Plans by T&T government to mandate all radio stations play 50% local music?

[Socapro]

I can't speak too much on the other nations, but as far as Canada has gone, it has done wonders for the music scene.
Canada lacks a certain amount of patriotism (unless hockey is involved).  However over the past 10 years, (as the laws came into effect around 2002) the policy has worked.  Artists of all forms have enjoyed a larger audience...and dominate the airwaves.  Yes, there are some hiccups, but the success and popularity has risen in Canadian music since the inception.
Arcade Fire, NickelBack, Justin Beiber, Drake to name a few have all taken Canadian music to a level of popularity that previously was limited to Shania and Celine Dion. 
I say give it a chance.... if done correctly the benefit will be the growth of the music industry.

It's not so George Orwell-ish "1984"

In Canada it does get frustrating hearing a lot of "Canadian" music on the radio, but I know a couple people who I have heard on the radio, seen their music videos on TV and get small contracts from it.  Guys who otherwise would not have the opportunity if not for the regulation.
And if you don't like it, you could always pop in a cd, usb or your iPod/phone...

This is what you call a progressive mindset and looking out for your own!
Big up to Canada for having an intelligent and progressive government!

[Bakes]

I can't speak too much on the other nations, but as far as Canada has gone, it has done wonders for the music scene.
Canada lacks a certain amount of patriotism (unless hockey is involved).  However over the past 10 years, (as the laws came into effect around 2002) the policy has worked.  Artists of all forms have enjoyed a larger audience...and dominate the airwaves.  Yes, there are some hiccups, but the success and popularity has risen in Canadian music since the inception.
Arcade Fire, NickelBack, Justin Beiber, Drake to name a few have all taken Canadian music to a level of popularity that previously was limited to Shania and Celine Dion. 
I say give it a chance.... if done correctly the benefit will be the growth of the music industry.

It's not so George Orwell-ish "1984"

In Canada it does get frustrating hearing a lot of "Canadian" music on the radio, but I know a couple people who I have heard on the radio, seen their music videos on TV and get small contracts from it.  Guys who otherwise would not have the opportunity if not for the regulation.
And if you don't like it, you could always pop in a cd, usb or your iPod/phone...

You really trying to credit that law for Drake and Justin Bieber's success?

Seriously? lol

[ProudTrinbagonian]

You really trying to credit that law for Drake and Justin Bieber's success?

Seriously? lol

Drake's success was definitely pushed along by the regulation....he was first seen on the show Degrassi High-which has a huge local teen fan base; the Can-con regulation isn't limited to radio...it also applies to tv.  He got his break there.  Not to mention he was all over the air on the urban radio stations before the rest of the world saw him with Young Money.
Also, these guys get to be opening acts and get noticed...by being the local stars
Kardinal Offishal, k-os, k'naan all received considerable airplay "locally" before they made it "big."

A lot of entertainers of Trinbagonian descent has seen success.  Why can't it come from grassroot level rather than us getting a pleasant surprise so and so artist born in Trinbago?

What TnT needs to do is provide funding and tax breaks for the arts to ensure financial assistance which in turn can result in an improvement of quality.  The 50% content rule is only step 1.

It'll take time, but if done correctly, it's the right move

[Bakes]

You really trying to credit that law for Drake and Justin Bieber's success?

Seriously? lol

Drake's success was definitely pushed along by the regulation....he was first seen on the show Degrassi High-which has a huge local teen fan base; the Can-con regulation isn't limited to radio...it also applies to tv.  He got his break there.  Not to mention he was all over the air on the urban radio stations before the rest of the world saw him with Young Money.
Also, these guys get to be opening acts and get noticed...by being the local stars
Kardinal Offishal, k-os, k'naan all received considerable airplay "locally" before they made it "big."

A lot of entertainers of Trinbagonian descent has seen success.  Why can't it come from grassroot level rather than us getting a pleasant surprise so and so artist born in Trinbago?

What TnT needs to do is provide funding and tax breaks for the arts to ensure financial assistance which in turn can result in an improvement of quality.  The 50% content rule is only step 1.

It'll take time, but if done correctly, it's the right move

Now you just talking shit.  Drake's rap career had nothing to do with his Degrassi High career... or his subsequent acting career for that matter.  His rap career got started by him guesting on mix tapes with other rappers such as Lupe Fiasco, Li'l Wayne and Flo Rida.  Canadian radio had absolutely zero... ZILCH to do with his success.  It was Li'l Wayne pushing him and getting his vid on BET that led to him blowing up.  Justin Bieber got his break when he was discovered by Usher.  Neither Usher nor Li'l Wayne was listening to Canadian radio to get exposed to either of those two.

[ProudTrinbagonian]

Now you just talking shit.  Drake's rap career had nothing to do with his Degrassi High career... or his subsequent acting career for that matter.  His rap career got started by him guesting on mix tapes with other rappers such as Lupe Fiasco, Li'l Wayne and Flo Rida.  Canadian radio had absolutely zero... ZILCH to do with his success.  It was Li'l Wayne pushing him and getting his vid on BET that led to him blowing up.  Justin Bieber got his break when he was discovered by Usher.  Neither Usher nor Li'l Wayne was listening to Canadian radio to get exposed to either of those two.

You talking something else...Drake's success has nothing to do with him being played on Radio pre- mixtape days? 

You realize Drake was doing music before that? And getting lots of play.  You feel he would keep rapping if he didn't hear himself on the campus and urban radio stations and get support?
He didn't wake up one day and guest star on mixtapes with Lupe, etc.  The man first song came out when he was on Degrassi.  US only start hearing Drake recently, Canada has been hearing and supporting him for years.

I refuse to believe that the support that the gov't regulations in place did not assist in his or other Canadians' career.  As i said before it opens a wider audience, and introduces the public to artists that may otherwise not get the opportunity.  You just arguing for the sake of it; have you ever heard Canadian radio?

Beiber was discovered by Usher's camp yes, but he achieved Platinum status in Canada first.  Also where his first single reached it's highest number.  If Can-con regulations don't have anything to do with Canadian artists' career, you just arguing for the sake of arguing....

Currently 2 of the top 10 most popular songs in Canada (according to Billboard) are from Canadian artists....you'll hear those songs soon enough, don't worry.  This would not be possible if not for the regulations.

[Tallman]

Thank you Morvant!!! Is only so much jump up and wine and rag in the air Ah man could take. When last yuh hear a soca song with a positive message that don't sound like is ah set ah noise they making?

That there is part of the problem. If you do go with that 50% rule (or whatever it may be), then be prepared for real shit on the airwaves. Along with the 50% rule there must be support for local artists to produce better music. BTW, some of the foreign stuff you hear on the raid is real tata as well so don't only knock the jump and wave.

Ah tink allyuh getting tie up yuh know. LOCAL IS NOT ONLY SOCA/CALYPSO. Far from it.

There is a lot of good quality music produced year-round in T&T from other genres (reggae, pop, hip-hop, rapso, electronic/techno, gospel, dance, rock, spoken word, jazz, blues etc.), but you wouldn't know it unless yuh really into de scene or if you go tuh de live music shows around de country.

[Bakes]

You talking something else...Drake's success has nothing to do with him being played on Radio pre- mixtape days? 

You realize Drake was doing music before that? And getting lots of play.  You feel he would keep rapping if he didn't hear himself on the campus and urban radio stations and get support?
He didn't wake up one day and guest star on mixtapes with Lupe, etc.  The man first song came out when he was on Degrassi.  US only start hearing Drake recently, Canada has been hearing and supporting him for years.

I refuse to believe that the support that the gov't regulations in place did not assist in his or other Canadians' career.  As i said before it opens a wider audience, and introduces the public to artists that may otherwise not get the opportunity.  You just arguing for the sake of it; have you ever heard Canadian radio?

Beiber was discovered by Usher's camp yes, but he achieved Platinum status in Canada first.  Also where his first single reached it's highest number.  If Can-con regulations don't have anything to do with Canadian artists' career, you just arguing for the sake of arguing....

Currently 2 of the top 10 most popular songs in Canada (according to Billboard) are from Canadian artists....you'll hear those songs soon enough, don't worry.  This would not be possible if not for the regulations.

All the rapping and airplay Drake was supposedly getting in Canada (and you offer no proof that the law was responsible for that, for all you know he would have gotten the same air play law or no law) how successful was he before the mix tapes??  Exactly.

Getting on the mix tapes is what lead to him breaking out, not Canadian airplay... hard as that must be for you to swallow.  Unless you could show that Li'l Wayne and other mix tape collaborators were listening to him on Canadian radio then Canadian airplay simply wasn't a factor in him getting signed... and it wasn't a factor him him selling records when sales took off after his BET exposure.

As for Bieber... you've gone from arguing that Canadian airplay made him a start to now arguing that "yeah Usher and dem discover him, but they was only playing he records in Canada.  He went platinum in Canada first and is dis law responsible fuh dat."  Bunch ah assness.  Adele make Billboard UK Number 1 before she crack top 10 this side ah de Atlantic... must be UK law responsible fuh that one too 

[triniairman]

To me this "mandate" thing sound like some Communist shit, that's my major problem with all this to be honest. If I'm radio station business man, I playing music that the vast majority will listen too today...shit rap, reggae, dancehall, soca, and whatever else that is hot right now. I might not listen to half the music playing, but the vast majority will and that is where I'll get advertising business.

Question: Does Soca artist (not local Reggae artist) release music all year round, or is mostly around Carnival time? I can't remember, that's why I'm asking. If not why don't they do that? This will kinda force radio stations to want to play their new songs to the people who listening.

Another question: why is it when we go to a dance, you can still hear old school rap or reggae/dancehall and the crowd does go crazy over it. Not so much the soca music,? that is if it gets any kinda play. Imagine yuh in a dance today and yuh hear "cent, five cent, ten cents, dollar" compare to  some old West coast rap or some Old school Beres or Yami Bolo*

I think that  a lot of you would love to see our music on the big stage, but in reality, it will not if it just stays locally. You would think Macheal would be a big international star by now, but I don't hear his music playing on radio stations in foreign. (Correct me if I'm wrong) forcing radio stations to this, is not the answer.

[Socapro]

Thank you Morvant!!! Is only so much jump up and wine and rag in the air Ah man could take. When last yuh hear a soca song with a positive message that don't sound like is ah set ah noise they making?

That there is part of the problem. If you do go with that 50% rule (or whatever it may be), then be prepared for real shit on the airwaves. Along with the 50% rule there must be support for local artists to produce better music. BTW, some of the foreign stuff you hear on the raid is real tata as well so don't only knock the jump and wave.

Ah tink allyuh getting tie up yuh know. LOCAL IS NOT ONLY SOCA/CALYPSO. Far from it.

There is a lot of good quality music produced year-round in T&T from other genres (reggae, pop, hip-hop, rapso, electronic/techno, gospel, dance, rock, spoken word, jazz, blues etc.), but you wouldn't know it unless yuh really into de scene or if you go tuh de live music shows around de country.

And 50% local will help bring much more awareness of this wealth of local music and help give these artists much more deserved exposure.

[fari]

Thank you Morvant!!! Is only so much jump up and wine and rag in the air Ah man could take. When last yuh hear a soca song with a positive message that don't sound like is ah set ah noise they making?

That there is part of the problem. If you do go with that 50% rule (or whatever it may be), then be prepared for real shit on the airwaves. Along with the 50% rule there must be support for local artists to produce better music. BTW, some of the foreign stuff you hear on the raid is real tata as well so don't only knock the jump and wave.

Ah tink allyuh getting tie up yuh know. LOCAL IS NOT ONLY SOCA/CALYPSO. Far from it.

There is a lot of good quality music produced year-round in T&T from other genres (reggae, pop, hip-hop, rapso, electronic/techno, gospel, dance, rock, spoken word, jazz, blues etc.), but you wouldn't know it unless yuh really into de scene or if you go tuh de live music shows around de country.

And 50% local will help bring much more awareness of this wealth of local music and help give these artists much more deserved exposure.

for real...from around my time in pres it have at least 3, 4 fellas making music.  some of them does play with KIN sound system, meh good pardner is the bassist with big mag's band...and then of course it have kees and them.   from on fb it look like the kin shows does play to a real nice audience so for a band like them more radio exposure will be good.  look even chromatics making better music than half of what passes for rap these days and i never hear one of he tune on the radio (is only after carnival he tune does be sharing on fb)

[ProudTrinbagonian]

You will see development of the industry....
Studios, labels, producers, etc...

pre-regulation Canada, there was no recording label, artists had to go abroad to become successful, and if US said no, that was it.  Tragically Hip is proof of this.  No one outside of Canada know this group, but at one time 1 of 6 households owned a Hip album.  You can't get that exposure and success without such regualtions.  The same thing is with TnT.  The industry will develop. A few listeners and radio stations will be upset and there will be some sh*t on the radio to begin with, but after time we will all be singing a different tune...pun intended.

All the rapping and airplay Drake was supposedly getting in Canada (and you offer no proof that the law was responsible for that, for all you know he would have gotten the same air play law or no law) how successful was he before the mix tapes??  Exactly.

Getting on the mix tapes is what lead to him breaking out, not Canadian airplay... hard as that must be for you to swallow.  Unless you could show that Li'l Wayne and other mix tape collaborators were listening to him on Canadian radio then Canadian airplay simply wasn't a factor in him getting signed... and it wasn't a factor him him selling records when sales took off after his BET exposure.

As for Bieber... you've gone from arguing that Canadian airplay made him a start to now arguing that "yeah Usher and dem discover him, but they was only playing he records in Canada.  He went platinum in Canada first and is dis law responsible fuh dat."  Bunch ah assness.  Adele make Billboard UK Number 1 before she crack top 10 this side ah de Atlantic... must be UK law responsible fuh that one too 

I already said he was on Degrassi, a Canadian show-on a Canadian music channel....
Lil Wayne blow him up, who disagreeing?  See if he coulda afforded mixtapes, studio time, producers, and guest spots with trey songz and studio time without his money he earn on Degrassi, etc.

"yeah Usher and dem discover him, but they was only playing he records in Canada.  He went platinum in Canada first and is dis law responsible fuh dat."

Where I say they only play his records in Canada?  I say he get first support and success from his home country.  The law help him succeed here FIRST with the guaranteed radio play...same as Knaan, Kardinal Offishal etc.  Making money, opening more doors.  Why give money to foreign artists on the radio, when local artists end up opening their own labels and pushing local talent...i.e Carly Rae Jepsen

Now you bringing up Adele and UK where the music industry is already developed and don't require this intervention. 

[asylumseeker]

Thank you Morvant!!! Is only so much jump up and wine and rag in the air Ah man could take. When last yuh hear a soca song with a positive message that don't sound like is ah set ah noise they making?

That there is part of the problem. If you do go with that 50% rule (or whatever it may be), then be prepared for real shit on the airwaves. Along with the 50% rule there must be support for local artists to produce better music. BTW, some of the foreign stuff you hear on the raid is real tata as well so don't only knock the jump and wave.

Ah tink allyuh getting tie up yuh know. LOCAL IS NOT ONLY SOCA/CALYPSO. Far from it.

There is a lot of good quality music produced year-round in T&T from other genres (reggae, pop, hip-hop, rapso, electronic/techno, gospel, dance, rock, spoken word, jazz, blues etc.), but you wouldn't know it unless yuh really into de scene or if you go tuh de live music shows around de country.

Timely and correct intervention by TM.

[zuluwarrior]

The proof is in the pudding check WACKRADIO 901fm, a lot of people said it cannot be done they did it .

[Socapro]

The proof is in the pudding check WACKRADIO 901fm, a lot of people said it cannot be done they did it .

[Socapro]

To me this "mandate" thing sound like some Communist shit, that's my major problem with all this to be honest. If I'm radio station business man, I playing music that the vast majority will listen too today...shit rap, reggae, dancehall, soca, and whatever else that is hot right now. I might not listen to half the music playing, but the vast majority will and that is where I'll get advertising business.

Question: Does Soca artist (not local Reggae artist) release music all year round, or is mostly around Carnival time? I can't remember, that's why I'm asking. If not why don't they do that? This will kinda force radio stations to want to play their new songs to the people who listening.

Another question: why is it when we go to a dance, you can still hear old school rap or reggae/dancehall and the crowd does go crazy over it. Not so much the soca music,? that is if it gets any kinda play. Imagine yuh in a dance today and yuh hear "cent, five cent, ten cents, dollar" compare to  some old West coast rap or some Old school Beres or Yami Bolo*

I think that  a lot of you would love to see our music on the big stage, but in reality, it will not if it just stays locally. You would think Macheal would be a big international star by now, but I don't hear his music playing on radio stations in foreign. (Correct me if I'm wrong) forcing radio stations to this, is not the answer.

Are Canada, Philippines, Mexico, Nigeria or Jamaica Communist countries?
You sound like you believe that local artists only make soca and calypso when the reality is far from that.

And for your information some soca artists do release music all year long but most of the time these out of Carnival soca releases are not given its deserved share of airplay until September/October comes around meaning that the current local radio set up is very discouraging to more soca artists releasing music all year long and encourages a seasonal output from soca artists.

Your question regards reaction to old music played in dances all depends on what dance it is and who is attending. If the dance is advertised as an old skool dance then I am sure more old skool soca lovers are likely to attend and will react to old skool soca in a similar way to how they may react when old skool dancehall or rap music comes on.

50% local content on our radio stations will be quite eye-opening and educational to folks like yourself in addition to the extra exposure and awareness factor it will bring for our hard working local artists.

[asylumseeker]

Policies such as discussed on this thread are designed to address what is known as cultural imperialism. I've excerpted a few teasers because I know not everyone will be inclined to read the article.

It is easy enough to convince Americans of the superiority of their culture, but how does one convince the rest of the world of the superiority of American culture? The answer is simple: marketing. Whether attempting to sell an item, a brand, or an entire culture, marketers have always
been able to successfully associate American products with modernity in the minds of consumers worldwide.

More recently, Viacom’s MTV has successfully adapted this strategy by integrating many different Americanized cultures into one unbelievably influential American network (with over 280 million subscribers worldwide). According to a 1996 “New World Teen Study” conducted by DMB&B’s BrainWaves division, of the 26,700 middle-class teens in forty-five countries surveyed, 85 percent watch
MTV every day. These teens absorb what MTV intends to show as a diverse mix of cultural influences but is really nothing more than manufactured stars singing in English to appeal to American popular taste.

By using popular local icons in their advertisements, U.S. corporations successfully associate what is fashionable in local cultures with what is fashionable in America. America essentially samples the world’s cultures, repackages them with the American trademark of materialism, and resells them to the world.

The concentration of media ownership during the 1990s enabled both American and British media organizations to gain control of the majority of the world’s news services. Satellites allow over 150 million households in approximately 212 countries and territories worldwide to subscribe to CNN, a member of Time Warner, the world’s largest media conglomerate. In the words of British sociologist Jeremy Tunstall, “When a government allows news importation, it is in effect importing a piece of another country’s politics—which is true of no other import.” In addition to politics and commercials, networks like CNN also present foreign countries with unabashed accounts of the military and economic superiority of the United States.

Proponents of cultural imperialism, such as David Rothkopf, a former senior official in Clinton’s Department of Commerce, argue that American cultural imperialism is in the interest not only of the United States but also of the world at large. Rothkopf cites Samuel Huntington’s theory from The Clash of Civilizations and the Beginning of the World Order that, the greater the cultural disparities in the world, the more likely it is that conflict will occur. Rothkopf argues that the removal of cultural barriers through U.S. cultural imperialism will promote a more stable world, one in which American culture reigns supreme as “the most just, the most tolerant, the most willing to constantly reassess and improve itself, and the best model for the future.”

Throughout the course of human existence, millions have died to preserve their indigenous culture. It is a fundamental right of humanity to be allowed to preserve the mental, physical, intellectual, and creative aspects of one’s society. A single “global culture” would be nothing more than a shallow, artificial “culture” of materialism reliant on technology.

The prevalent proposed solutions to the problem of American cultural imperialism are a mix of defense and compromise measures on behalf of the endangered cultures. In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman advocates the use of protective legislation such as zoning laws and protected area laws, as well as the appointment of politicians with cultural integrity, such as those in agricultural, culturally pure Southern France. However, many other nations have no voice in the nomination of their leadership, so those countries need a middle-class and elite committed to social activism. If it is utterly impossible to maintain the cultural purity of a country through legislation, Friedman suggests the country attempt to “glocalize,” that is:

to absorb influences that naturally fit into and can
enrich [a] culture, to resist those things that are
truly alien and to compartmentalize those things
that, while different, can nevertheless be enjoyed
and celebrated as different.

These types of protective filters should help to maintain the integrity of a culture in the face of cultural imperialism.

Teens especially need a counterbalance images of American consumerism they absorb from
the media. Even if individuals or countries consciously choose to become “Americanized” or “modernized,” their choice should be made freely and independently of the coercion and influence of American cultural imperialism.

[Socapro]

Good post Asylumseeker! 

Some of these fellas here need to open their eyes to what is going on via our radio stations, TV networks, etc.

We are being culturally brainwashed while being encouraged to discard our own local stuff which is just as good if not better than what we are being offered via American cultural imperialism.

[Deeks]

As nuch as I would like to see the station play more local, I doubt this will work. All the soca lovers like myself should tiotally support WACK and the other stations that play soca, local music and "ole people music".

[Deeks]

To all you socalled young folks, this bachanal has its beginning in the early 70s. The Airwaves in TT was pretty open to certain types of music. Local Calypso, Steelband, Folkmusic via the gov't broadcasting service programs. And that was basically AfroCreole. There was the one or two hour Indian programs. The rest was foreign 90% American. RB, Soul, Country Westrn, Jazz, Clissical.  After the Black Power fiasco, the pull of American Culture was so strong that it started to supplant Calypso. Remember Trinis started going to NY instead of London. I remember on Saturdays, Billy Reece and John Boos rule the airwaves with Soul and American Bandstand music respectively. Also JA ska and rock steady was also very prominent. By mid 70s Soul and early Regaae music was on par on the airwaves in TT. In 1976 Rastaman Vibration cause Reggae music to get a permanent foothold in TT. Soca was in its infancy. By 77/78, Soca exploded and that is what kept local music from being blown away from TT airwaves. Soul music has evolve to RAP and Reggae evoved to Dancehall. Soca has evolved to total Carnival music. RB and Reggae have a lot of easy (love) music. Soca stayed one way. Right now the Groovy Soca is not taken seriously by the artistes. To me it is a hit or miss situation for them. If the radio like it they may play it. After Kevin Little, I thought the soca artistes would have began to open a new trend, but they preferred to stay in their jam and wine comfort zone.

[Socapro]

As nuch as I would like to see the station play more local, I doubt this will work. All the soca lovers like myself should tiotally support WACK and the other stations that play soca, local music and "ole people music".

And what about the young people who are going to be relied on to carry on our culture after the older ones die out?!

Should we just leave them to be totally brainwashed into discarding their own culture that has been developed for their benefit and pass down thru the generations?
Because that is exactly what is happening via most of the other radio stations and TV networks that they are listening to and watching.

[Socapro]

To all you socalled young folks, this bachanal has its beginning in the early 70s. The Airwaves in TT was pretty open to certain types of music. Local Calypso, Steelband, Folkmusic via the gov't broadcasting service programs. And that was basically AfroCreole. There was the one or two hour Indian programs. The rest was foreign 90% American. RB, Soul, Country Westrn, Jazz, Clissical.  After the Black Power fiasco, the pull of American Culture was so strong that it started to supplant Calypso. Remember Trinis started going to NY instead of London. I remember on Saturdays, Billy Reece and John Boos rule the airwaves with Soul and American Bandstand music respectively. Also JA ska and rock steady was also very prominent. By mid 70s Soul and early Regaae music was on par on the airwaves in TT. In 1976 Rastaman Vibration cause Reggae music to get a permanent foothold in TT. Soca was in its infancy. By 77/78, Soca exploded and that is what kept local music from being blown away from TT airwaves. Soul music has evolve to RAP and Reggae evoved to Dancehall. Soca has evolved to total Carnival music. RB and Reggae have a lot of easy (love) music. Soca stayed one way. Right now the Groovy Soca is not taken seriously by the artistes. To me it is a hit or miss situation for them. If the radio like it they may play it. After Kevin Little, I thought the soca artistes would have began to open a new trend, but they preferred to stay in their jam and wine comfort zone.

Good post!! Your summary of what has happened on the T&T airwaves since the 70's is very accurate.

[triniairman]

Well I admit, I'm brainwashed, I don't like old time calypso and I can't stand listening jump up and wine, and wave your rag soca all the time...I will tolerate only a selected few, like the ones posted above... Too bad it's not a lot of them/variety. I'll stick to reggae, R&B and 80's music.... They just sound better to me. (My choice of music, not what society/government think I should be listening more). Highly doubt that will make me loose my culture, or make me any less of being a Trini...just saying

[Deeks]

There is something that i forgot to mention in this history of the rapidly declining Calypso/Soca artform. I don't know when this trend started. But I remembered as a little boy, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday was no Calypso on the radio. It was part of the Lenten rituals. This went on until 71/72.  Anybody?

[Deeks]

Well I admit, I'm brainwashed, I don't like old time calypso and I can't stand listening jump up and wine, and wave your rag soca all the time...I will tolerate only a selected few, like the ones posted above... Too bad it's not a lot of them/variety. I'll stick to reggae, R&B and 80's music.... They just sound better to me. (My choice of music, not what society/government think I should be listening more). Highly doubt that will make me loose my culture, or make me any less of being a Trini...just saying

Triniairman, me and the rest of Soca Lovers love we Soca till we dead. But we eh no bunch of naive lovers that we would not call a spade a spade. When the soca is tata we till them is tata. We doh play it or buy it. And Soca Lovers can groove to any music, any flippin music. But we love we soca. But when I hear Zouk, I hear Soca, when I hear Kizomba, I hear Soca. Sometimes when I hear Reggaeton, I hear Soca. Soca to me is in every Afro centric music. So I cool.

[Socapro]

There is something that i forgot to mention in this history of the rapidly declining Calypso/Soca artform. I don't know when this trend started. But I remembered as a little boy, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday was no Calypso on the radio. It was part of the Lenten rituals. This went on until 71/72.  Anybody?

Yeah, you are correct.
This is part of the reason why Shorty was moved to do something new with calypso between 1971 and 1974 and came up with a brand new musical style he christened Soca.
Soca was partly designed to break our music out of the seasonal straight jacket but the powers that be in charge of radio etc eventually managed to put Soca into the same suffocating seasonal straight jacket that they had managed to put calypso into up until around 1971/72 as you've stated.
The people in charge of our radio stations are simply sell-outs who hate our music and our culture.

Here is Shorty complaining about Calypso being sidelined.

Lord Shorty - We Ting (1974)
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HxuD4ERg9_s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/HxuD4ERg9_s</a>

And here is Shorty introducing something new and trendy that was still an expression of us and our culture that could buck the negative trend of calypso being sidelined on the T&T radio airwaves .

Lord Shorty - Endless Vibrations (1974)
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/FPnsxU3vNRk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/FPnsxU3vNRk</a>

[zuluwarrior]

One of the main thing that kill our calypso is lent ,you cannot sing or play any calypso muzik for
40 days and 40 nights while we dancing to sexual healing and reggae .

[Socapro]

One of the main thing that kill our calypso is lent ,you cannot sing or play any calypso muzik for
40 days and 40 nights while we dancing to sexual healing and reggae .

As far as I am aware that was never made a law or mandate and there is no case after we gained our Independence in 1962 of any T&T radio station being fined by the T&T government for playing calypsos during Lent. Is anyone aware of such a case since 1962 when we officially became in charge of our own culture and destiny after gaining our Independence?

So to me carrying on this backward culturally oppressive colonial tradition after 1962 is just plain dumb and it can be easily broken provided radio station owners and programmers are not puppets of the ex-colonial rulers and are not colonially/culturally brainwashed themselves that foreign is always better.

I believe both calypso and soca has as high a percentage of conscious tunes that can be played during Lent as any other popular music genre out there if not more! And let us also not forget that local artists do many other musical styles outside of calypso and soca that also deserves a lot more support and airplay.

If we are prepared to accept this backward culturally oppressive tradition as a people then most if not all of us are unfortunately still in mental slavery.

[ProudTrinbagonian]

Growing up we never listen to Carnival music in Lent...my mother used to to enforce that
It's an old tradition....
not sure why

maybe cuz I hear other people call it devil music.  A lot of Jakans I grow up say that about Soca that it devil music...not sure how they come up with that one.  Was blazing a Philipino chick a few years ago and I was playing soca in my car....she tell me that "devil music"
 

[Socapro]

Growing up we never listen to Carnival music in Lent...my mother used to to enforce that
It's an old tradition....
not sure why

maybe cuz I hear other people call it devil music.  A lot of Jakans I grow up say that about Soca that it devil music...not sure how they come up with that one.  Was blazing a Philipino chick a few years ago and I was playing soca in my car....she tell me that "devil music"
 

Firstly it is wrong to think of Calypso and Soca as just Carnival music, which is colonially brainwashed way of thinking that we should have emancipated ourselves from since our Independence in 1962.

If we go back and check the history of Calypso music especially during the golden era during the 30s, 40s & 50s when it went International, we will see that calypsonians sung about life and every topic in the world and not just about Carnival.

Calypso went on to inspire the rise of mento in JA in the 50s which led to ska, then rock steady then reggae and dancehall. In T&T Calypso led to Rapso, Soca, Chutney, Parang Soca and other hybrids.

Calypso is the mother of most Caribbean music styles so if Calypso and Soca is Devil music then so are most of the other Caribbean music styles that these ignorant folks listen to.

[Deeks]

I do not of any law on the books that banned carnival/calypso music for lent. Maybe there is. But I think it has more to do with TT once being a Catholic country and Catholicism being the "state religeon". The Brits did not messed with it because it suited them fine.  To the other religeous groups, it also was good for upholding their moral codes. Calypso was all about decadence. It seemed to me to be a voluntary thing by the radio stations(Rediffusion, Radio Trinidad and 610 Radio). But I think after 1970 that went thru the window. But the dye was cast already for a long time.

 As for JA calling Soca devil music. Case of the black pot calling the kettle super black. JA are not backwards with there lyrics either. I remember during lent only american and the burgeoning ska, rock steady, the occasional merengue and salsa. I remember a lot of raunchy early reggae by Prince Buster, etc. Wreck A body, wreck a poom-poom. Fatting on the Dock of The Bay. This was not played on the radio. It was played by people on their radiograms. This just goes to show the mindset of our people(Afro trini). They eh playing devil music for Lent, but they could play explicit JA music.

So when you see the youths dissing their own music and grabbing on to something that is more damaging, blamethe owners of the radio sations and their hypocritcal parents.