Trinbago Unified Calypsonians' Organisation (Tuco) president Lutalo Masimba (Brother Resistance) says its members have spent about $10 million from personal finances on recordings. Interviewed last week, Masimba said: "We did a rough estimate in Tuco. That's a conservative figure. We undertook a survey. We recognised at a conservative estimate our members spend about $10 million to prepare the music and present it for the Carnival. The Carnival is driven on the power of the music." Masimba added: "It is an allocation from their own pockets. They may work hard at construction or a small business or borrow from a relative to record a song."
Citing figures, Masimba said the lowest prices range from $5,000 to $6,000. "It depends on if they have live musicians. It could be about $1,000 more." He felt Government should intervene to assist the artistes. Masimba said: "I don't think any government has ever recognised the type of investment that goes into making the T&T Carnival the festival it is. I don't think they understand how hard the artistes work for T&T to take its rightful place on the world stage. It's a crying shame."
Lack of airplay distressing
The cries of artistes who have not been hearing their corpus of works has not fallen on deaf ears. Masimba has been privy to their litany of lamentations. He said: "It is extremely distressing. I feel it for all the artistes and even myself. So many artistes invest in their music and it is sad that it is not played on the radio." To compound it, Masimba said the situation was even more heartwrenching since C2k12 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the first recordings of calypso which began in 1912.
Again, he maintained Government should grant broadcast licences to organisations like Tuco. He said: "The time has certainly come for the Government in office to answer the request of Tuco for a broadcast licence to make a difference." He said Tuco has made the request since 1999. It was resubmitted when they formed the Telecommunications Authority of T&T. He added: "To this date, we have not been successful." He felt more respect should be meted out to the Arts and Entertainment fraternities.
"We spend millions on tourism developments and flying in foreign journalists. Not that I have anything against those exercises. I am looking at how we prioritise our spending." Masimba said the ingrained passion of each artiste was taking calypso music worldwide. He pleaded with budding and professional artistes to not lose faith. He said: "On a personal note, I want to ask the singers not to lose the faith." He advised them to use alternative forms of social media such as the Internet, minimal spaces like bars and any other means available to market their music. He said: "I would like them to use any means, especially, the use of the digital reality to get their music out. They can use networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to get the music heard." He urged artistes to "redouble their efforts to be heard and be creative".