There has never been a real consensus over the payment of ‘payola’ by musicians. Whilst some consider it a necessary evil, others see it as unethical and unfair.
However, what we don’t often hear is a musician coming out to admit they pay it, much less that even though they pay, their songs doesn’t get the airplay they’re buying.
Up steps Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah. Speaking in a recent interview on Happy Fm, Mzbel says even though she used to pay a lot of payola, a lot of the DJ’s did not play her songs in return, yet would line up every month to get their money.
“The minimum I pay each is GH¢300 but they are still not promoting my songs,” she said.
“Sometimes I have to remind them before they even play it once or twice.”
Mzbel said the refusal to play her songs was so widespread she decided to fire some of the DJ’s.
“They were more than 10 DJs on my payroll but I had to trim them down to a little above 5”, she added.