The Fall Of WMA: Why Western Music Awards Losing Its Credibility: The purpose of music awards is to evaluate the industry and honor the efforts of other key stakeholders in addition to diligent musicians, record labels, and producers.
The Western Music Awards (WMA), the counterpart of the 3Music Awards and the VGMAs in the nation, are given to friends and cronies who don’t deserve them. On the other hand, it appears that the WMA, which normally should be a source of pride, is being brazenly given to them.
The WMA in 2023 was an especially overtly deceptive and soul-sucking occasion. The seven-year-old music awards, which are organized by Westline Entertainment, had the potential to be a positive step. Rather, it proved to be the most dismal awards event in recent memory.
The results I received last year greatly surprised me, especially the Gospel Song of the Year award that went to Corbena Saah’s song “NYAMINLI NDWOMI” and the Gospel Artist of the Year award that went to KDM.
A category that featured W’ayeyie by Georgia & Georgette, It Is God by Morris Makafui, Life by Vincent Nyarko, and Emelia Baidoo’s Mehwefo Song
I made the decision to find out from other sources how Corbena Saah’s music, which was unheard by most people in the area, managed to unseat artists who genuinely deserved the honor. I was given the same old tale: the board gave him a resounding vote of 60% in favor and 40% for the public.
The song had to have received a lot of support and created the most buzz during the year in order to qualify as the best gospel song, according to Westline Entertainment’s definition.
Unfortunately, the board and the Academy’s narrow-minded scrutiny did not even save this music. Remarkably, the board and the Academy, which received 60% of the vote, did not even agree, and they missed the mark so badly that they were unable to honor a work of art that is both genuinely transcendental and incredibly well-liked. How can you give a song that is just well-known in a few areas of the region the upper hand over a song that is widely known? Since votes may be purchased, I am not too anxious about the outcome of the general election. Even if the candidate is undeserving of the honor, anyone can purchase a large number of credits and influence a large number of voters to support them. For this reason, the WMA consistently makes mistakes.
Why the WMA gets it wrong all the time
The WMA certainly gets a lot of things wrong for a company that purports to honor creative “excellence” in the music business. Over the years, Westline Entertainment has made changes to the way it arranges and grants rewards in an attempt to enhance the outcomes, but the same grievances continue to surface.
I think allegations of award-rigging against Westline Entertainment are not new. The WMA is beginning to lose credibility as a result of the board and the Academy, who were appointed to clean up the system, consistently failing to deliver the desired results.
Technicalities have been subordinated to human interest by the board and the Academy, which are composed of professionals from the industry. Virtually all of the board members and Academy members are experienced DJs, radio hosts, musicians, engineers, producers, artiste managers, executives, etc. Several members of the Academy’s board and membership will cast their votes for musicians with whom they have a business relationship rather than on technicalities.
The majority of the board members and Academy members only allow themselves to be in Takoradi, which is one of the main issues with the WMA.
That’s why they make mistakes occasionally. Irrespective of the caliber of their work, uneducated Academy members have a tendency to cast more votes for well-known musicians. For instance, KDM would not have been the recipient of the Gospel Artist of the Year award if the board and the Academy had completed their assignments correctly.
To sum up, it’s not like the WMA has never given recognition to musicians who deserve it. However, I think more work needs to be done to dispel any worries.
Maxwell Owusu (Naacy Alltunezgh) wrote the story.