TGMA Board should be regionally balanced —King Maaga

BUDDING musician, King Maaga, is entreating Charterhouse, organisers of Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) to have regional representatives on the award scheme’s board.

The artiste, who is based in the Eastern Region, believes the unbalanced representation of members of the board limits the scheme and as a result ends up celebrating mostly artistes based in Accra.

The TGMA Board is the highest decision-making body of the annual Ghana Music Awards and is instrumental in the selection of nominees for various categories. It is part of the three ‘wings’ of the scheme needed for voting for winners. The other two are the Academy and the general public.

In the past, the Board had been accused by Table of Men (TOM), a gospel advocacy group of being discriminatory against gospel folks since they didn’t have a representation on the board. And that had been affecting the performance of gospel artistes.

It is in the same light that King Maaga believes the non-regional representation of the board has similarly affected the inclusion of deserving artistes from across the regions.

King Maaga, a 2022 TGMA Unsung nominee, said in an interview with Graphic Showbiz that the lack of balanced regional representation had hindered well-established artistes in other regions from being part of the biggest event on the entertainment calendar.

He argued that the likes of Fancy Gadam and King Paluta have had successful stories with TGMA because their songs did well in Accra.

“It’s like until your song is popular in Accra, you can't qualify to be part of Ghana Music Awards. But I tell you the truth, artistes are doing very well in other regions and are more popular in these regions than many artistes who get nominated or win awards. All these credible artistes are going unnoticed because they aren't based in Accra.

“Artistes such as Maccasio and Fancy Gadam are filling stadiums in the North. Let me ask this question, how many of the artistes based in Accra can even fill half of the stadium there yet we celebrate them as the best in the year under review?”, he questioned.

Speaking with Graphic Showbiz on the matter, Robert Klah, Public Relations Officer of Charterhouse confirmed that indeed the board wasn’t regionally represented since it was made up of music authorities.

“The board is not regionally represented because it is made up of experts but the Academy is regionally based. We have representatives from all the regions who are part of the voting process,” he stated.

King Maaga, real name, Felix Quaye, also stressed the need for collaboration between the Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA) and regional awards schemes to uncover equally talented artistes from the various regions.

He shared his personal experience, "I was nominated for the Unsung category in 2022, which gave me the opportunity to perform on prominent stages. However, I believe TGMA can improve unearthing more talents by partnering with regional music awards to identify talented artistes in each region."

He emphasised, "While talent is essential, it's not enough in today's competitive industry without solid platforms like the TGMA".