QUITO, Ecuador — When you spin the radio dial in this high-altitude city you could be almost anywhere. The airwaves are crowded with the likes of Beyonce, Shakira and Pitbull, just like you were cruising a highway in Miami or Manhattan — rather than tooling through the snow-capped Andes.
But Ecuador’s airwaves are about to undergo a domestic invasion. Thanks to a recently passed communications law, half of all music played on the radio will have to be homegrown.
The move has station managers scrambling for local talent, musicians tuning up their guitars and long-languishing record companies dusting off their equipment.
The government hopes the law can turn this nation of 15 million — perhaps best known for the Galapagos Islands and as the first asylum choice of NSA-leaker Edward Snowden — into a musical powerhouse capable of fending off talent from Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and the United States.
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Ha! The "time to lobby..." is LONG GONE! (Caps for emphasis; not "shouting", my sensitive WST talkers.) Many of you really amuse me; ALL your egos' desires are to come over as "intellectuals", "spiritual gurus", "businessmen", "producers", "activists", and "movers and shakers", when your actions prove you are NO more than talkers. That is why, when you run out of topics, you repackage them and send them out again as if they are new discussions. Many of you talk about what you do, and have not produced ONE IOTA of evidence, nor have ONE person claim to be one of your clients. NOT ONE! The abundance of talk only and no action on this website, has really disappointed me, for I believe that there are brilliant minds who really don't give a damn about rolling up their sleeves and getting involved in the "movement". They are no more than bloggers, feeding their inflated egos, by the endorsements of those less-informed and less-knowledgeable. That is why, I have refused to share any more information on this site. I will periodically re-post the "Blueprint" to remind those with convenient amnesia, and to inform those who may have recently joined this "talk" version of Wall St., where one can come and trade talk, and expect high return. Again, until you UNDERSTAND that on WST, there are AGENTS OF DESTRUCTION, who have racist and religious biases against the steelpan, the steelband, AND ESPECIALLY, the Black African-descendant, ex-slave class who "invented" the instrument, you will not be able to identify the enemy. Maybe, you all need to read about human behavior throughout our history on this planet; don't assume sweet, kind words come from only the "God-like". (For the Bible-believers, isn't that what the Bible says, the serpent did to EVE? Trick her into believing that he had her good intentions in mind? BTW- I am not endorsing the Bible.) All their words and intent is to REMOVE the Black Trinbagonian from his rightful place in steelband and pan history, and you are ALL gullible, naive, and/or enemies of truth, history, and the cultural contributions of people of African descent. So you may think that you have silenced me, or suppressed the ideas as set forth in the "Blueprint", however, if there is ONE thing I will do, is to remind this WST forum of its existence and contents. My conscience is clear; I have put forward a working, comprehensive document that addresses all your recurring and repackaged "ole talk". When you all ready to work call me. And, PLEASE, at least, post proof of your claims of self-grandeur in your self-promotions. Crying like foolish gorillas. (See my previous posts, if you don't get that one.) SMH. Again, CAPS for emphasis ONLY! Hotep (Peace).
Your Forever In Pan,
George D. Goddard, B.A. (Cum Laude)
Pan'Tum - The Ghost Who Talks. (Honoring The Legacy Of George "Sonny" Goddard.
https://whensteeltalks.ning.com/forum/topics/speaking-of-sweeping-ch...
Steel Pan Blueprint For Success.doc
Life is dynamic...you or no one can predict what direction music from the Caribbean(Pan/Reggae/calypso et.al.) will take, more than you can predict the end of the world.You like most of us probably won't be around to see what the future generation does to or with the music...so please don't write us off. Like you we have a voice and want the same good things for our music,...lets all contribute, no one has a monopoly.
Most of the Trinidad music that I hear today are hurriedly produced rhythm tracks with vocal overlays, specifically targeted for the Carnival jump up, and of little musical value after that.
And carefully crafted music by veterans like Shadow, Stalin etc. is given short shift, since that music appeals to an older generation
Carnival in Trinidad occurs early in the year, and its pretty difficult to maintain interest in most of the music after that, even if it is spoon fed 24 hours a day, since the music is primarily seen as Carnival music.
Fortunately, some of this music has some shelf life, because it is played throughout the year in Carnivals around the world.
There are a few exceptions, but for the music to have universal appeal, the artists probably need to lessen their focus on Carnival music, and concentrate on making quality music.
This is probably easier said than done, since the artist wants to take advantage of the Carnival season, which is prime time for calypso and soca..
As they say, "Man have to eat a food".
And BTW , another big difference is that Jamaican music is not seen as "seasonal".
And everyone interested should check out the movie "Catch a Fire"
It details how Bob Marley And the Wailers were polished, produced and packaged to be introduced on the world stage by Chris Blackwell and his people .
Granted, they had the talent, but their success, and the successes of other Jamaican artists, didn't happen by guess.
It took work and planning.
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The voice of wisdom, well put ...really rational..nuff said.
Music ..to my ears......a lead to follow.
Here is an interesting article on "THE MUSIC BANNING" (I call it insularity) that appeared in THE GLEANER recently. Barbados done start the BANNIING (Reggae and Dancehall suspended from June 1 with the ban ended in the first week of August to facilitate Crop Over).
Now Jamaicans advocating to LOCK OFF FOREIGN MUSIC!!!
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130623/ent/ent1.html
Bertel and Bede: Allyuh really want to open that can of worms? The solution is to make good music but nobody wants to talk about that.
Claude, Good local music dont come about just like that boi. All the right ingredients have to be in place first for this to happen. The main ingredient to my mind is local airtime/airplay, 100%, with a little bit of brainwashing. Forget d Foreign! Put on blinkers and focus!
Bertel: This may surprise YOU (and a few others, coming from ME) but I think that we have ALL THE INGREDIENTS (musical ingredients) to make big GLOBAL MUSICAL HITS right there down in Trinidad. Do you know how regularly calypso/soca influenced beats are used in music across NORTH AMERICA? And there are so many untapped ways to use PAN.
We could make dance music to ROCK THE ENTIRE WORLD -- even the ban in ECUADOR.
I am going to stop right there and save the BUT for later because the PROOF is always in the PUDDING.
I think making a set of new songs every year is working against Trini artiste, the only place in the world that you get new songs every 12 months from the same performer.
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