Market stage shows, artistes better

THE EDITOR, Sir:

As a frequent visitor from the United States to your island, I like to stay current on island happenings by reading The Gleaner. Kingsley Cooper's article ('Tessanne proves the point of creative business', Gleaner, December 20, 2013) interested me as he talked about an entertainment venue in Negril.

I fully support his idea and know that other island visitors would as well. I have made trips to see Reggae Sumfest and would come to see other shows if there was a way to have more advance notice of the artistes who would be appearing on the bill.

For example, we are less than a month away from Rebel Salute, but no complete artiste line-up has been released. The same holds true for the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival. If the artistes to appear could be more widely publicised in advance, I strongly believe there would be a significant increase in attendance.

Sumfest does a somewhat better job, but there is still some room for improvement on advance artiste line-up information from that organisation as well.

Mr Cooper is correct. Jamaicans are special and unique with extraordinary talent. Why is it so difficult to finalise the contracts with the performers, so effective marketing can be done?

I have spent hours on iTunes searching out great reggae. I was a fan of Ms Chin's two years prior to her appearance on 'The Voice' through my love of reggae and the help of iTunes. I was thrilled to learn she would compete on 'The Voice'. Congratulations to her for the tenacity to achieve her goals.

Please bring more of these wonderful artistes to the world's attention by promoting them effectively and, most important, on a more timely basis.

One love and big up, Tessanne Chin! You are 'The Voice' for Jamaica right now.

GINGER SHARP

ginger.sharp@att.net