Bisa Kdei Cautions Artists Against Signing Music Deals Blindly

Photo: Bisa Kdei/Instagram

By Kinyua Mwangi

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Ghana's iconic Highlife musician, Bisa Kdei has cautioned fellow artists against signing music deals with some entities saying it is akin to selling their souls to the devil. 

He said that an artist must always be alert when any recording deal or distribution deals come up. His advice is that every artist must never sell himself/herself short. “Don’t sell yourself short,” he told Kwame Dadzie, an entertainment pundit in Ghana.  

He cited that some of the recording deals end up frustrating the artist because the clauses in the contract end up pushing them to sell all of their music collection and their personality too. Kwame questioned whether selling one's catalogue to a record label could be a negative choice, regardless of how lucrative the offer might be. However, Bisa maintained that an artist needs more than $2 million to grant a record company access to their catalogue. Such an offer, he added, would be alluring but could also not be enough to some extent. 

He acknowledged receiving offers but refused them because he didn't want to give away his catalogue. His refusal to sell his catalogue for $2 million was because he wants to be his own man. Bisa Kdei says that being independent has made him a successful artist.