Celebrated Ghanaian highlife musician and President of the Musicians Union Of Ghana (MUSIGA), Bessa Simons, has urged Ghanaian music bands to record and promote their own songs.

The ‘Belembe’ hitmaker, who was a former member of the Osibisa Band revealed that back in the day, it was a common practice for bands to also own records aside doing covers of other people’s songs. 

Speaking in an interview with Kwame Dadzie on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z, Bessa Simons asserted that bands will qualify for major awards schemes such the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAS) if they do well to release and promote their own songs. 

“You know what the VGMA stands for. They look out for recordings, promotions, you putting yourself out there, making sure you are in the digital space, making sure you do things extraordinary that need to be awarded,” he stated.

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The music legend, who doubles as a board member of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAS) further made known that he will soon  propose the idea of creating a category for bands to the board. 

Bessa’s comment comes after Sita Korley, a member of the Lipstick Queens Band suggested that bands be given an exceptional recognition in the VGMAS even if they don’t have their own songs.

“Because they (the bands) don’t have albums, are they saying they are not going to be recognised at all? I would suggest that different criteria be made out for the bands that are performers and not because they are composers and bring out albums,” she said