Ghanaian musician William Ansah, popularly known as Wan-O, has sparked fresh debate in the music industry after revealing that he earns up to GH₵30,000 monthly from selling CDs of his own music at the Accra Mall.
In an interview with Doreen Avio and Kwame Dadzie on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, the independent artiste shared that physical CD sales continue to be a reliable revenue stream, outperforming his earnings from digital streaming platforms.
“In a month I can make about 20,000 to 30,000 cedis from my CD sales. I [go to the place] every day,” Wan-O disclosed.
With over a decade of consistency at the Accra Mall, Wan-O claims he has sold more than one million CDs, emphasizing that success in this space is driven by strategic planning, not luck.
“I don’t just put singles on it. I create an album, I put a marketing plan together. I treat my act like I am running a label,” he said.
The conversation around physical music sales was reignited by comedian Lekzy DeComic, who recently posted on Facebook after witnessing pirated CDs and pen drives being sold in traffic. He questioned why musicians themselves weren’t leveraging that model directly.
“Charley, not everyone understands this streaming thing, so others are cashing in big time,” he noted, suggesting that GHAMRO could regulate and license such sales for artists’ benefit.
While some industry players backed the idea of integrating physical formats into music distribution strategies, others were more critical. Veteran rapper Okyeame Kwame strongly rebutted the argument, emphasizing the financial risks musicians face in physical production and how piracy erodes value.
“The pirate guy didn’t pay 10,000 cedis to record one song… He can press CDs at home and stand by the corner and steal from the creative,” he wrote.
He explained that most artists avoid CDs due to the high cost of production and limited sales volume, which undermines the economics of scale that drive sustainability.
Creative entrepreneur Robert Klah offered a balanced view, stating that the goal isn’t to abandon digital but to add CDs and pen drives as alternative formats to reach more diverse audiences.
“The call is not to scrap streaming of music but to add CDs and pen drives to music consumption options,” Klah said on Hitz FM.
The ongoing discussion reflects a broader industry struggle between modern digital platforms that offer reach and analytics, and traditional physical formats that provide tangible value, direct fan connection, and revenue potential.
Artists like Wan-O are proving that with the right approach, physical formats can still play a meaningful role in today’s evolving music economy.
