Former leader of the defunct music group Klala, Daniel Neequaye Kotey has criticized fellow musicians for not demanding their fair share of the significant profits generated by award schemes through public voting. He believes that event organizers exploit artists under the guise of recognizing their talents without addressing their financial needs.
Speaking on Onua FM’s GH Highlife show, Kotey expressed concern about the exploitation of Ghanaian musicians by award scheme organizers. He highlighted that artists often receive nothing but a plaque, despite the considerable expenses incurred by their supporters in voting campaigns.
“If you are a musician nominated in any award scheme in Ghana and you earn nothing, you are not being wise,” Kotey stated. He urged musicians to collectively demand transparency and fair compensation from the organizers. Specifically, he suggested that if an artist’s supporters spent significant sums on voting but the artist did not win, the organizers should return at least 50% of those funds to the artist.
Kotey argued that award schemes are primarily profit-driven enterprises benefiting the organizers, while musicians, who play a crucial role, receive an unfairly small portion of the proceeds. He called on Ghanaian artists to become more assertive and demand a more equitable distribution of the revenues generated by these events.
He proposed a revenue-sharing model where 50% of the earnings go to the musicians, 30% to the organizers, 10% to the media, and 10% to support retired musicians. According to Kotey, this approach would ensure a fairer distribution of the profits and better support for the music community in Ghana.