Metro TV pledges to pay musicians

Mr. Haruna Alhassan, Deputy Managing Director of Metro TV has pledged on behalf of Metro TV that provided there is an adequate distribution system, any artist who appear on Metro TV would (depending on the caliber of the artist) be paid an amount of between three hundred and five hundred thousand cedis.

He again pledged that on Metro TV’s program, Ad Cycle, where musicians book air time to air their newly released music videos, each musician shall receive between three and five hundred thousand cedis when their music video is shown on the station.

“It’s moving to see how musicians go through all these and they come out, and at the end of the day they are not being where they’re supposed to be. What makes a musician in the U.S different from a musician in Ghana is that at the end of the day that musician in Ghana is not benefiting from what he did when he was at the peak of his career.

Whereas his colleagues who happen to be abroad in a well organized system are benefiting from their royalties, those over here are not benefiting,” says Mr. Alhassan.

The move came at the crowning of a TV program hosted by copyright advocate, Carlos Sakyi on Metro TV for which a forum was organized to sensitize the public and musicians alike. Among stewards of the music industry invited were Mark Okraku Mantey, an executive music producer and Mctonto of Osibisa fame. Gyedu Blay Ambulley and Felix Bell took their turns to make their positions on the problems of the music industry known.

The pledge from Metro TV, albeit, tied with conditions comes as good news to musicians and executive producers who have to pay half their budget to TV stations for promotion. It’s yet to be known whether Metro TV will continue charging musicians for showing their music videos on Ad Cycle, an issue that came up for strong criticism during the forum.