To pay or not to pay for airplay… ‘tis the question…

Fri Jul 11, 2014

Editor: The issue of payola has reared its ugly head again this year as it relates to Vincentian artistes getting their songs rotated on the more popular radio stations in the run-up to the climax of Carnival. Popularity here is within the context of the Carnival demographic, which in majority is said to be the 15 – 35 age group. This demographic traditionally rests mostly with the two radio stations that programme mainly towards this target group. There have also been complaints of low rotation in Carnival venues and even on the road.{{more}}

Payola is said mainly to involve direct payments to DJs. Other influence initiatives may include financial arrangements with stations (advertising and programming purchases). The issue of payola is not new. Becket complained about it on his 1994 Dance Power album in the song “Buy” (see http://images.casteksystems.com/abc/media/ABC-DP-00120_4.wma). Then, winning the Road March was the jewel in the crown of a Soca artiste and the title ensured lucrative post-Carnival gigs in the diaspora. Becket was battling the influence of competing interests who built relationships with brass bands, DJs, sound systems, netball and cricket teams, pan sides, Monday T-shirt bands, promoters, and even the sole radio station of the day. All this aggressive marketing put overseas artistes like Becket at a disadvantage and culminated invariably with mass support for songs and eventually Road March titles.

While evidence of payola may be hard to come by, one cannot help but notice the disproportionate attention given to one popular artiste on a particular radio station. Throughout the season, the rotation of music seemed to favour that artiste so much so, that his songs were played once every four songs; that relates to about four spins every hour; sixty-four spins per day; or just under four hundred and fifty spins per week. No other artiste enjoyed such a large volume of airplay on that station besides, perhaps, Machel Montano.

Today, artistes see such rotation on at least two radio stations and in the clubs as the fast track to popularity and possible titles. Titles like Soca Monarch could mean a year of touring and can catapult an artiste from three local gigs at EC$600 apiece and an appearance fee of EC$2,000 to at least 10 gigs at US$3,000 apiece in Trinidad, New York, Miami, Toronto, and London as well as the EC$25,000 first prize. The stakes are high, but where does this phenomenon leave the people? Are Vincentians to be force-fed a diet of music that does not necessarily speak holistically to the best of what the industry has to offer? Are we in danger of stifling innovation, creativity, and the very essence of what makes Vincy Soca music stand out among that of the rest of the Caribbean?

These questions seem to be grounded in the recent complaints by artistes and Carnival lovers that too much non-Vincy Soca is being played throughout the festival. Some say that in order to play only the songs of a select few Vincentian artistes, DJs are forced to augment their sets with Soca mainly from Trinidad and Barbados. This may explain how one Vincy DJ in a Vincy festival could mix his music as a 30 per cent-70 per cent spread of Vincy to Caribbean music, with 95 per cent of the 30 per cent being that of one Vincy artiste. One seasoned DJ is also of the view that the younger DJs suffer from the fast food culture of today and are too intellectually lazy to research music and build hits. They instead opt to borrow established hits from outside of SVG to please their audiences. Couple that approach with their association with radio programming that focuses mostly on foreign music and you can understand why one DJ played Dancehall and Hip Hop in one Carnival event over the weekend.

It cannot be that the technical quality of the Vincy music is below par, since songs from one producer for one artiste get heavy rotation, while songs produced for other artistes get no rotation at all. It cannot be that Vincy Soca is not as sweet as anyone else’s. Indeed, it is the unique flavour of Vincy Soca and the quality and creativity of the Mas that bring people here to experience Carnival. Hence, DJs, artistes and radio stations that may be guilty of the scourge of payola are in danger of killing the festival and eventually their own revenue streams. The cure can only come from the people who hold the reins of power. It is for Vincentians to demand from artistes, DJs, radio stations, and promoters to keep Vincy Mas Vincentian.

Media Analyst