BARBADOS DOLES OUT thousands of dollars in royalties to overseas artistes every year, while local musicians continue to agitate for more airplay on local radio stations.
Statistics from the Copyright Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (COSCAP) indicate international members of the Society collected $192 865 in royalties in 2011, while the Barbadian members received $164 351.
Regionally, Trinidad paid Barbados’ entertainers $12 000 in royalties through COSCAP while COSCAP shelled out $22 000 for Trinidad’s entertainers for the same year.
These sums included royalties for music played on radio and at concerts. Other sources tell of large sums in performance fees being paid to Caribbean artistes who headline shows here.
But while some voices like that of COSCAP director Stedson Wiltshire and Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler have been heard among others calling for local radio stations to give more support to Barbados’ musicians, at least one local DJ and music producer Adam Elias (King Bubba) does not think radio stations should be depended upon to push local music. (GC)
