Reggae Mix Online
The Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS), a collecting society and licensing agency which represents record companies in Jamaica, says the dominance of foreign music is costing Jamaica millions in royalty payments at the expense of national development. It wants radio on the island to play a 50/50 mix of local to international content.
JAMMS general manager Evon Mullings told the Jamaica Observer, about 70 percent of royalties are outbound. Mullings said those are sizeable amounts and need to be curtailed.
Mullings is actively lobbying in an attempt to influence some form of cultural industry policy to generate measures which aim to minimize the loss of foreign exchange while maximizing earnings from the industry.
One such initiative he suggested could be more local-content airplay which would be a win-win for all due to the growing demand for local-content programming.
Reggae Mix Online
“If I don’t get picked this time, there will be other times. This is good for Cliff, good for Jamaican music and good for my country.”
Jimmy Cliff told the Jamaican Gleaner upon learning of his nomination to the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He expressed gratitude for the inclusion amongst other nominees and said the nomination was a nod whether or not he gets selected.
Reggae Mix Online
Reggae Legend Jimmy Cliff, one of twelve class of 2010 nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was announced on Wednesday. Only five of the twelve nominees will be chosen for induction.
The announcement will be made in January, with the ceremony taking place on March 15 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.
Artists become eligible 25 years after their first single was released. Inductees are selected after a vote by over 500 musicians and music professionals.
The late Bob Marley was Inducted in 1994.
jamaicaobserver.com
Talented reggae songstress Etana is now booked exclusively by Headline Entertainment and managed by Irish and Chin. The move is part of the entertainer’s drive to reposition her career and comes after months of speculation about changes in her management structure. According to managing director of Headline Entertainment, Jerome Hamilton, he is pleased with the association. Read more…
Teddy Laidley
jamaicaobserver.com
Inside the Muzik Biz
“Bills a piece, bills fifty for two.”
This is a catchy phrase, often used by the pirates who sell burned CDs; Quite an attractive deal, I must admit, as opposed to an original mixed CD or album priced at $1,800. This, however, is illegal and is called piracy. Read more…
Mel Cooke
jamaicagleaner.com
Whether a rolling stone gathers moss or not in a tropical country is a matter for observation and debate. What is beyond doubt, though, is that British band, The Rolling Stones, primarily through their guitarist Keith Richards’ affinity for Jamaica, has picked up many a reggae wisp to go with their rock.
And one of them was Half Pint’s first number-one song in Jamaica, 1983’s Winsome. When the Stones covered the song three years later for their Dirty Works album, they changed the title to Too Rude. Interestingly, it is one of the few Rolling Stones recordings on which Richards sings the lead vocals. Read more…
Mel Cooke
jamaicagleaner.com
It just would not have sounded the same if Half Pint had sung about ‘Sonia’ instead of Winsome, but he nearly did. And, very likely, he would not have made it to the top of the charts in 1983.
Lindon ‘Half Pint’ Roberts had had the topic of the rude girls, who “every man a street you say you waan fe use” as he eventually sang, for sometime. “It was in my mind from 12, 13, 14 years old,” he told The Sunday Gleaner. “When I was coming up to 19, 20, 21 I record it at Channel One.”
He had been singing the chorus (“girl you too bad, girl you too rude”) at dancehall sessions for sometime and put in the additional lyrics at a producer’s suggestion. Read more…
Dancehall Deejays Called Upon To Wave The White Flag
Reggae Mix Online
You know s**t’s changing when prominent Jamaican entertainment bigwigs start recommending a truce between dancehall artists and gay rights groups. This would be unheard of back in the days.
According to an article in the jamaicagleaner.com, music industry veteran Clyde Mckenzie says that after nearly 20 years of protests by gay rights groups against dancehall acts in the United States of America and Europe, the time may be right for dancehall’s elite to negotiate a truce.
Mckenzie cites, for example, the current gay rights groups protests against Buju Banton in the U.S.A.
He further stated, “If the lobbies maintain momentum, it has the potential to do a lot of harm. Dancehall may be in danger of going back to the days of ethnic charts and Jamaican clubs.”
Yow! Reggae Mix Online says, this thing is definitely flaring up like wild fire and it appears our dancehall artists are in for a long fight.