The main ceremony will be preceded by the presentation of awards for industry categories at a special ceremony at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, on April 10. The announcement was made at the launch ceremony held at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Saturday evening. Meanwhile, the much anticipated release of nominations for the 2012 Ghana Music Awards will be announced on February 28 at a short ceremony which would be televised live on GH One Entertainment Television. Public voting will begin on all platforms, including SMS text and internet voting will begin from March 1.

Also revealed during the launch, was the prize package for this year’s awards which includes 2,000 GhC for each winner, and 10,000 GhC for the Artist of the Year. The winner of the World Bank sponsored Music for Development category also wins a cash prize of 5,000 GhC. This year’s music awards festival will include nominees’ party in Takoradi on March 10 and Kumasi on March 24, as well as club parties in selected regions. It would be climaxed with the final nominees’ party in Accra on March 31.

Vodafone, the new title sponsors of the Ghana Music Awards, also gave details of the VGMA Foundation, a new addition that the telecommunications giant brought on board with the aim of boosting the industry by giving local artistes the support needed to build their career and profiles both locally and internationally. The VGMA Foundation will be launched after the main awards night of the festival.

Uche Ofodile, Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone Ghana commented: “We recognize that Ghanaian artistes need support beyond the recognition they receive with the Music Awards. The idea of the Foundation is to give them the opportunity to build on their success at the awards by giving them knowledge and business acumen to deliver more ambitious productions and build larger audiences. By associating the Foundation with a prestigious award festival such as the VGMAs, we hope to give Ghanaian music and entertainment industry a boost in Africa and the rest of the world.”

Source: AmeyawDebrah.Com