Ghanaian singer and songwriter Akwaboah has shed light on the realities of making a living from songwriting in Ghana, pointing to industry structures he believes limit how much writers are able to earn from their craft, even when their work produces major hits.
He made the remarks during an interview on Angel FM on April 7, 2026, where he argued that a more organised system within the local music space would have allowed him to benefit more fully from his songwriting abilities.
Akwaboah explained that the absence of a proper framework makes it difficult for songwriters to be fairly rewarded, particularly when working within the same artistic circle.
“I’m sure that if there’s a system that works in Ghana’s music industry, maybe I would have loved to write for people more,” he said.
He contrasted the situation with what he sees in other markets, where songwriting is treated as a separate income stream alongside performing.
“Abroad, there are other artistes who write music for their fellow artistes. As they still release their own songs too, meaning they’re making money from both singing and writing,” he stated.
According to him, Ghana’s music scene also operates with an unwritten understanding among artistes that affects how much they can charge for creative work.
“Ghana’s industry is not that stable, so if you’re writing for someone, the money is not much, especially if it’s your fellow artiste, you can charge the person. It’s a code in the industry,’ he explained.
He added that this same informal practice extends to features and collaborations, which further complicates the idea of monetising music-related services.
“There’s no way I want to feature an artiste and the artiste would charge an amount of money before being on the song,” he said.
Looking back on his journey, Akwaboah said he believes he would have accumulated far more wealth if songwriting in Ghana was properly structured, especially given the success rate of the songs he has written for other artistes.
“I would have been a millionaire by now if not for the code within the industry because most of the songs I wrote for people are hits,” he disclosed.
Despite the financial drawbacks, he noted that his early focus was not driven by money but by a desire to demonstrate his ability and support artistes who needed help with writing.
“When I first started writing for people, the idea was just to show that if you’re artiste and you can’t write songs, it’s not a big deal. That’s why we are there, so if the artistes need songs, we are available,” he shared.
He added that his entry into songwriting quickly proved successful, with his first work becoming a hit and many of the projects that followed achieving similar results.
“From the beginning, I wanted to prove that I’m a good songwriter. I didn’t think of the business aspect of it. The first song I wrote for someone was a hit and before I realized, all the subsequent ones too were all hits,” Akwaboah further stated.
