Do Reggae Artists & DJ's Still Respect Each Other?
Do Reggae Artists and DJs/Selectors Still Respect Each Other?
Within the Reggae industry there are many different roles to learn and master. Already being a qualified audio engineer, and having spent 11 years mixing records in clubs, in 2006 I decided that the next area of the industry I wanted to explore was radio, working as a DJ/selector and presenter.
The role of a selector is often underestimated. A good selector needs an extensive knowledge of music, knowing hundreds or even thousands of records, the artists behind them and where to find them when needed. It is not simply about playing one tune after another. Reading the audience, choosing the right record at the right moment and creating a natural progression through the music are all part of the skill.
Mixing smoothly between records is another part of that craft. These skills can take years to develop, and when somebody does the job properly it can look effortless. When it is done badly, however, everybody notices.
During the first three years of producing and broadcasting my radio shows, artists would regularly approach me with new music accompanied by jingles and sometimes dubplates. There was a mutual understanding behind it. I was giving the artist free promotion through the radio show, while the artist supplied something exclusive that helped me promote both their music and my programme.
It was one hand washing the other.
After around 2009 things started to change. Illegal MP3 downloading had grown massively, alongside an explosion of online radio stations and DJs. Some were professional and passionate about the music, but plenty were poorly presented and, in some cases, distributing artists’ music through free download links without permission.
The way I see it, DJs and selectors who create unauthorised free download links are disrespecting the artists. They are giving away somebody else's work, sometimes simply to generate a small amount of income from clicks, while the artist who created that music sees none of it.
That is not promotion.
At the same time, the sheer number of online stations, DJs and selectors makes it almost impossible for an artist to supply everybody with jingles and dubplates in the way they once could. I understand that side of the situation completely.
What concerns me more is when artists who were once upcoming reach a certain level in their careers and appear to forget some of the DJs and selectors who supported them on the journey there.
There are selectors who have spent years playing an artist’s records, introducing their music to new listeners, promoting their name, encouraging sales and supporting their releases without illegally giving their work away. That contribution should not simply disappear from memory once an artist becomes more established.
Which brings me to the question: do artists really need DJs and selectors anymore?
For me, the answer is simple: yes.
Just as DJs and selectors need artists to create the music, artists need people who genuinely support, play and promote that music. Everyone has a part to play in spreading Reggae.
Unfortunately, there still seems to be too much division within the industry. Instead of artists, producers, labels, DJs, selectors, promoters and radio stations working together, too often it becomes everyone for themselves.
No man is an island.
Progress comes through building a strong team of people who respect each other’s contribution and want to see everybody involved move forward rather than leaving people behind once they are no longer considered useful.
Respect also has to work both ways. Artists should remember the DJs and selectors who genuinely support their music, while DJs and selectors have a responsibility to respect the artist’s ownership of that music and not distribute it without permission.
Neither side should automatically expect something for nothing.
So I will finish with the same question I started with:
Do Reggae artists and DJs/selectors still respect each other?
by Gav Pauze for Pauzeradio