CARLOS BLASTS OBOUR

The leadership of Ghana Music Right Organisation (GHAMRO), a collective society for music right owners, yesterday sounded its readiness to fight persons who are trying to drag the name of the society into disrepute.

Reacting to a letter headlined ‘Need For Reforms At GHAMRO After Two And Half Years Of Operations’ sent to GHAMRO leadership by Bice Osei Kufuor, aka Obour, the leadership of GHAMRO said the letter which was in reference to the transitional provisions in GHAMRO’s constitution, was a calculated attempt by Obour and his cohorts to destabilise the operations of the collective society.

The chairman of GHAMRO, Carlos Sakyi, told BEATWAVES in an interview that “I was shocked to read Obour’s letter written to the society on the internet and various social media platforms. It is a disgrace for Obour to have done that with without waiting for GHAMRO’s response. It is sad that Obour’s letter is being circulated on the internet. It will not distract the activities of GHAMRO and its board members.”

He added that instead of Obour to wait for GHAMRO’s response to his letter, he decided to use various social media sites including Facebook to address his concerns raised in the letter, which he said, could rather disintegrate the industry.

The outspoken Carlos stressed that those who masterminded the letter written to GHAMRO by Obour have been found wanting in so many ways, adding that GHAMRO would continue in its agenda of transformation, productivity and accelerated action and give quality support to the suffering music stakeholders and any other right holder in need.

Carlos described Obour’s letter as a deliberate act to destabilise GHAMRO, and warned that GHAMRO would use all legitimate means to resist their chaotic agenda and consign them to the dustbin of history.

He further said since they took over GHAMRO, there have been consistent unjustified attacks on either the board or his image without legitimate basis through the making of false, baseless and irresponsible statements, mostly acts of defamation that have created division in the ranks of music stakeholders.

He continued that within two years in office, GHAMRO had made a lot of progress and it was only the ignorant or those blinded by selfish ambition who saw nothing positive about the gains made.

Carlos expressed worry at the attempt being made by some ungrateful people to destroy GHAMRO. He warned music stakeholders to be wary of those untrustworthy people who are seeking to create division among musicians within the group.

STOP SHOWING LOCAL MOVIES OR PAY GHC1,200

The ban on the showing of local movies in commercial buses without authorization, has taken effect.

The Film Producers’ Association of Ghana, (FIPAG), pushed for the ban, claiming the trend affects their business because patronage of their movies is seriously affected. Drivers who show local Ghanaian movies will now be arrested and made to pay up to 1,200 cedis.

Appeals by executives at the Kumasi Neoplan Station to FIPAG to reconsider its decision have been unsuccessful. The transport operators are of the view the practice rather promotes the movies and enhances patronage. President of the Film Producers’ Association of Ghana, Asare Hackman, told Kumasi-based Ultimate Radio a taskforce would be put in place to enforce compliance.

“Anytime you show a movie and collect money, then it means that you have infringed on the rights of the owner. So what needs to be done is to work out a deal with the owner before you can show the movie. What is happening with the VIP buses and the others is that, they just buy the CDs and DVDs and start showing. What we did was to send a warning to them that they should contact us or face the full rigors of the law.

“If you want to promote our movies, you can come for the trailers but they are showing the full movies which doesn’t mean they are promoting them but are just exploiting the owner. So what needs to be done is to pay royalties to the owner and you can only do that through ASSOG, because ASSOC is an audio visual agency established by the state to collect royalties on behalf of owners”.

“We have put a monitoring team together and we are waiting for the green light from ASSOG and if they come over and broker a deal between us and the drivers, then we will issue them with our stickers. We will then go to every terminal and on the highways to arrest all those who don’t have our stickers but are showing the movies”.

An executive at the Neoplan Station in Kumasi, Francis Asamoah, told Ultimate Radio they have no option than to ask drivers to show only Nigerian movies and those from other countries.

“They came here to warn us so we also put up a notice warning our drivers not to show those movies. We have been told we will be made to pay a spot fine of about GHC1200. They even said some of the drivers were using pen drives full of movies instead of buying the CDs and DVDs”.

But some drivers of long distance buses who spoke to Ultimate Radio said they were unhappy with the directive.

“I disagree with them because I bought the CDs and I use it to entertain my passenger so if they want us to stop, then they will lose. They should find an alternative solution to their problems because this will not help all of us” a driver noted.

“I have more than 50 CDs in my vehicle and how will people get to know about a particular movie If they do not watch the movies” another wondered.

“I disagree because we buy the CDs before showing the movies. It helps the passengers and even boosts the driver’s confidence when driving. If they want us to stop, then they should also tell radio stations to stop playing local songs because people may not buy the CDs” an infuriated driver retorted.

WOMAN JAILED FOR DUPING AGYA KOO

The protracted tussle between Agya Koo and his 23-year-old secretary and sales girl has finally ended.

The lady at the centre of the case, Cecilia Tandoh, has been convicted by the Kumasi Metropolitan Court and sentenced to 30 days imprisonment in hard labour on a charge of stealing.

The presiding judge, Mr William Boampong, advised Agya Koo, who is the complainant in the case, to resort to civil action to retrieve his money after the lady has finished serving her sentence.

The convict’s plea of not guilty was not accepted and was sentenced after witnesses were called.

Briefing the court on the facts of the case, Police Chief Guilliver Tenkorang said that about four years ago Agya Koo employed the lady as the manager of his company, Tetemmofra Film and Movie Industry at Bantama in Kumasi.

The prosecution said Agya Koo opened a bank account and asked the lady to pay all proceeds from the company into that account.

He said things were moving smoothly at the beginning and Agya Koo travelled out of the country for six months.

On his return, the prosecution said Agya Koo checked his account, only to realise that no money had been paid into the account, and all efforts to get the secretary to explain proved futile.

At that point, Agya Koo went to the shop to take stock, after which he realised that almost all the goods in the shop had been sold.

He called his suppliers, who confirmed having delivered goods ranging from GHC2,800 to GHC4,000 but had received no returns. His personal investigations revealed that the lady had opened four separate accounts in her name and diverted money into them.

He made a report to the police, who arrested her and after investigation was put before the court.

D2 APOLOGIZES TO DJ ARMANI

Hiplife group ‘Dynamic Duo’ popularly known as ‘D’2 Monday apologized to DJ Armani on Hitz Fm Showbiz Review.

The ‘Fever” hit by the group which has been nominated in the best group category in this year`s Ghana music awards alongside R2Bees, 4X4 and Ruff & Smooth was criticized by Dj Armani saying that they did not deserve to be nominated for this year’s VGMAs but they were only added to the best group category just to increase the number of artistes in the category during the diaries of this year`s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards hosted by Amanda on GhOne.

D2  were alleged to have insulted Dj Armani right after watching the diaries. The group also made it clear that the message was sent to him personally on his phone and also had a response from Armani saying that they are silly to send such messages to him and asking  if they have forgotten that he (Armani) made them perform at the December to Remember show.

 

Genesis admitted that he was offended on hearing such comments from the DJ and therefore called him many times without any responses which led to such reactions by sending distasteful message to his phone.

 

He apologized to Armani saying “I’m sorry if the message sounded as an insult to you but we only reacted upon hearing such comments."

 

During the squabble on Hitz FM, Armani also stated that he doesn’t remember using the name ‘surplus’ but only stated that D2 has a very good song but are not ready yet for nominations and  then went ahead to apologize to the group saying that he was sorry if he also said anything to upset them.

‘HOW A STRANGE WOMAN HIJACKED MY HUSBAND’ – POPULAR NOLLYWOOD ACTRESS, REVEALS!

Veteran Actress, Rachael Oniga who has been trying to keep her marriage from the media has finally opened up.

In a chat with The Entertainer, Rachael whose dream as a kid was to be a singer and dancer said, “I started acting in 1993 after I got separated from my husband; he’s late now. I was a full time housewife. I believed so much in myself, and when I got over the shock of the separation and all that, I made up my mind that I was going to make a statement without a man. I wanted to prove that a hard working woman could make an impact and with God’s grace, I have come a long way.

On how she was able to handle the separation, she said “The truth is that when you are focused and you know where you are going to, you are likely to succeed. I made up my mind then that I wasn’t going to remarry. I was determined to make it and make all men including my late husband know that with God by her side, a woman can make it in life without a man’s support.”

Admitting how hurt she was after her husband left, she said, “Yes. During our years of courtship and marriage, I never suspected that we would just break up like that or anything could ever come between us. Back then, he told me everything. I could tell you where he was at every moment; I trusted him so much.

Speaking on when she met her husband’s mistress, she said, “It was later, much later and when I did I was like ‘did he leave me because of this thing?’ I don’t know how to put it but men don’t really appreciate what they have until they lose it.

Advising women in similar situations, she said, “Just believe in yourself and with hard work, you will get there. God is always faithful. I killed my emotions and I said to myself ‘Rachael, your kids must go to the best schools.’ It was just work and my children.

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.