Public Relations Officer (PRO) for Charter House, organizers of the annual Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) has made a shocking revelation on GH Entertainment that, Academy Board of the prestigious award scheme accept bribes from nominees to influence their decision in voting for them to possibly win an award.

Speaking to Agyemang Prempeh, George Quaye said, the reason why they have required the Academy Board members to vote online is because of influence that characterised the previous way of voting.

He posited that, artiste mangers have always found means of bribing Academy members to get their artiste voted for in the various categories they competed for.

Academy Board members will this year vote online rather than the previous method which required them to vote with supervision from event statisticians, KPMG. Some industry players have raised concerns over the method of voting by the Academy members including members themselves.

In a way to curb the influence and bribery scandal encountered with the first format, the organizers have decided to allow the members to vote online. When asked if this new format will also not allow members to be influenced, George Quaye said despite the challenges which the new format brings, it is far better than the first one in many 100 ways.

The about 60 Academy Board members drawn nationwide are made up of media personnel and players in the Ghana music industry consisting of music producers, entertainment journalists, disc jockeys and radio presenters.

The vote of the Academy Board will constitute 30 per cent of the total votes except in the Song of the Year category, which is exclusively 100 per cent public voting through text messages.

Results of the voting will be supervised by the event statisticians, KPMG, and will be added to the public and the VGMA Board votes.