Cutting ties – When artiste/manager relationships go bad

Deejay Busy Signal (left) and his former manager Shane Brown in better times

By Cecelia Campbell-Livingston

Observer Staff Reporter   livingstonc@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, March 28, 2013

THE seemingly unshakable bond between deejay Busy Signal and his  longtime manager/producer Shane Brown, was shattered recently with news of their  split.

There have been no details about what caused the parting of ways  which comes five months after the entertainer was released from prison in the  United States.

Following his release after three months in a Minnesota  penitentiary, Busy Signal had strong praise for Brown, the man behind some of  his biggest hit songs.

Brown was just as complimentary, saying he was committed to  reviving the deejay’s career.

Being a manager of Jamaican artistes is tough work. Entertainers  are known to change managers or publicists regularly.

Splash spoke with Tommy Cowan, former manager for acts such as  Dennis Brown, Israel Vibration, Junior Tucker and Inner Circle regarding the  challenges of managing a reggae artiste.

“Here in Jamaica artistes seem to want a manager to get them work  and spend on them. What they need is an agent to get them work,” Cowan said.

He says artistes splitting with managers when they hit the big  time is global with the latter most times coming away bitter.

“Sometimes an artiste gets to a position where they think they are  powerful after you have spent a lot of time, they want to walk…you think they  are ungrateful,” he reasoned. “You need to keep all that disgust out of your  system, it’s not even worth it going to court ’cause sometimes they don’t even  have it (cash) to refund you.”

Singer George Nooks has enjoyed many hits songs over the years  such as God Is Standing By, Forty Legs and Tribal War. Although he has several  persons handling his business affairs he is yet to find a suitable full-time  manager.

“It is difficult finding someone compatible with what you are  doing and what you want. Finding a good one (manager) is hard,” he says. Nooks  handles most of his managerial duties, but notes this extra work cuts into time  where he should be doing other things.

“I’m still looking as I can’t do everything,” he said.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Struggling-to-manage_13955603#ixzz2OqtA6svh