GH musicians always richer than producers —Willisbeatz

HE has produced songs for many Ghanaian musicians and one expects sound engineer William Osafo, popularly known as Willisbeatz, to be doing very well financially, considering the number of hit songs he has produced.

But he told Graphic Showbiz that that was not the reality and that musicians in Ghana would always be richer than sound engineers.  
According to him, the money musicians received from performances could not be compared to what sound engineers received as studio fees, adding that it was because the system was flawed.

"Elsewhere, the money music producers receive for producing hit songs is quite huge and they become rich in no time, compared to the little we make here.

“Hardly does a music producer get royalty for his work, but one way or another, some musicians receive royalties, although they claim they are not much,” he said.

Explaining further, Willisbeatz said some musicians were reluctant to pay studio fees, but an event organiser could not bill an artiste for performance without paying him or her.

“Most musicians who are friends of the producer may not want to pay the actual amount. Some even want you to work for free,” he explained.

Moreover, he said, musicians were always getting endorsement deals from corporate entities because of their popularity, but producers were always behind the scenes.

When asked if his work paid, Willisbeatz, who has worked with artistes such as Shatta Wale, Sarkodie, the late Ebony, Sister Afia, among others, said it was okay if you were famous.

“If you get the fame, then people begin to come to you and that can make your charges increase. Don’t expect to get rich overnight, though,” he said.

Willisbeatz has worked on songs such as Sponsor and Maame Hw3 by the late Ebony, Taking Over, Forgetti, Bulletproof, Freedom and Umbrella by Shatta Wale, Sister Afia’s Jeje and Slay Queen, just to mention a few.

Graphic Showbiz also spoke to some other producers including Kaywa who expressed his agreement with Willisbeatz that Ghanaian musicians are richer than music producers.

“That should not be the case because elsewhere, the likes of Dr Dre, Timberland are richer than the musicians because the system works over there.

“The beat is the intellectual property of the sound engineer and he should benefit from his royalties but that is not the situation over here. The musicians rather make huge sums of money when the song blows,” he said.

But sound engineer Appietus does not share in that thought According to him, it is not entirely true that musicians are richer than producers.

“You cannot really tell who is making more money because a very busy producer can earn as much as any A-list artiste in Ghana. For instance, if I have more than 20 artistes I am recording, over a period of time due to how hot I am, imagine the money I will make.

“The musician spends money on promotion and it takes time for an artiste to blow everywhere before he starts mounting the stage and charge huge fees. So, you cannot tell  who is making more money unless the musician or the sound engineer declare their assets,” he added.