Rapper Flowking Stone has called on leaders in the music industry to decentralise the entertainment system.
According to him, up-and-coming acts outside Ghana’s regional capital find it difficult to become successful because everything about entertainment is based mainly in Accra.
“Head offices of labels and media houses, everything entertainment is in Accra including getting sponsorship deals, I’m not complaining but I think it should be addressed,” he told Andy Dosty on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM.
Flowking Stone explained he made it big in the country because at one point he had to live two different lives in Kumasi and in Accra.
“I was in Accra for a long-time doing shows and promoting my music but I had to come to Kumasi and engage my fans, so they don’t feel left out,” he added.
The ‘Go Low’ rapper stated, “there are more acts in Tamale apart from Fancy Gadam however, they are not making it, because of the system.”
He said many of the regions do not have places like the National Theatre, Conference Centre and the Fantasy Dome to accommodate many fans during performances.
“Many venues in Kumasi don’t have the capacity of the National Theatre and the others so sometimes, fans don’t come out to shows especially when it's threatening to rain,” he explained.
The Rapping Drums singer stated many of the acts based outside Accra hardly get their shows covered because many media houses are in Accra.
“When you do a show in Kumasi, the coverage will not be as big as doing a show in Accra. Even though you get some people to cover the event, it becomes second-hand information, because the media are not there to experience it,” he added.
Flowking Stone said some of these challenges make it difficult to get the awards shows organised in other parts of the country.
However, President of the Creative Arts Council, Mark Okraku Mantey, said the artiste should accept the situation as it is because the businessmen identify where they can sell most.
According to Mr Mantey, in the USA the heart of filmmaking is in Hollywood and upcoming acts move to Los Angeles (where Hollywood is based) succeed, similarly, in Ghana, all the things an artist needs to succeed is in Accra, “Okyeame Kwame realised that and moved to Accra.”
“The people are here because this is where they feel they can make it, so the production is always centralised but the distribution and consumption is decentralised,” he stated.
Mr Mantey, added, “there are things in Ghana which are produced in specialised places. For instance, smock production is in northern Ghana and Kente in the Ashanti Region, but the producers make sure the smocks and Kente get to the people in other parts of the country.”
He said one of the important things is for musicians to get their music circulated across the country to help them succeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment