The Vodafone Ghana Music Awards Industry Awards were held on Saturday with a colourful ceremony at the Alisa Hotel, Accra.
Among
the winners were Trigmatic, Bisa Kdei, Joyce Blessing, Kaywa and
Killbeats. Kwabena Kwabena won the World Bank sponsored ‘Music For
Development Award’, winning ghc3,000 for his song and project supporting
the Ghana Heart Foundation
The ceremony witnessed performances
from Tamale’s Dencee, Akwaboah Jnr, OJ and M.anifest.. MzVee also won
the public voting for ‘Unsung Artist’ earning her a performance spot on
the main awards ceremony on May 3.
List of Winners are as follows:
-Gospel Album of the Year- Joyce Blessing
-Record of the Year- Trigmatic
-Songwriter of the Year- Bisa Kdei
-Producer of the Year- Killbeatz
-Song Engineer of the Year- Kaywa for Adult Music
-Instrumentalist of the Year- Victor Dey
-Traditional Artiste of the Year- Dencee
-Music for Development- Kwabena Kwabena (for Save a Life)
-Lifetime Achievement Award- Ebo Taylor
-MUSIGA Merit Award- Korkor Amarteyfio
Prolific song writer and Gospel artiste, OJ says he is done with writing songs for fellow musicians.
In
an interview with Abrantepa on Radio Univers, OJ who has composed
couple of songs for many Gospel musicians including Noble Nketia, Ceci
Twum, Esther Smith, Lady Prempeh, and DSP Kofi Sarpong disclosed that he
has come to the realisation that in Ghana, songwriters are not well
recognised.
He says in most cases, the attention is given to the
musician; not the song writer. He also noted that, it is not worth it
selling an intellectual property.
“I have written a lot of songs
for many people. But in Ghana, the attention is on the musician rather
than the song writer. If you decide to concentrate on only writing, you
may go hungry or get discouraged. So I have decided not to write any
song for anyone. A song is an intellectual property. So even if you sell
it at two million, at the end of the day, he may make a hit that can
even elevate him so much that you may be jealous.”
Asked if he
has been jealous of any musician after selling a song to him, OJ
humorously said “I was never jealous but I was shocked. I thought the
fellow would come and add more money to what he gave me”.
According
to the inspirational musician, even if he would write songs and sell,
it would be on condition that both parties would agree on certain
contractual terms: that, he would sell it at a lower rate but can record
the same song in about five years or so since songs have no timeline.
The
“Maye se wo pen” hit maker told the host of Weekend Mix that, he
wouldn’t advise anyone to sell a song he or she has written. However, if
any musician needs his help, he is always around as it will fetch him
blessings from God.
THIS YEAR’S edition of the Vodafone
Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) is slated for Saturday, May 3 at the Accra
International Conference Centre (AICC).
Prior to that, the
organisers of the awards, Charter House, would hold the industry awards
night at Alisa Hotel in Accra to reward individuals
who in diverse ways have raised the standard of the music in the country tonight.
In
all, the ceremony would witness the presentation of 11 awards to
winners in non-public voting categories including the following; Best
Female Vocalist, Best Male Vocalist, Gospel Album of the Year, Song
Writer the Year, Producer of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year.
The
rest are Sound Engineer of the Year, Traditional Artiste of the Year,
Music for Development, Musiga Merit Award and Lifetime Achievement
award.
The event, which is strictly by invitation, is expected to
attract Ghana’s top musicians, stakeholders in the music and copyright
sector, journalists and a cross-section of the general public.
Preparations
for the event began last year with a series of intensive technical
review sessions that sought to overhaul the entire awards scheme as
parts of efforts to make it unique.
