There is no doubt that music has come a long way in this part of the world. From the days of irrelevancy to world acclaim, a gallant, triumphant journey, witnessed and propelled by not a few; artistes, media and consumers alike have played major roles in its growth.

We have now come to a stage where we can boastfully hold our own, claim to be fore runner of African entertainment as a whole. International bodies and companies now look to us to enlarge their brands, a dignifying move that would require some sort of ‘sacrifice’ to be achieved in the past.

But how well have we taken advantage of the growth and improved in terms of musical content and creativity, we’ll say not very much.

Despite these commendable strides made, what is disheartening is the daily and constant promotion of mediocre music materials being recorded and released by our favorite artistes even, which are in turn ceremoniously praised and hyped as solid body of work by our media representatives.

Besides the artistes who try to feed us with irresponsible, carefree, and mediocre quality of music daily, the blame lie almost squarely at the feet of our media personalities, through whose choices appalling musical releases are being fed to the public.

This unrepentant act begs the question, do the sort of music we hear on a daily basis on our radio waves and TV broadcasts a true reflection of the taste of music by the respective On Air Personalities (OAPs) and presenters alike?

It is indeed a million dollar naira question, as some claim what they play are mainly and mostly determined/dictated by the listening consumers, or their respective media executives/bosses even. We don’t know how that works, but it is without a doubt that an OAP can choose to project quality songs through his/her shows and be ruthlessly known for that.

If a corporate body which runs a radio/TV business has the power to put limitations on its workers as to the sort of content that is being disseminated on its station, why isn’t it totally against some certain type of releases?

Tuning in to the various radio/TV stations in the country, songs filled with unrepentant profanity, vulgarity and mediocrity are constantly a daily routine by OAPs anchoring their respective shows.

We dare to say our OAPs and presenters alike have uninspiring, terrible choices or taste of music, if what they play are strictly what can be found on their personal phones/i-pad playlists.

Then they go on by shamelessly giving props to a new release irrespective of the quality or content, with bold statements including the use of revered words like “classic, best, jam, hit, favorite” e.t.c

This can only point to the fact that a so-called big artiste has friends all around the media, those who wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of the said artiste by being overly/constructively critical of his musical output. Whereas, an artiste who makes good music rarely sees/hears his song played if there’s no reasonable amount of closeness or friendship exhibited between him and an OAP, except money is involved.

It is ridiculously absurd the amount of times Vic O has actually been granted airplay and interviews since his comedic record diss towards Drake and Meek Mill, whereas budding, talented artistes like Adol, Godwyn, GT The Guitarman, or any other prospective talent barely get a look in. This validates the notion that OAPs mainly follow trends rather than break or challenge it, as they attempt to milk the Vic O situation by mainly teasing and baiting him.

It’s a pathetic and grueling situation where a prospective artiste with enormous talent and substantial studio recordings has to pay through his/her nose to get his/her song played by the media houses. Which in turn discourages the maker of good music and encourages him/her to go by the infamous rule of ‘if you can’t beat them, you join them’, prompting shabby subsequent releases.

More disturbing is having to hear a so-called OAP talking and ranting about the need for moral values on his/her show but doesn’t replicate that by the quality and content of what he/she dishes on his/her playlist.

OAPs who harp on about moral uprightness, social awareness and social responsibility, but don’t replicate that in what they project to the public, are hypocrites, and a disgrace, ones that can’t/shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Watching one of the ongoing MTN Project Fame season 8 episodes, an alumni of the prestigious talent show actually told the contestants that all it takes for them to blossom and succeed in the Nigerian music industry is to simply make ‘ONE’ hit song and whatever follow-ups they make, irrespective of the content or quality, would be lapped up by the consumers.

This is a pathetic notion, but sadly true, going by the appalling format being adopted and embraced by a sizable percentage of our favorite musicians.

Just so our OAPs know, you can actually have a request show that is still strictly bordered by rules regarding the listeners’ request for songs, making them choose only musically/lyrically in-depth releases….and the listeners would enjoy and get satisfied no less.

People have shown to grow to love what they constantly hear or see. You’d be shocked to see that when there is persistence with only exceptional or remarkable materials on the airwaves, the listeners in no time get accustomed to these kinds of releases and subsequently show irritability or rejection towards watery music.

Dear OAPs please grow some balls and take a stand for something positive and of impact. Believe us, when a certain level of irritability and rejection are shown towards certain mediocre records, it only brings about ONE result,…..the artistes SIT UP!

We need to stop hiding behind “it is what sells” and take the dire situation by the scruff of the neck to be able to effect some type of positive changes.

The more consistent, relentless and creative approach or manner by which you project this positivity and musical excellence, the gradual it grows and sticks on your listeners.

Be the Change, Be the Voice, Break the Norm…….It can be achieved!

http://nexthop.com.ng/dear-oaps-your-music-tastes-are-terrible-and-pathetic/

dear op, if u dont like the musics been played on our local radio, u can get sattelite radio or kindly enter lagoon

If d music no sweet u...change station

Study the music industry and you'll realize the OAP's "taste" rarely comes into play. It's all about the 'pay'.