Should Artistes Lobby For Shows To Get Nominations?

If the numerous artistes who need nominations seriously to boost their career can do better in that regard, then they should start doing what I am about to suggest with this particular piece.

Per the definition of most of the categories in the prestigious Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, some elements run through them and to pundits in the industry, this is where some artistes lack when it comes to who should qualify for what.

The clause which says the artiste should have audience appeal and might have appeared on many platforms in terms of performance is my bone of contention here. I am not and will never be against that clause because to win an award, you should surely appeal to a large audience somewhere and that alone can justify you to win an award.

Now my issue is purely with those artistes who are not getting gigs to play may be due to their own decisions or who are not getting gigs to play based on their fees for appearance. There is always the likelihood that some artistes will not be heard on commercials of many events simply on the basis that the fees event promoters are paying him is not enough to suit his charges. The negative effects this decision is likely to have on the artiste is that he will be suffering from the “universal clause audience appeal”.

In reality, Charter House manages more events and of course the popular ones with more visibility than virtually all event organizers in the country. I therefore want to believe the audience appeal will not be limited to only their events in the case of who qualifies to enjoy nominations in Ghana Music Awards. On this note, let me exonerate Charter House myself again by adding that I have seen some cronies from Charter House at various events which were not organized by them. On countless occasions, I have come across Nii Ayittey Hammond either enjoying himself or accusing event organizers and praising Charter House when he sees the good and the bad at such venues ( he does that within though).

Whether this is a blessing or a curse to the musician is another topic for a write up next time because, if artistes should lobby to play gigs or accept bad salary from event organizers because they want to enjoy some audience appeal, then it is something that should be looked at by the board in their next sitting. Now do you understand why Asem was not a happy dude when he was left out in the artiste of the year category? Of course, his hit song featuring Kwabena Kwabena “Bye-Bye” was big but the man himself (the musician) did not enjoy audience appeal with the song. No activity, be it a press conference, a video premiere or whatever was enjoyed with the release of the song. People were only enjoying the air play or having fun with the song at social gatherings.

The artistes need ratings yet, they need to keep standards too. Industry people should consider this very seriously before many musicians suffer from this canker in the near future or else event organizers will take advantage of them knowing the effects it will have on them when it comes to awards in the country. Let`s get talking people!!!