Veteran Hiplife artiste Tinny has argued that radio presenters and DJs should not take money, commonly known as “payola”, from upcoming artistes before playing their songs.
In an interview with Nana Romeo, Tinny looked back on how the music industry has changed since he was coming up. He noted that there are far more artistes in the system now because everyone wants to showcase their God-given talent.
He also admitted that while some of the songs these days are not as strong as before, the problem is often the practice of payola.
“Some of the songs are not even good, but some radio presenters are disposable and promote ‘payola’ music. Once the money comes, you play it, and that motivates them. They know that even if the music is gutter, as long as they have money and give it to you, it will be played,” Tinny said.
When asked if he had ever paid for airplay, Tinny dismissed the idea. He recalled one incident at Circle, when his management gave his CD to a presenter he believes worked at Peace FM. He said the presenter asked for money, and he took his CD back from the presenter.
“I have never paid payola before. The only thing I remember is one time at Peace FM when a presenter was given my CD and asked me for money. I took my CD back from him,” he noted.
Tinny mentioned that the whole concept of taking money from upcoming artistes before playing their music doesn’t make sense to him.
“I see something wrong with payola. I don’t think presenters should be taking money from upcoming musicians. Those of us who are established should be the ones paying because we have something in our pockets. An upcoming artiste has nothing, yet as a presenter you still want to take money from them. Meanwhile, you don’t know Jay-Z personally, but you play his songs without even his consent,” he added.
