Veteran sound engineer, Appiah Dankwa widely known as Appietus has said veteran Highlife musician, Daddy Lumba paid bribe before he could record in his studio.
According to Appietus, his studio used to be choked and the only way one could get in there quickly was to hand out cash to the guys manning the place.
He explained that Daddy Lumba was once forced to pay ‘bribe’ to the young men who were helping him out in the studio to ensure that he jumped the queue at the studio.
The one time Vodafone Icons judge in a conversation with MzGee on ‘The Gist’ said he has made enough money from his craft.
“The line here was heavy. You had to pay bribe, even the guys I was working with made money. Some people became middlemen and promised artiste the chance to meet me,” he said.
He further explained that, “There was a time Daddy Lumba came here and there was a long queue outside and he got angry and started talking. He managed to enter the studio and found some guys here. He then gave them money and told them to go home, he did his job and went away”
He however expressed worry over how the influx of sound engineers in Ghana has denied the new crop of producers to earn enough.
“I’m not worried I’m out of business. I’m worried about the new crop of engineers because I don’t see people queuing at studios because there are options. There are so many them. I’m sure about 2000 music producers and sound engineers.
“They’ve become so much and there’s competition. Most of them have just 2 or 3 hit songs. I have over 200 hit songs so I’m worried for them if they are making money”.
He added that artistes these days barely pay sound engineers because they are usually offered free beats by engineers who are desperate to penetrate the industry.
Appietus has worked with several top artistes including Daddy Lumba, Samini, Sarkodie, Obrafuor, Okyeame Kwame,among others.
