Ghanaian award-winning artist and dancer, Mr. Drew has lamented on fans and music enthusiasts downloading songs for free instead of streaming.

Speaking in an interview, Mr. Drew averred that most artists spend huge sums of money to produce a song. Therefore, it’s hurtful to see people download the song for free. He further mentioned that this agenda needs to be looked into since it’s one major source of income for every artist.

“It feels very painful when you pay for production and recording of music and somebody just downloads it for free. This is something Ghanaians are used to but it’s not supposed to be like that. Hopefully, they change and stream the music. I think it’s an agenda we need to push so that we move. One thing about the downloaded songs is that it’s compressed and so you don’t get the quality sound. But they don’t know. So, they listen and tell you that you don’t invest in your music”.

Mr drew who just released his latest song ‘Mood’ said that the song was made in a way to psych his fans for the release of his album. He also mentioned the fact that the music has been making strides as it has been trending since its release. He further admonished his fans to stream his music on all music apps.

Mr Drew aims at winning at the VGMA

It is worth mentioning that, Mr. Drew has been nominated for six different categories for the upcoming Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. He disclosed that his eyes are set on winning the ‘New artiste of the year’ category.

“There are six nominations but one that I am ‘eyeing’ is the VGMA ‘New artist of the year’. Since last year I’ve held it down. I am going up against about ten people but, I think it’s not up for debate when I say i’ll win it”.

The imapct of COVID on Mr Drew’s music

Speaking about the impact of COVID, the artist noted that he wasn’t only negatively impacted but it also in a way helped him positively. He disclosed that even though the COVID slowed down his momentum, he was still able to make it to the top.

“It has not been easy because last year we had one of the biggest songs in Ghana ‘Jw33’… we couldn’t perform the songs as much as we wanted to. We had to go on tour outside Ghana and play for some shows. However, it was all canceled thanks to COVID. It was messed up knowing that you have one of the biggest songs and you can’t go and perform it”.

He further noted that his management had to switch up their strategy in promoting his songs.

“We switched and paid more attention to streaming online. We can’t only depend on performances to earn money. With the help of my team, we initiated the ‘dance challenges’ and at least we got people to feel the vibe we are trying to put across. I think I actually started this whole dance challenge in Ghana and other artists are learning from it especially on TikTok”.

Mr. Drew advises Ghanaians to beware of the laws

Speaking about ‘Akuapem Poloo‘s’ imprisonment, the artist said he felt sad about the situation. Mr. Drew also mentioned the fact that he has learned several lessons from Akuapem Poloo’s case

“I know that she said she is a strong girl but it’s not easy. Hopefully she comes out stronger… I am just in support of anything that has to do with Akuapem Poloo. I just have her back. I’ve just learned that the laws in Ghana work and in anything that you do, you just need to be careful”

Also, he admonished Ghanaians to be well aware of whatever action they decided to take since it can lead them to trouble if care is not taken.