Contrary to the rumours making the rounds that it demands money before playing music videos on its channels, leading African cable platform, Trace, has vehemently denied such insinuation.
Launched in 2003, Trace is a multimedia group and brand dedicated to Afro-urban entertainment. With a presence in 160 countries, Trace offers award winning TV channels, radios, mobile services, digital platforms to millennials and multicultural audiences.
Trace boasts of the widest distribution of any music channel in Africa, and is the number one or two-rated channel in close to 50 countries across the continent with a five-channel brand including Trace Naija, Trace Mziki, Trace Urban, Trace Africa, and Trace Toca.
Trace Naija is number one in Nigeria and Ghana with over a million viewers per day. Trace’s channels are the most highly prized platform by artistes and getting a video on Trace is considered to be an endorsement that an artiste has “blown”.
“For years, despite constant communication, there has been speculation by artistes and the music industry at large about what it really takes to get a music video on Trace channels. We understand the demand because artistes know that getting their video on high rotation on Trace could change their life and make them a superstar,” Sam Onyemelukwe, Trace West Africa’s Managing Director, said.
According to him, Trace channels receive over 100 new video submissions a week. Explaining that Trace does not charge for video submission or airplay, Onyemelukwe says rather royalties are paid to artistes and record labels for broadcasting their works.
“Some unscrupulous people have gone so far as to charge unknowing record labels and artistes with a fake guarantee that their videos will air on Trace, we even heard of a guy in Ghana who offers a price list for airplay on Trace and other music channels and shows.” Onyemelukwe states, adding, “We do not sell video spins on the channel and anybody who tells you otherwise is a liar. However, at the same time, we know how much demand is out there, so we offer a promotion package called Zoom that can be purchased and guarantees a short profile and a few clips of an artiste’s music video”.
In order to cast away all doubts and curb sharp practices, Trace has now released publicly video selection guidelines, a document that has been used internally since 2011. Going by the document, artistes can now submit their musical videos directly on www.trace.tv.