I-Octane: artistes should not ignore Corporations5 min read

According to I-Octane, especially in light of declining record sales, artistes should focus more on branding and aligning with corporate companies.

The artiste pointed to acts like Drake and Rihanna who have taken their careers to new heights due to collaborations with entities like Apple and Tidal respectively.

The artiste, who has worked as an ambassador for companies like Busta, Golden Eagle and Digicel, believes the industry ought to understand that music is a business.

Octane also lashed out against critics of new, yet popular recording artiste Shenseea, who claim that the singer has risen to stardom too fast. I-Octane is of the view that her team at Romeich Records is doing exactly what they should be doing in terms of branding.

“That is exactly what they did to I-Octane. I don’t view her rise as being wrong, they are doing it perfect. Some of them say Octane buy out the business, and him sign corporate deal, so him do this and him pay fi dat. But that is what your music is supposed to do, this is a business. If I sign to Jay-Z right now, I can guarantee that I will be the biggest reggae artiste in Jamaica by tomorrow. So it is about branding … the industry tends to brand people like Shaggy and Sean Paul, who have made a transition, as sell-outs. But trust me, developing your brands, that is the way to go.”

The artiste is promoting a new self-produced album titled Love and Life. He believes sales have plummeted in the reggae market due to the lack of proper infrastructure, and also highlighted that his new album is not about sales, but rather establishing his brand.

Reggae artiste Chronixx recently announced that he is collaborating with apparel brand Adidas for a particular project. He also shared a photo on Instagram wearing sport apparel and juggling a football to highlight his affiliation with sports.

Reported by: Rochelle Mitchell