African music in global music business, Ghana cannot be comfortable at the back seat because winning a Grammy matters. (Related article Snoop Dogg shades Grammys for getting 16 nominations but never winning an award)

Relevance of winning a Grammy

When it comes to the leverage the Grammys offers, Billboard Magazine calls it, the ‘Grammy Bump’ while Forbes Magazine calls it the ‘Grammy Bounce’.

In a 2012 article  in Forbes, ‘The Grammy Bounce: How Much Is an Award Really Worth?’ Senior Editor, Zack O'Malley Greenburg, provided an overview on some of the benefits of winning the award.

According to him, a sampling of performers and producers shows a ‘Grammy Bounce’ of at least 55 percent in concert ticket sales and producer fees during the year following a Grammy win.

The financial benefits of the award can be tremendous for big touring acts as well, according to concert data provider Pollstar.

 In the year after grabbing Grammy No. 1, crooner Bruno Mars' average nightly gross swelled from $130,000 to $202,000 (+55 percent); multi-instrumentalist Esperanza Spalding swung from $20,000 to $32,000 (+60 percent); and pop-country superstar Taylor Swift surged from $125,000 to $600,000 (+380 percent).

 Conclusion

Ghana’s Rocky Dawuni who has been nominated three times says it’s not an arduous task since there are guidelines and rules for every musicians all over the world to follow.

One of the major rules requires that songs/albums must commercially be released and distributed in the USA.

With artistes such as Black Sherif, Stonebwoy having major international record labels, the time is very ripe for Ghana.

Truthfully, winning a Grammy should not be a headache for Ghanaian musicians since there’s good sound, the expertise and medium to promote our works.

What is needed is proper branding, packaging, connections and right platforms to display our crafts. The Ghanaian is very capable of winning a Grammy…. Or should it be a headache? No, let’s go for it.