Renowned record producer, Justice Oteng, known in showbiz as Wei ye Oteng has observed that most of the country’s music producers and sound engineers fail to put on their thinking caps in their dealings with musicians.
According to Wei Ye Oteng, most music producers are not making enough money because they appear to be comfortable with the fame that comes with the work.
Speaking on Zylofon FM’s ‘Showbiz Agenda’, Tuesday, in relation to Willis Beatz’s statement that the highest amount he [Willis] has made for producing a song is GHC2,000 because artistes fail to pay the exact amount he charges, Oteng remarked that the situation is not different from most producers as they embrace fame over money.
“Most sound engineers in Ghana do not think. Look, fame matters but fame matters when you live in your parents’ house because they pay the bills. You realize fame is nothing when you start paying your own bills. When you have a lot to take care of, you’ll realize you can’t eat fame.
“Most boys are making the whole thing so cheap… When it gets to the time people are not taking them serious again, that is when they complain that a certain artiste has been unfair to them, they paid them nothing despite helping to produce a hit for them,” he noted.
Oteng advised his colleagues not to depend on only music production for their living.
“There is more to what we do than music. If most people are ready to open their minds and not get stuck in the studio, they will know there is more that we have to offer. You can venture into advertising, get yourself with any of these places they play live band, be the engineer and you can make money. Keep making money from other sides. Forget mass production for fame,” he said.
Justice Oteng has worked with top notch artistes in Ghana and is one of the most revered record producers, abrantepa.com can state.
He has produced hit songs including Sidney’s ‘Kpongor’; Obrafour’s ‘Odasani’, ‘Odo Electric’; Trigmatic’s ‘Wo Sika Nti’, ‘Motromodwo; Obour’s ‘Single Ladies’ and Koo Ntakra’s ‘M’akoma’.