“I TRIED TO MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND”: A Song, a Warning, and the Future of Ghana’s Creative Industry

By Socrate Safo 

There is a line in Culture’s song that refuses to let me rest:

“The more victimisation is on their back, the more foolish they become.”

It is a hard line. Uncomfortable. But painfully accurate for where Ghana’s creative industry is heading today.

For a long time now, some of us have tried, and tried, and tried to call attention to a dangerous pattern forming across the industry. We are not speaking from a place of bitterness or fear of change. We are speaking from memory. We watched the film industry walk this same road. We know where it ends.

Yet, as the song says, they just can’t understand.

Repeating a Familiar Tragedy

The film industry once beat its drums by night and by day. The movies were everywhere. The audience was loud. But the money was thin. Free access became normal. Piracy became tolerated. Value disappeared. Eventually, the noise faded, the investors vanished, and the industry collapsed quietly.

Today, music and other creative sectors are repeating that mistake, only this time, on a far larger and more dangerous scale.

Artists now spend huge sums to organise stadium shows, throw the gates open for free, and fill the stands. Drone shots fly. Photos circulate. Social media cheers. The artist boasts.

But after the applause fades, the truth appears: losses, debts, regret.

Still, instead of asking hard questions, many satisfy themselves with less.

Victimhood as a Disguise for Foolishness.

Whenever this issue is raised, the response is often framed as victimhood. “The industry is hard.” “Streaming platforms are cheating us.” “Sponsors don’t pay enough.” “People don’t support creatives.”

All of that may be true. But as Culture warned, the more victimisation is upon their back, the more foolish they become.

Under the cover of victimhood, destructive decisions are justified. Free concerts become “promotion.” Free songs become “strategy.” Empty profits are celebrated as success. Numbers replace income. Visibility replaces value.

Artists now pay studios, producers, and engineers to create music, only to release it for free. All that matters is how many streams they get. That is what they brag about. But streams do not pay studio bills. Streams do not build pensions. Streams do not sustain an industry on their own.

Meanwhile, the fee-paying audience, the very foundation of any creative economy. Is disappearing. Just like the people who used to buy films, those who once bought music are being trained out of the habit.

Teaching the Audience to Expect Nothing to Cost Anything

The same thing is happening with live events. Some shows are funded by artists themselves. Others rely on sponsors. Either way, the audience is learning one thing: wait long enough and the gate will be opened.

They come early. They wait outside. They know that eventually, someone will shout “free entry.” Over time, paying for tickets begins to feel foolish. Why pay when patience works?

Again, they satisfy the Lord for less.

Investors Will Learn Faster Than Artists

While creatives argue and boast, investors are watching. They put in money and see no returns. Sponsors fund concerts and realize there are cheaper ways to get visibility. When they finally get wise, they will not argue on social media. They will simply invest elsewhere.

And when that happens, the industry will not just be on its knees. It will be crawling, on its belly.

A Simpler, Harder, Wiser Path

There is another way, though it is less glamorous. Organise shows in venues that attract fee-paying audiences, even if they are small. Build slowly. Respect value. Let people pay, no matter how few they are.

This approach is often dismissed as “old school.” But old school is not the enemy. Forgetting lessons is.

Culture’s song keeps asking: “When will they ever learn?”

That question hangs heavily over Ghana’s creative industry today.

Some of us have beaten the drum by day and by night. We have tried to make them notice. We have tried to make them know. But still, they just can’t understand. And yet, the future is waiting.

Fix yourself up, the song says. Prepare. Aim for more, not less.

Because if we continue down this road, mistaking noise for progress and victimhood for wisdom, we will soon look back, just like we did with film, and realize that we were not cursed.

We were warned.

NB:I AM HUMAN, I AM GETTING TIRED OF THESE WARNINGS.