Global Reggae Charts - Issue #13 / June 2018

global reggae charts
insight
as I am personally a fan of both artists, so it was
also a privilege for me to be able to contribute in
that way. On the label side, we had six number-one
reggae albums on the charts and released a number
of projects: from 2010 to 2018 we released 230 songs
from various artists - it’s been a fun ride.
On the production side, I’ve been building a few
riddims on the side for DJs like Walshy Fire (Major
Lazer) and Vincz Lee (Switzerland’s top urban music
DJ), and I have a few singles which have been
sleeping on the side as I’ve been really busy and
want to set up proper strategies for each release -
but am getting ready to drop some new songs soon.
unnoticed. So the first challenge is establishing the
core fan base, which will help support the songs and
the movement and give it its “own life.”
Creating a network: this is something that unfortunately
cannot be done overnight and is to a certain
extent a reflection of your curriculum vitae.
Basically, your personal network will be a sum of all
the human interactions you’ve had over your life.
Coming from Europe, one of the hardest parts was
For 2018 my main focus is expanding the booking
network. At the end of last year, we merged companies
with the agency we were working with (Rhythm
and Flow) and we decided that we were ready to step
up the game to set up a larger company with bigger
resources, focusing on developing the reggae and
dancehall scene in Europe. We have set up offices
in Barcelona and have made the team a bit bigger;
we are currently five people working in the company
in an effort to bring as many show opportunities as
possible to our various clients.
FR: You have been involved with the careers of
Randy Valentine and Cali P from the very early days.
When you look back at it - what do you see as the
major challenges to establish a new, unknown artist
in the reggae market?
GB: From my point of view, there are several
challenges:
Establishing a core fan base: the beginning will
always be the slowest part as generally the artist is
still searching for their artistic direction, and has no
pulling power… so at first, the exposure has to be
CREATED through sweat and tears. As there is no
demand at first, the main challenge is to get the music
noticed “out there.” It can be the best song in the
world, but if it isn’t brought to the right people and
pushed the right way, a potential hit can go perfectly
creating a network and getting my artists noticed in
the US and the Caribbean. That took a lot of unanswered
emails and phone calls before I managed to
get stuff moving on other continents. However, in
a place like Switzerland, it was very easy for me as
I grew up there and have been working alongside
most players in the industry over the past 15 years.
So, creating a business network is definitely one of
the big challenges as it can take years before having
the type of network that would allow you to establish
a new and unknown reggae artist. It’s hours of waiting
at concerts backstage to meet a specific promoter,
or at a radio building in order to meet the right
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global reggae charts | issue 13 / june 2018