Artistes don't like working for free unless you have a relationship with them - Baba Sadiq

Music and media entrepreneur, Abdullai Abu Sadiq, popularly known as Baba Sadiq, has expressed concerns over artistes performing for free at certain events.

In a myjoyonline.com report, Baba Sadiq pointed out that some events are non-commercial and require artistes to cooperate with event organizers on monetary terms.

However, he added that it is usually difficult to engage artistes to perform for free unless there is an existing relationship or situation that demands it.

“It is very difficult [getting and an artiste to perform for free] unless you have the relationship, first and for most, and as I said, [it] depends on the situation,” he said.

While making his point, Baba Sadiq also advised musicians to look beyond physical payments and consider the value of the platforms they perform, on while giving an example of the 'rain performance' curated by 3Music Awards for Black Sherif's 'Kwaku the Traveller' in 2022.

According to him, after the event, many artistes approached him to lobby for such opportunities because they saw how it impacted Black Sherif's career.

Despite this, Baba Sadiq expressed concerns over the current state of the music industry in Ghana, where he said the agenda has always been to enable artistes rather than event organisers.

The former 3Music boss lamented the fact that most corporate institutions have stopped sponsoring events, making it challenging for artists to produce their shows without running at a loss.

“The market has broken. The sponsorship market has crashed. Nobody is getting the sponsorship from the sponsorship market anymore. The investment to produce these shows is not even happening anymore. These talents of when they produce their own shows are running at losses,” he stated.

Baba Sadiq's comments come amid discussions on encouraging a 'no fee for performance' policy for some events in Ghana, similar to what obtains in foreign events like the Grammy Awards, Super Bowl Halftime Show, and Global Citizen Festival.

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