Fly the gate - Entertainment consultant wants more to be done to facilitate young talents

Okeefe Tulloch, an entertainment consultant and Vibz Muss Buss brand ambassador, is encouraging local media houses to usher new talents into the music industry in order to facilitate sustainability in the business.

Speaking with THE STAR, Tulloch said that he believes Jamaica has a tendency of alienating the young talent, while allowing veterans to continue to occupy top spots in the industry even after they have passed their prime.

"If you look at our politics, those in power stay until they are old, and in the workplace you rarely find young managers. So it's kind of systematic the way we allow our youth to lose their youth before putting them in situations to win," he said, explaining that the pattern is the same in music.

"The older artistes need to show the youth the way forward rather than clashing with each other about who is better. Most young artistes don't even know the history of the music and so there is a need for proper artiste development."

The consultant also noted that payola continues to be a thorn in the leg of the music industry and says the issue mostly affects young artistes, many of whom have little or no money to sustain the demands of selectors and DJs.

Tulloch, who has partnered with Mega Jamz 98 FM for the 'Muss Buss' feature, is encouraging fellow media houses to play their part in securing the legacy of Jamaican music.

"I know it's a business, but we need to create more platforms for recording artiste to shine. Stop this links thing. Let it be about the talent and the legacy of dancehall and reggae. Radio stations should also work harder to reduce this payola thing and stop play only one set of artistes' music," he said.