Ghana’s celebrated reggae musician, Rocky Dawuni says it is possible for Ghanaian musicians to get lots of radio air time, but that might not necessarily translate into sales.

He therefore called on the country’s TV and radio stations to stop taking money from artistes before they played their music. However, he said “regardless of whether artistes make a living out of their works or not they have to keep it alive.”To promote music in Ghana there are many different dimensions artistes have to deal with, he said.

He said getting radio air time in Ghana is not easy for many artists. He expressed concern about the fact that artistes have to invest so much money into getting air play and “by the time they are done they are so much out of the pocket in terms of money that they have to sell a whole lot to be able to recoup their money and even make some profit.”

Rocky Dawuni said these when he spoke to ghanabusinessnews.com in an interview at the launch of his latest album, “Hymns for the rebel soul” Sunday March 14, 2010. He expressed worry about the fact that there aren’t so many places in Ghana where artistes can play live concerts, all these he said “have contributed to not so pleasant an environment to be able to make a living from music.” He however added that, Ghana’s environment is better than so many other places.

He therefore called on radio and TV stations in the country to support artistes without demanding money from them before they play their music or videos, until they become successful, to create an improved industry. He said “all of us must contribute to make the music industry better. We must do it in transparency with the artistes in mind.”

Rocky Dawuni who is based in the US stands out as one of Ghana’s remarkable reggae musician. He describes the latest album “Hymns for a rebel soul” as his “definitive”. Rocky Dawuni’s contribution to live music in Ghana is well known. Every year, he stages his live music show on Ghana’s Independence Day, March 6, which he calls “The Independence Splash.”