This piece is meant to question radio disc jockeys and presenters on why they have allowed money to rule their work to this extent? If you have closely been monitoring music on radio for the past ten years, you might have noticed the total change and sequence in the kind of music you hear on radio.
Not more than eight years ago, Doreen Andoh of Joy 99.7 Fm vent her splint on colleague radio presenters to avoid taking ?Payola? .Am one of the few young chaps who understood the pressure and back clash she faced for that statement during an interview.
Undoubtedly, Payola is not an entirely new phenomenon in the world and precisely Ghana where we have new music talents coming up every day. Music is one of the numerous gifts God has dashed out to Ghana at no cost.
However,the way it is been treated here is totally different. We found ourselves in a country where the future of paying royalties to musicians is not too clear,The fundamental structures are not encouraging, The front liners are not sure of its prospect,Government seems to be watching elsewhere,The cost of producing music is sky rocking on daily basis.
The paradigm has shifted,The system where the radio station?s regulation tells you the kind of music to play is no more working, Individual radio presenters and disc jockeys decide what to play. Money and gifts are the driving force.
The weight of the money drawn into the Djs pocket, determines the number of times he will play and repeat a particular song. It doesn?t matter whether the content of the song is good for air or not,contributing largely to the increasing value of poorly produced sounds we have on our airwaves.
Majority of the radio music players have failed over the years. Refusing to reject poor productions that are been handed to them by promoters and managers and sometimes the artistes themselves.
Money is indeed a necessary evil but cannot be allowed to ruin the career of those who have the potential. It is very sad to hear someone say Djs are killing the game.
We have situations where listeners even makes request for songs but what presenters do is to flip over them. Some Djs have a lineup of their own artiste that they promote and that reminds me of the message in Stonebwoy?s ?No Sir?. In that song he stated categorically that ?presenters should not sit down for things to get bitter because music is their life and future? .Who is ready to join the advocacy today?.
We also have situations where some music record labels have signed contract with some radio presenters to play music from their artistes on daily basis and at the end of the month, their bank accounts are been credited with cash.
It may sound good but unprofessional. The presenter at this point will play the song irrespective of its proficiency.
Djs and presenters today will call managers or whoever sent the song to them immediately after their show for them to do ?something? in return. This behaviour is just not good but it also prevent some good musicians from getting the platforms to get their songs heard.
The internet is becoming a dominant platform for promoting music but it comes with its challenges.Club Djs and mobile Djs are not left out of this circumstance. It is becoming more of whom you know.
The best way to go now is to seek some lasting interventions .Formation of legal bodies and associations that will steer the affairs of both partners at this moment is highly recommended.
The National Media Commission, Ghana Music Council should come to a consensus on how music should be promoted on radio. This will reduce the unnecessary exploitation of music managers, promoters and artistes.
Source: Afia English
