Trinibad artistes struggle with monetisation despite music’s potential

While Trinibad music holds significant earning potential, many performers struggle to capitalise on their talent due to a lack of knowledge in commercialising their hit songs.

Speaking during a panel at the Caribbean Musicon titled, “Trinibad: Exploring Trinidad’s Newest Musical Genre” on June 18, artiste manager Delica Patterson and producer DeeJay Punz said many in the industry are still learning daily about where they can earn money outside of performing live.

“There is money in streaming but not all artiste would be knowledgeable of ways to earn from all the different revenue streams. So, it will have Trinibad artiste who they can say are broke because they are not capitalising off their songs. But we can say that about other artiste. We must educate the youth,” DeeJay Punz said.

DeeJay Punz, who has his own clothing line called “Trinibad Urban Apparel”, said he always encourages performers that come into his studio to invest in themselves and look at earning money from their copyright and selling merchandise.

He added it’s important for artiste have some level of ownership of what they produce and intellectual propoerty so they can continue to profit from their talent long after their days in the spotlight are over.

Patterson told the audience that there isn’t a central place where artistes and their managers can go to get the information about monetising their content.

“It is still a learning process for everyone. Because I’m sure for those who are succeeding in terms of understanding the processes of distribution and publishing can attest to the fact that there is so much to learn,” she said.

Meanwhile, Trinibad singer Rheon Elbourne said it was crucial for artiste to learn the business of music so they can earn money outside of Trinidad and Tobago.

Elbourne, whose hit song “Build My Dreams” has amassed over 3 million on YouTube, said he was able to tap into opportunities globally after making his songs available on streaming platforms.

He urged artiste to always remember that they are operating a business first.

Elbourne noted failure to have everything in writing could result in them being unable to release music as someone may have contributed their intellectual property to a song during a recording and would want to also benefit from what money it earns.