Bootlegs + Payola = Death Of Jamaican Music

Why pay full price when a man down the road will sell you a copy for a few $'s cheaper? This is the problem facing the Jamaican music world. Bootlegging is nothing new to Jamaicans, one of the most bootlegged videos of all time is "Shotters". For those with internet access, all those hot new riddims and artist albums blazing the reggae world are yours for just a few clicks. And in CD quality too - not like it was in the 1980s and 1990s when you could tell that soundclash cassette tape you bought down the market was a 8th-generation copy.

Dancehall artist LA Lewis (???) reckons the solution to the problem is:

"There needs to be a big building in Jamaica that represents the headquarters of Reggae/Dancehall music, from the charts to the Reggae archives."

Or in other words, bootleggers will only fear an organisation that they know has the power to shut them down. Without a united industry, there can be no united solution.

Another good point raised by LA Lewis, in the YardFlex.com article, is how the practice of payola is hurting the industry hard. Payola is the practice of paying a radio station money in order to ensure airplay of a certain artist or record. Most people will know this practice by its other name - bribery.

For the full article click below. Its a good read.

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