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Drawing the nexus between payola and royalties – Kwame Dadzie writes

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Payola
Payola. (Source: Billboard)

Deputy editor at Flex Newspaper, radio show host and social media guru, Kwame Dadzie, has waded into the ongoing ‘payola’ debate which started on Pluzz FM yesterday, July 18.

With so many years experience in showbiz, he treated the matter with expert explanation and also spoke against the act.

Kwame took to Facebook today (July 18) saying (unscripted):

“My boss Enock Agyepong, may I seek permission to talk about this payola issue. Make you no bore oo. This is my candid opinion.


I condemn the act of a DJ asking for money before playing any song by a musician. As a media person and a music promoter, I find myself on both sides of the coin and I know how it feels to be in both situations.


‘Payola’ in essence and in practice, is a real killer of music but that notwithstanding, I think there is a type of THE ACT that when fine tuned, would make sense and causes no ‘harm’ to the musician nor the presenter – I call it “promotional package.”


Promotional package is when an artiste and/or its management decide that they want their song(s) to be played on a certain radio station, hence see the management of a radio station to play the song(s) for a number of times, within a period.


The life we live is always about who needs who at a point in time. If you need me more than I do, you definitely would have to commit more.


If musicians mount billboards, do ads on blogs and in newspapers, and pay online music sites to host their songs, there is nothing wrong if they pay a radio station to help them achieve a particular objective.


This also means that radio stations must pay their royalties promptly. Because at the end of the day, the more you pay a station to play your songs, the higher the chance that you would rake more royalties from them.


I am sure if we can migrate from the evil-perceived poyola to “promotional package,” where the money lands in the hands of the radio station and not a presenter, there will be peace.


But ‘appreciation’ will not be rejected. lolz”

Do you agree with Kwame Dadzie? Let’s have your views below.

Multiple award-winning entertainment journalist and founding editor at Ghanafuo.com – I have spent over a decade covering entertainment, gossips and lifestyle around the world. Follow me on my official Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages: @davidmawuli

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