Trodding a new road in the Jamaican music scene, female dancehall reggae artist Tanya Stephens has decided to release her latest album, “Infallible”, completely free for download.
For those who don’t know her, Tanya Stephens emerged as a hot new dancehall artist in 1997 with her hit single Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet on the Joyride riddim (arguably still one of the most enduring reggae dancehall riddims even today, if you’re into that scene). The hit single featured on the 1997 Reggae Gold compilation by VP Records, VP being the Jamaican major, holding a virtual lock on reggae dancehall talent for decades.
According to Andrew Henton of Tarantula Records (Stephens’ own label), “Tanya believes that when she gives an album to a major label (e.g. VP Records), technically she’s giving it away for free anyway, so she would much rather give it directly to the fans.”
As Nic Brisbourne astutely observes in a recent blog post,
The important thing for the long term health of the music industry is that artists make enough money. At the moment they aren’t seeing enough out of the free music streaming sites, largely because the labels are taking all the cream via up front minimum guarantees and equity stakes, and that needs to change. The fact that artists are making more money via concerts these days will also help.
I couldn’t agree more. Like their counterparts in North America and Europe, Jamaican reggae artists and producers are beginning to experiment with new models to reach their fan base and generate a livelihood.
Now if only the U.S. Immigration Service would de-escalate their tit-for-tat vendetta against the island of milk and honey and resume issuing travel visas for the talented artists that give the people what they want !
Oh by the way, you can download Tanya Stephens new album here.