During a recent conversation with his fans on Instagram, dancehall artiste Kraff launched a broadside against music industry figures he believes are not supporting genuine talent. He highlighted the practice of music producers allegedly charging non-established acts to record songs for them.

“When di young artiste dem a rise, unnu nuh seet from it reach from way dung a one place enuh. Unnu nuh see when dem a go all a studio and some big artiste deh deh, and dem all reach before the big artiste and dem haffi wait until the big artiste dem voice before dem can voice. Unnu nuh see di pain weh di young artiste dem haffi go thru, before dem reach a point weh dem can si suppen,” said an angry Kraff.

He continued: “Unnu nuh si when all the young artiste dem haffi pay fi vice pon a rhythm. You know how much young artiste dem have out deh weh dem a tek fi idiat, weh dem a tell dem say, ‘yuh haffi pay all $100,000, $50,000 fi voice pon a rhythm.’ And a dem haffi shoot dem own video.”

Kraff, who is from St Ann, is known for songs like Lucid (2.3 million views on YouTube), Rum Behaviour (1.2 million views and currently #4 on YouTube Trending chart), Budu Chop, Calm C, Sinna, and Dinero.

His comments sparked a conversation as it relates to the charging of artistes to voice on rhythms.

Augustus “Gussie” Clarke, a veteran music producer with over 50 years of releasing hit songs by The Mighty Diamonds, JC Lodge and Shabba Ranks, Lady G and Gregory Isaacs, says the charging of artistes to record on projects is not an accepted music industry practice.

“This would not be the norm and actually would be going against the grain of the industry practice. The only reason I can rationalise is that the artiste sees a potential career opportunity and wants to be involved in a project and/or on a rhythm that the producer did not originally have an interest for that artist to. This strategy sometimes works especially if the project/rhythm becomes successful or popular later on. Please note that there can be infringement implications if the producer is not the copyright owner of the rhythm,” he reasoned.

Clarke added: “It [the practice] is another way to try to ‘buss’ yourself and/or your artiste; however, when money and not talent is going to be the primary and deciding factor then it will have a mixed outcome, because only those who can afford it will get that specific opportunity or exposure.”

Asked whether producers charging aspiring acts to record can be curtailed, he said: “Respectfully, we operate in a free market and us, Jamaicans, always try to find innovative ways to try to succeed. When established artistes try to buss new artistes by calling them impromptu on stage, it works sometimes, and they get ratings and bragging rights later on.”

Clarke siad the music business has many ways of operating and artistes and their management find the best way to boost careers.

“Artistes who are in the position to, are and have been taking a safer and more guaranteed earning route for decades now. Although you hear about the great streaming numbers and social media views, sales income are not what it used to be and/or is expected to. Other than performances and dubplates, the industry standard was/is… [that] artistes earn royalties from sales, but that is no longer the safest route, especially when you are an established and successful in demand artiste,” he stated.

Music consultant, founding general manager of Irie FM, and former music executive at Shocking Vibes Productions Clyde McKenzie addressed the matter:

“There are a number of business models which are represented in various sectors of the music industry. There are no hard and fast rules which govern transactions. It is often a question of what people will pay for, which is based on the balance of power in each transaction. I believe that an artiste who has power will set the tone and the same applies to producers. People will do what they can to get away with, and both practices are not new in the business,” said McKenzie.

Well-known publicist, artiste manager, and producer Ralston Barrett said producers charging up-and-coming acts may be seen by some as a revenue stream at a time when record sales are in decline.

“I think the producers see this as another way to earn money, especially in these times when record sales for reggae and dancehall are not what they used to be. Some might say it unfair for producers to charge artistes to record on their rhythms, especially in case where the artiste is up-and-coming; however, that’s just one side of the coin, because artistes charge producers all the time too,” said Barrett.

For his part, he added: “I’ve always been very accommodating to new artistes from the very early stages of my career. If I had done otherwise I would have had no career at all, either as a producer, artiste manager or publicist. Everything that I have accomplished in music is a result of my willingness to work with new artistes.”