Record labels and Artistes management companies are the forces behind most successful music-artistes the world over. Here in Ghana, you can talk of names like Bandex, SLIP Music, Lynx Entertainment and Family Tree Entertainment and several others. The question however is, are these companies really measuring up to the international ones in their dealings with the artistes? Some local artistes self-finance their music-production whilst others have some relatives offer financial assistance. This is also sometimes done by some well-to-do individuals with purely commercial interest but not necessarily the technical know-how called “producers”. Record labels and artiste management companies however seem to have now taken over. Manager of Empire Records, Daniel Obeng explains the distinguishing roles of these two in the making of an artiste. “The record label plays the role of a financier or investor –pushing money into all the projects whilst the management gives direction on what needs to be done” he said. Artistes however usually signed on to a record label only after a contract is agreed between the two parties. Daniel Obeng once again explained shared some “behind-the-scenes” developments in this. “Some of the artistes approach us with their already-recorded own songs, videos etc. These would therefore only require the push by way of promotion" So with such an initiative, the record label would consider the investments it would need to make vis-à-vis that made by the artiste. Based on this, percentage-levels for the profit-sharing between the two parties are established” he noted. Record Labels have said it takes at least 3 years before they start to cash in on the artiste. This certainly requires some huge financial investments and the CEO of DKB Records, Kiki Banson describes how they fund their operations. “We fund our operations from revenue generated from endorsements, shows, record sales, and merchandising. It is sustainable once it is run well” he noted. Some artistes have over the years had conflicts with their producers over the sharing of profits from the business. This more often leads to a split but according to Jane Awindor, popularly called Efya, this could be addressed with the right structures in place. “Structure makes the artiste. If all contracts are well structured and there is a team of people and everyone knows what to and everyone receives the right percentages for what they are doing, it will be well” she noted. This is a part of a series dubbed “SHOW-BUSINESS IN GHANA” currently running on the JOY-BUSINESS Reports at 6am, 8am, 1pm and 6:30pm and also on Business Trends @ 2:05pm Every Wednesday on JOY FM.