Veteran gospel artiste Great Ampong has revealed he has had a very tough life since exiting the music scene some seven years ago.
Speaking to Graphic Showbiz, the artiste said, money made all the difference in the music industry and without it, one was not likely to thrive for long.
“The last time I released a song was five years ago and that is because I am not getting a producer who will support me financially. Money is everything in this industry and once you don’t have money to record songs, shoot music videos and do promotions then you can forget about making it as a musician.
There are big shows I expect to be on but no one invites me for such events, all is not well with me. Even with my Coronavirus song I just released, I didn’t have money to pay the sound engineer but he recorded it for me because we go way back,” he said.
According to Great Ampong, he has been able to survive over the last few years solely by the grace of God and the benevolence of others.
“Some individuals believe in what I have and invite me to perform for them because they know what I can do. I am not bragging but I can perform my own songs for hours. I have 16 albums to my credit excluding the many features I have done,” he said.
Lamenting on how badly gospel artistes are treated in the country, hr mentioned how he performed with a secular artiste on the same stage, yet he was never paid, but the other artiste took home a whooping Gh¢50,000.
“We say we are a Christian country but we do not respect Gospel musicians. Most of the big shows are given to the secular artistes; the last time I was invited for a programme with one big Highlife artiste, I was not paid but the secular artiste took GH¢50,000.
“More so, the big men I know could help me either do not pick up my calls or avoid me when I go to their offices,” he disclosed. He, however, praised some individuals who always came to his aid.
“The churches have money and this is the time to show love to the Gospel musicians but I know they will not because they think it is our individual business and do not want to invest in us,” he said.
