Entertainment

Deceptive advertising plagues shows

Beenie Man( left), Macka Diamond ( middle) and Nuffy( right)

IT HAS BEEN a long-time habit that has been ongoing, where promoters of stage shows and other events seek to prep up the popularity of their events, by advertising artistes who are not billed to appear on the show.

More recently, artistes such as Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Macka Diamond, General Trees, Captain Barkey and Wickerman, among others, have fallen into the net of artistes who are constantly advertised for shows on which they have no agreement to perform.

Beenie Man, who was advertised to appear on Love Symbol's 50th Anniversary show, apparently had no such agreement to appear at the event. Shocking Vibes, the local record company which manages Beenie Man, issued a release stating that it had no such agreement with Love Symbol.

The release read: "This serves to inform the public that Beenie Man, the artiste born Moses Davis will not be engaging in any Jamaican performances on the 22nd and 23rd of April as he is booked for overseas appearances on those dates."

Major problem

Solid Agency's Sharon Burke, who is responsible for the booking of Bounty Killer and other artistes, says this is an ongoing issue that they have to face, but at the end of the day, even if legal action is taken, it may not resolve the problem.

"We have that problem all the time, but it's the promoters who will have to deal with the patrons, not us. We should sue them, but with our system, we probably wouldn't get anywhere," Burke stated.

Ray Alexander of Khool Booking Agency, which handles bookings for Macka Diamond, another artiste who is plagued with this problem, says it is a regular thing and at times it can reflect negatively on the artistes if patrons are not aware of what is happening.

"The other day when they had a two-day tour in England with Beenie Man, they had Macka's name being advertised on it. All that happened was that the promoters called me and asked for a quote, but they didn't get back to me," Alexander said.

"Even in Jamaica, a nuff show dem put her name on and she knows nothing about it. And when she doesn't turn up, she becomes a no show. I think one of the biggest problems is when artistes themselves put on shows, and when they ask other artistes to pass through, they will say yes, but the artistes don't really know their schedule," he said.

He further said that Macka is being advertised for a show at Fayors in Mandeville for this weekend, and it was only last week that she found out about it. However, Alexander says it will not be possible for Macka to even think about showing, as she was previously booked for a show in Miami.

Alexander says he can't really see a solution to the problem, as he cannot afford to send out a press release every week.

"One of the things that I am doing now is that whenever promoters book Macka for a show, I ask them to do an advertisement with her," so at least persons will be sure that she is actually booked for the event, he said.

One prominent promoter in the business, who refused to have his name published, said most of the times it is the artistes themselves who are to be blamed.

"Mi nah guh even seh nutt'n bout dat, cause mi nuh too worry bout dem. More time man guh straight to di artiste whe a dem fren and dem wi seh yes, but when it come to di management, dem seh dem nuh know nothing bout dat. More time a di artiste themselves fi blame," he said.

Another promoter and popular MC Nuffy agrees that it is an issue that has to be dealt with by both sides. "It is a two-way street, if you seh guest artiste, it's always not a must that they will be there. If a artiste not going to be there, mi nah put him pon di poster, but sometimes the artistes themselves will say put mi pon di poster an is not a must that dem nah guh haffi guh foreign fi a show," he said.

"I'm not a promoter that advertise artiste that don't turn up, me haffi know seh dem a guh deh deh before me advertise them, cause it will reflect badly on you the promoter," he added.

At the end of the day, promoters, artistes and their management team will need to come to some agreement as to how best they can go about getting a commitment that will hold firm, and keep all involved parties happy.