Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley. (FP)

One Government Minister has urged local radio stations to play more local music.

Minister of Culture, Stephen Lashley, made this plea recently when he gave the feature address at the opening of the Cultural Ambassadors Recording Centre at #16 Pelican Village, Bridgetown.

“It is a fact that music production and output have increased at an unprecedented rate over the last decade, yet the ratio of Barbadian music played on many Barbadian-owned stations remains extremely low,” he stated, while explaining that as many as 400 songs are recorded and sent to radio stations during the Crop Over season.

Mr. Lashley further noted that local music producers are placed at a disadvantage when regional and international music is played more often than local music.

“If Barbadian music is not played with the same frequency or even more than the music from non-Barbadians, it stands to reason that non-Barbadians will earn more money from Barbados than Barbadians themselves. I want once again to urge our radio stations, in particular, to give more airplay to our local music,” he underscored.

The Culture Minister praised the Barbados Cultural Industries Development Authority (BCIDA) and the Barbados Investment Development Corporation (BIDC) for collaborating to make the Cultural Ambassadors Recording Centre a reality, the Minister explained that the studio was an example of the Government’s commitment to positioning the cultural industries.

Additionally, Mr. Lashley noted that the studio would also be a fillip for the Music Incubator programme led by the BIDC and COSCAP, with support from BCIDA. The objective of that programme in music entrepreneurship development is to enable service providers to establish sustainable business models.

A complementary space was also provided at Building #27, a short distance from the recording studio in Pelican Village, for cultural practitioners to rehearse, meet or otherwise use, for any creative endeavour.

jamal.weeks@barbados.gov.bb

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