KWABENA KWABENA, TRIGMATIC, BISA KDEI, WIN AT GHANA MUSIC INDUSTRY AWARD

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

GOSPEL MUSICIAN OJ CALLS IT QUIT

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.

2014 VGMA INDUSTRY AWARDS ON 3RD MAY

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.

SAMINI HINTS OF A COLLABORATION WITH AMAKYE DEDE

Music Of Black Origin (MOBO) award winner Emmanuel Andrews Samini popularly known as Samini has revealed to Hitz FM that he is planning to do a collaboration with Highlife legend Amakye Dede.

The revelation was made when the dancehall artiste made a surprise appearance at the Ohene Nana Classic, Kwahu on April 19 during the Club Highlife Fiesta organized by Hitz FM.

Amakye Dede, who gave off another impressive performance on the day, spotted Samini, who was enjoying the legend's performance in the packed crowd, and invited him on stage.

Samini joined Amakye Dede after he thrilled the crowd to some of his greatest hits including ‘Kanea Maye Kyere Me', ‘Odo Ho Akyire’, and ‘Iron Boy’.

The dance act, in spite of the fact that he was called out of the blue, did not disappoint when handed the mic to do what he does best.

Samini rocked the crowed as if he was the main act on the bill.

After a very fulfilling performance, Samini told Hitz Entertainment News that: “I believe it is a privilege to be invited on stage by the legend Amakye Dede, how people get recognized by legends."

"I will do a collaboration with Amakye Dede,” he added.

AMAA AWARDS 2014 POSTPONED

The 2014 edition of the prestigious Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAAs) will be held in the month of May.

This will happen for the first time in May after it was held every April for almost a decade.

The AMAAs is a platform that projects the African film industry to Africans and the rest of the world. It is a glamorous celebration of artistry, and honoring excellence in African filmmaking and cinema.

This year’s occasion will mark the 10th anniversary celebration of the award ceremony and it is being planned to come off in a grand style.
It was earlier announced to take place on April 26 in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

But News One was reliably informed that the event has been postponed to May 24.

Nominations for this year’s event were released at a ceremony held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday April 2.

CONFIRMED: EFYA TO PERFORM AT WORLD MUSIC AWARDS 2014

2014 is definitely a good year for Ghanaian singer Efya (Real name: Jane Awindor) as she is finally reaching the world stage and getting international recognition.

The award winning songstress has been confirmed as one of the performers on the internationally acclaimed World Music Awards (WMA) 2014awards night.

“We are incredibly excited and beyond proud. The World Music Awards just confirmed Efya to perform during the awards”, Efya's PR manager told Peacefmonline.com.

Her smash hit song “Best in me” has received nominations in 5 different categories: World's Best Song, Best Female Artiste, World Best Live Act, World Best Entertainer of the Year and World Best Video. Rapper Sarkodie and UK-based Fuse ODG, have also received nominations for the same awards.

The reigning VGMA best female vocalist has also been nominated for the Best Female award in Africa’s most respected music awards event – the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMAs) 2014.

This brings to seven the awards she’s been nominated for so far this year. A clearly overwhelmed Efya has taken to her official Facebook page to thank her fans and team and ask for further support to win all the awards she’s been nominated for.

“This year has been a blessing, Thanks to all my fans worldwide for the love and support and to my team for believing in me. A wise man once said ‘forward ever, backward never’. I got nominated 7 times this year; words can’t express how grateful I am. This is to all my fans and the organizations that help make this”.

The 2014 edition of the World Music Awards is scheduled to take place on 27th May at Monte Carlo, South of France.

VGMA INDUSTRY AWARDS SET FOR APRIL 26

11 awards are set to be handed out at the 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards pre-event award ceremony, VGMA Industry Awards on Saturday 26th April 2014.

The ceremony would see the presentation of awards to winners in non-public voting categories including the following:

1. Best Female Vocalist 2. Best Male Vocalist 3. Gospel Album of the Year 4. Song Writer the Year 5. Producer of the Year 6.

Instrumentalist of the Year7. Sound Engineer the Year 8. Traditional Artiste of the Year 9. Music for Development 10.Musiga Merit Award 11.Lifetime Achievement