Joy FM’s flagship creative industry conversation, Showbiz Roundtable, held on Saturday, March 14, 2026, has drawn praise from listeners and viewers following its eighth edition.

The latest edition focused on the theme ‘Preserving highlife as Ghana’s music heritage.’

Many of the comments highlighted the importance of the discussion and the deliberate move to empanel resource persons with deep knowledge of the music industry.

Others also noted how the programme could help preserve Ghana’s music story and inspire the next generation.

“Big respect to the team for this conversation. I believe highlife is the root of most of the music we hear today. But why do many young artistes prefer Afrobeats instead of highlife? Also, I think if the government creates a special fund for producing highlife songs or policy to support Highlife musicians, the upcoming artistes will have an interest in it. My name is Kofi Appiah,” a comment reads.

Loretta also wrote: “Production and everything is nice. Shoutout to Kwame Dadzie and the Team.Good job. This is what we call entertainment in an educative way. I’m really enjoying this. Highlife is really us, and we need to be proud of it.”

Another comment praising the production team came from Isaac: “Excellent production, and a very thoughtful conversation. Kudos to Kwame Dadzie and the team. In my view, the problem is not that Highlife is disappearing; the problem is that we have not positioned it well for the modern generation. Kudos to the team for this discussion, we need to position.”

The programme aired live on Joy 99.7 FM, JoyPrime and JoyNews as part of the stations’ Ghana Month activities.

The panel featured Professor John Collins, ethnomusicologist; Amandzeba, highlife musician; Kofi Boachie-Ansah, also known as Beatmenace, audio engineer; Adina, highlife musician; and Jonas Bibi Hammond, a veteran music producer.

The keynote address was delivered by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Maame Efua Houadjeto. In her address, she spoke about the importance of Ghana making greater gains from the highlife genre while passing it on to future generations.

A special guest for the programme was UNESCO’s National Professional Officer for Culture, Carl Ampah, who offered insight into what it means for highlife to be listed by UNESCO as Ghana’s intangible cultural heritage.

The show had a live studio audience made up of musicians, journalists, music producers, music executives and other creative industry stakeholders. Those in attendance included Asah Nkansah of Kwan Pa Band, Dela Botri, Yaw Darling, Seven Xavier and Tilly Akua Nipaa, among others.

Showbiz Roundtable was brought to audiences by the 2025 GJA Awards Entertainment Programme of the Year, Showbiz A-Z, powered by Joy Entertainment with support from Joy Prime television.

It was moderated by arts and culture journalist Kwame Dadzie and emceed by Noella Karyne Yalley.

The eighth edition of Showbiz Roundtable was produced by Philip Nai, Anita Teye, Martin Kwasi Asare and DJ Wobeti.