First of all, I would like to say that I cannot express how glad I am that MTN has come to stay. I personally liked the way the marketing aspect of areeba to MTN was handled in Ghana. The exposure and branding has been very effective. I could almost feel the other networks pause to see what MTN was doing or about to do. It is high time that Ghanaians had a network we could count on not to disappoint us. News has it that MTN is the best and fastest growing network in all Africa. I thought they were trying to raise a standard when I was proved wrong quite recently.

MTN held a ‘Live Shaggy Concert at the Ghana Trade Fair Site’ at La, Accra on Saturday 11^th August, 2007, which happens to be Shaggy’s second visit to Ghana, as a performer. Remembering how much fun I had the first time he came to perform in Ghana, I decided not to miss this second chance. Just as I drove closer to find a parking spot to be able to be a part of the show, I panicked when I saw many people leaving the concert grounds in groups to go party and drink at nearby Spots. Thinking I was late or there was a major fault, I asked a few of them why they were leaving. It’s strange how they kept repeating the same things; "We don’t feel the music", "I am not really enjoying myself", or "I can’t hear the music well". It was obvious they were not having that much fun. I joined the audience to find out the truth for myself. They were right. The soul of the music was missing. Then it hit me that Ghanaians don’t only know and love their music, they have a sense of good quality music. To prove my point, Shaggy made two statements to his audience whiles he was on stage performing. He said, "Don’t mind the microphone" a few minutes passed and he said, "Don’t mind the equipment…Ghana lets have some fun". Shaggy’s backing vocalists were going off key because they couldn’t hear themselves on stage. He kept on walking up to his instrumentalists to motivate them to ginger up the crowd, but to no avail. They needed encouragement themselves. I am so sure Shaggy would never forget such humiliation. His fans had given up. They couldn’t hear him to be able to sing along with him like he asked them to. I remember he said to the crowd that they should sing with him or else he would sing his last song and leave the stage. That’s exactly what happened. He sung his last and left because his audience would not respond. For Ghanaians to have turned down a free show for dancing and drinks at Drinking Spots just a few blocks away from a Live Shaggy concert is a first, especially when in the past, both Shaggy and his audience were spoilt by Black City Studio’s P.A system. It was held at the Accra Sports Stadium. It was the first time Shaggy had a concert in Ghana. Everyone including Shaggy was blown away by such spectacular sound quality. Security was tight. People were jumping walls just to get in and be a part,… and to think that, that concert was not for free-Now there’s a major distinction. I honestly thought it was going to be Black City Studio handling the concert again, but I have been told another Sound company handled it this time.

Ghanaians know their music and thrive on the emotional connection of songs through good quality sound. This should be a lesson to every major company out there that wants to make a difference. Everyone is now going to remember this concert as a flop with MTN in mind.

                                                   
                                                                                   Emi Monney. 
                                                                               emimonney@yahoo.com