TIPTOPSTARS

Reactions, mostly endorsing a decision to suspend foreign music from the CRTV FM 105 Suelaba airwaves, at least for the first halve of the day, have been streaming in since the announcement was made earlier on Sunday. The Station Manager, Beyhia Leonard Bruce told citizens on social media it was time to start promoting ‘our own’, referring to Cameroonian music.

Overtly stating that we have failed in doing so, the journalist who is well known to have a penchant for his country’s entertainment sector regretted that while other countries have promoted theirs, Cameroonians have killed what belongs to them. “When we travel, we see how bad we kill our own,” he put. It therefore requires the braveness of someone, somewhere, to change the order, the radio manger stated.

In changing the order therefore, Beyhia has said he will be urging other local radio managers to embark on a similar move.

Scores of reactions have supported the decision which certainly is the content of a service note TIPTOPSTARS may eventually be served with. To citizens on social media, it is the right move in the right direction. “I’m totally in agreement with you on this. It makes business sense and promotes local artists…You have made a revolutionary opportunity for local artists and given them reason to work harder. You are a visionary leader…,” one of the reactions held.

According to the decision, the manager of Cameroon’s second commercial radio station (created after FM 94 in Yaounde) said, foreign music will be muted on the airwaves from 5am to 11:59am from now till May 20. “It could be aired from midnight to 4:59am,” Beyhia pointed out. As part of the decision, maiden albums by local artists will be aired for 50 percent promotion cost during this broadcast and will occupy day-play with older artists who will be aired for free.

Giving priority to local music on Cameroonian radio stations has been a very topical issue since the liberalization of the audio-visual sector in April 2000. The law to this effect had clauses that obliged radio and TV stations to provide a bigger portion of music airtime to local productions, but the ironically strong influence of foreigner genres has been a stumbling block to this. Consequently, fewer outfits have respected this and Cameroonians have rather been overdosed with foreign music to the extent that local music has taken an oblivious position in the country’s media.

The quagmire even became unbearable, causing some local artists to openly vent their anger against what they described as an ironical discrimination – favouring foreign music at the expense of their own. Isolated cases of local musicians who stopped their music from being played on some radio stations as a way of protesting were reported.

The latest decision by the Station Manager of FM 105 is seen as a strong reminder that something needs to be done to get Cameroonian productions back on the rails. TIPTOPSTARS will be talking to Cameroonian musicians. Their views on this will be published in our subsequent updates.