The world is changing very fat and education is the top gear moving everything, so there is no reason why musicians should still be sucking their thumbs and crying that one executive producer or another professional has pulled a fast one on them.

As American music business consultant, Christopher Knab once said, “If you want a record deal, learn what a record deal is, and learn something about the business of music”.

There celebrated consultant added that naïve or misinformed musicians are a menace to themselves, adding that over the decades there have been countless stories of musicians who were ripped off by their record labels and music publishing companies.

Exploitation was part of the music business for a long time. Indeed keeping musicians in the dark was standard business practice.

The was a story about hiplife singer, Obrafour who got $1000 from a deal that fetched his former record label about $15,000 in a transaction that involved the use of his music as soundtrack for an international movie.

Today musicians who sign record contracts and fail to scrutinize the terms have only themselves to blame.

They should note that there are move letters in the word business than in the word music.

But they can still make time to learn about the business side of music. There are dozens of outstanding books available on every conceivable topic related to business. They can be found in the bookstores, libraries and through internet seminars.

There are experts at the copyright office, many lawyers who are interested in music and entertainment and of course business organizations who may be ready to offer useful information.

Therefore it is only hard-headedness that should stand in the way of musicians making a commitment to educating themselves about the business that exists to exploiting their music.

Musicians should spend time and money to learn all they can about the business of music, for a few hours and some cedis can protect you from business crooks.