The
recent reason given by most Ghanaian musicians for their high
professional musical performance fees is due to the high cost of paying
their instrumentalists but the revelation is that, it is a fable.
Since
the beginning of this year, professional fees of our celebrities have
come public due to the professional and hard work by some Art writers.
Taking
the music industry as a case study, quite a number of our musicians
charge a relatively exorbitant performance fees from event organizers.
Since live band is now the order of the day, most of these musicians
claims their huge fees are due to the fact that they have to pay big
budgeted monies to their live band instrumentalists or members.
Flex
newspaper got in touch with one instrumentalist who works for one of
the veteran highlife musicians to find out if the assertion by the
musicians is true but unfortunately, the revelation was a shocking one.
He said; “Many a time when I hear or see musicians speak on radio or
appear on television and makes the point that their high fees is due to
monies they pay to us, sometimes I feel sad, at times too I go mad! In
my case I am paid GHC 200 per any performance, I mean whether the
performance is in Ghana or abroad. At times, I don’t receive any fee at
all.
“As an instrumentalist, I equally know the fees of all my
colleagues in my own camp as well as those in the camps of other
musicians. In my camp, the highest paid is GHC 300. Mean while if the
performance on stage is 1 or 2 hours, we together with the artiste,
spends the same ours on stage. On rehearsals, we use our own monies to
foot transportation bills and even cater for our own feeding. These
preliminary expenses we incur are not refunded to us; yet I often hear
our musicians hear they budget for pre rehearsal costs to event
organizers, so where is the money?”
“As I said earlier, I also
dialogue with other instrumentalists who play for other musicians and
the story is the same. Most of them are not paid at all or paid as
little as GHC 50. We are all going through the same plight. The sad part
of our story is that some of us are married with children. What is GHC
200 to a married man like me? And as you know, the performances don’t
come often so if our fees go up, it will help us a lot.
Sometimes
when I ask the musician to support me, he does not mind me. Many
instrumentalists have stopped playing for many musicians because of poor
fee payments. Ghanaian musicians should shut up, they don’t pay bands
men”.
Flex newspaper asked this instrumentalist what he and his
colleagues will do to expose our penurious musicians concerning their
low fees and none payments. “I don’t know because we are not together.
For instance I don’t want you to reveal my identity because if you do,
no musician will be willing to work with me. In this country if you
speak the truth, you become an enemy. Journalists like you and others
should help us make our plight known to all and sundry. Ghanaian
musicians are cheats!
Ghanaian musicians who stand accused in
this regard should bow down their heads in shame for veiling behind
their poor instrumentalists to increase their performance fees at the
expense of their bands men or instrumentalists. I long for a day these
instrumentalists will come together as a formidable force and stage a
demonstration against some of these cheating musicians.
Hypocrisy will find all of us out someday. |
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