Bdos: No protection no song

WITH Crop-Over calypso tents due to open in just over a month, artistes are vowing not to release any music for the festival until the authorities, particularly Government, take serious action to protect their intellectual property.

Led by Peter Boyce of Madd Entertainment, the 15-odd protesters compared themselves to cane-cutters refusing to reap the sugar crop, rallying support from various sections of the music industry as they crowded the Pine, St Michael studios of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation in a united stand.

They also warned newer artistes who might be tempted to produce music for the June-August festival because of the current stand-off; with krosfyah’s Edwin Yearwood telling them that their musical future could be in jeopardy if they did not unite.

Saying it was finally time to “take a stand since artistes had never been given anything”, veteran artiste and former tent manager, Darcy Ras Iley Small, compared their plight to that of a cane cutter.