'Right now, the good thing is that every artiste is willing to bargain, dubplates is the only stream of immediate income. Taj 'Panta Son' Johnson, one of the major dubplate service providers locally, pointed to a positive, revealing that the COVID-19 crisis has made artistes more willing to negotiate their prices. But even that stream is drying up under the steady glare of a global financial meltdown. But there is no income from these performances, so more and more artistes have to rely on the ever-reliable dub plate special for a steady income stream. Over the last couple of weeks, several artistes have embraced live-streaming performances on their Facebook and Instagram pages. Music is not strictly dollars and cents, many selectors do it out of love, they are using their savings to do dubplates now to keep the wheels going but the number crunchers and accountants want to run in and kill that, right now, every step come in like a hurdle,' Thomas said. 'Many selectors tried to take the music online to do sound clashing and keep the culture alive yet now JACAP wants to step in and regulate and dampen hope. Thomas said he was upset that, in a time of crisis, the 'bean-counters' from Jamaica Association of Composers Authors and Publishers (JACAP) have warned selectors that online parties and events are still required to pay over royalty fees, as they are still utilising the work of others. Dubplates have been cut to half price, all sorts of gigging musicians and dancehall selectors are feeling squeezed, but we have to weather the storm,' producer and industry insider Vivian Thomas told Loop News. They are staring at a situation where they simply don’t have a place to play, and I really feel it for the younger artistes who are just coming up the established artistes at least have savings. 'Artistes and selectors depend on payouts from gigs for the majority of their income so they're wondering what’s next for them.

Many are committed to 'weathering this storm” and have expressed confidence that the local and regional music industries will survive the shutdowns. Only thunderclouds - financial and otherwise - lie on the horizon. The new normal equates into cancelled shows, returned deposits and there are no upcoming gigs in the pipeline, not even Jamaica's annual Reggae Sumfest.įor those in Jamaica, the upcoming summer will be a wasteland of lost income for several reggae artistes who look forward annually to fat cheques as they tour the season's show circuit in Europe. Most artistes and musicians have found that their livelihoods have come to a screaming halt, their high-flying careers grounded as closed borders and spooked populations triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic have reshaped the world.

Dubplate service