Breaking into the music industry has never been easy, and Ghanaian musician Trigmatic has shared a glimpse of how he navigated the system in the early days of his career.
In an era when social media and streaming services had not yet taken over, radio airplay was the golden ticket for an upcoming artiste.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z, Trigmatic recounted how he found ways to get his songs played on radio stations across the country.
“Me, I was a hard guy, hard guy in my mind. So whenever we recorded, I was the guy that got my song on radio. At the time, payola wasn’t a thing but it was there. You could give things like fried rice,” he said, recalling the informal exchanges that took place between artistes and radio DJs.
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Although the idea of “payola” – the practice of paying DJs to play music – was not openly discussed, many musicians had to find creative ways to get their music heard.
Trigmatic revealed that even small gestures could go a long way in building relationships with DJs and presenters.
“Oh yeah, just to say ‘thank you’. You know, giving a box of fried rice or chicken and chips was a big deal,” he added.
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