Disc jockey, Akunsike Martin popularly known as DJ Aluther believes musical artistes in the Upper East Region will take their crafts seriously if they pay for promotions.
Speaking on Breakfast Today, DJ Aluther said most artistes in the region are not deliberate about mastering their crafts and being strategic in promoting them because they get their songs prompted in the media free of charge.
This, he asserted, results in the churning out of substandard songs and potential hit ones not given the needed push to reach a wider audience thereby, stifling the growth of the artistes themselves and the entire industry in the region.
However, he is certain that when they are made to spend their hard-earned resources before their music get airplay, they will strategize in pushing their songs and master their crafts well so that they could recuperate the resources they spent in promotion.
“Payola should be normal. Artiste in Bolga here need to pay to get serious about their own craft. A lot of times, because they feel that ‘my music is popular, I have the numbers so they have to play it’ , and stuff like that (they don’t push). But the DJs are not under any compulsion to play your music. I’m for payola,” he declared.
“When we start paying for services, we will be serious about whatever we want to do. Because Bolga here, people release songs, they don’t have any strategy of how they want to promote. It’s just few people who have strategy of how they want their music to be promoted”.
DJ Aluther said although payment for such promotions should not necessarily be monetary, it is critical in getting artistes to give their best and be competitive in the music scene nationally .
The subject of whether musicians should pay for their songs to be given airplay on radio especially known in local parlance as ‘payola’ has been a topical issue in the entertainment industry in Ghana over the years.
While some argue that it is only right for them to pay the DJs and radio stations since they are helping them to reach wider audience by playing their music on-air, others say the media rather exploit the works of the musicians to run their businesses and thus, do not deserve to be paid .
