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Permalink Reply by DE POWA of de VINCY on December 20, 2009 at 7:59am

The PROBLEM is that MOST of the ARTISTS are LOOKED as just ORDINARY VINCENTIANS.

Most have not ESTABLISHED any "CELEBRITY" STATUS outside of SVG to where VINCENTIANS are going to FLOCK to see them at any ENTERTAINMENT SPOTS.

Always REMEMBER that VINCYLAND is a very SMALL PLACE, so BASICALLY everybody knows the LOCAL ACTS.

I can see MAYBE a SKINNY FABULOUS drawing a CROWD, and that would be because of his STATUS as not just a LOCAL ACT, but someone who has GARNERED REGIONAL and FOREIGN ACCOLADE/ACCEPTANCE in the MUSIC INDUSTRY.

In other words, he is looked at as an "INTERNATIONAL" soca ARTIST.

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Permalink Reply by Sev En on December 20, 2009 at 10:14am

My problem is...who determines who is an entertainer/artiste??? While artistes like Skinny, Problem, Fireman, Icon are recognized/known artistes, there are others who are not well known...so would they be barred from entering free.

Shady, while I agree with you regarding the contriibution made by artistes to our entertainment industry, remember most of our entertainment spots are small places, so if 50 artiste turn up on a given nite, then more than likely, it's going to hurt the owners pocket.. You might argue that revenue could be recovered from the bar, but with people coming out to fete at 1 - 2 am, that's less money being spent at the bar.

I remember witnessing a situation where a DJ was admitted free of charge and was adamant that his "entourage" which comprised of 6 persons be admitted free also. This is the type of problem that can arise.

Maybe each month a club can host a "Up. Close and Personal with.........", so that fans of say Madzart would know he would be at the Club and would want to go out and mingle with him. But having all artiste free of charge.....nah!!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Vince DeCoteau on December 20, 2009 at 1:33pm

I don't agree with that at all; Entertainers are paid when they work, so why not pay when they are not playing and is going to a show? Then let a Doctor, Nurse, Minister of Government, Priest and all other Professionals in free too, they are just as important. Pay up man.

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Permalink Reply by Shadee RQB on December 22, 2009 at 4:17am

I agree with the fact that most spots in vincy are small, point taken. I never mentioned anything about letting an entourage through, lol know that would be nutz, the artist should get free access not the entourage, and if he/she thinks that that's unfair well maybe the should pay a damn cover charge! and doctors and nurses are not entertainers, stick to the topic being discuss please. would you tell an actor that he or she has to pay to enter into a film festival where their movie is being put on display?? come on now.

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Permalink Reply by Vince DeCoteau on December 22, 2009 at 5:17am

My Friend, I am sticking to the topic, it's you who did not understand my statement. I was saying that a Musician is a professional and expect to be paid when he works, hence he must also pay, remember you made a blanket statement which can give PPL the impression that all Artiste should not pay at any function where Artiste perform, read you statement;
I say no. Entertainers are not suppose to be paying a cover charge when they contribute to entertainment in St.Vincent. I think Entertainers should be allowed even VIP access to any entertainment venue.
So tell me now why Artiste must be given special treatment?

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Permalink Reply by Shadee RQB on December 24, 2009 at 1:34pm

They contribute to the entertainment scene in st.vincent, and if we don't honor our artist and put them high then who will? charity begins at home if you will. artists are people with abilities that the everyday person doesn't have. they are given the gift of creating music, weather it be lyrics or composition. We St.Vincent can be as big as we perceive it to be. We need to get out of this thought of, "oh vincy small and the outer world is bigger than us", while this is factual entertainment remains entertainment. Entertainers contribute significantly every year to the country if not for them Djs would have no local music to play, which i m sure they won't have a problem not playing local music. So why can't we atleast put infrastructure in place to award these local artist/entertainers for their contributions to artistic creation?

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Permalink Reply by Vince DeCoteau on December 25, 2009 at 6:49am

Read back your post and see that you are doing exactly what you accuse me of; straying from the issue. The issue is weather Musicians/Artiste should enter all events with no cover charge, but you are talking of awards and Vincy feeling small or not. I am saying, no matter how good these Musicians are and how important they feel themselves to be, they must pay once they are not performing on an event. Now Shady, if a Doctor gets sick and goes to the Hospital, do you think he should pay for the services rendered to him?

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Permalink Reply by dj kush on December 24, 2009 at 11:18am

artistes should only get into venues free if they are performing that night , if a cover charge of 5 dollars is hindering their ability to get into the club , how are they gonna buy drinks?

a celebrity may influence more people into your establishment but that should be a independent business decision decided upon by the individual owners of the venue's , this is not an issue for any type of mandate to be brought forth.

this is a issue of marketing , if their is a hip-hop dance , where the dj is playing lil wayne and drake and ludacris to a crowd of 14-25 year olds , if ron pompey and poorsah are gonna be there , i would venture to say that their presence would be unimportant to that particular type of event , so giving them special privileges would be pointless.

st vincent is such a small place that most entertainers in st vincent lack the star power to be a force to attract people to the venues , if you go to a dance to listen to those good old soca oldies and ron pompey and poorsah were there , you would most likely in my opinion be going there to see them perform.

Basically DE POWA and Vince are right , ordinary people dont draw crowds , they need to pay up.
club owners overseas will pay ridiculous amounts of money for celebs to frequent their establishment , so that patrons feel that it is the place to be , if that advantage is not there than there is no point to it

its sort of a supply and demand type deal , if your celebrity is in demand you as a entertainer have the power because your the hot commodity , if your not in demand than you as a entertainer need to be in the hot spots, promoting yourself and your music meaning that , you need to be at the venues much more than the owners need to have you there so pay up.

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