Multi-platinum singer Shaggy is reiterating that reggae and dancehall artists need to educate themselves for ever evolving music industry if they expect to compete on the international stage. The Boombastic artist was speaking with Anthony Miller on Entertainment Report aired on Friday October 21, and he shared that information and education are two of the most useful things for the longevity and growth of an artist’s career.
“You have to be bankable, we are already at a disadvantage because we are only less than 5% of the market share, you gonna have to be a super artist,” the Ranch Entertainment artist says about reggae artists.
He says he has grown since his entry in the business because he put himself under a process of development.
“The Shaggy I am today is not the Shaggy I am when I just started, the Sean Paul you see today is not the Sean Paul he was when he just started, so there is a growth process,” he said.
With hits like It Wasn’t Me, Angel and Boombastic, Shaggy is as immortal as they come in the sync licensing world of music. He has scored Super Bowl ads with brands like Cheetos and Levis, but he says he became more aware of the business of music by hangin with Sting with whom he released and toured the Grammy winning album 44/876.
In the Jamaican parlance the Gulf War US Marine veteran said, “I used to think I make good money until i started touring with Sting and I say ‘rahtid music can make them kinda money yah?’ because I had no idea.”
His buddy Sting recently sold his catalogue to Universal Music Group for a whopping $300 million.
“There is music business and there is also the business of music, if I knew then what i know now the amount of money I woulda swim innah…it is so vast the amount of avenue and income this entertainment can bring you, anf if you don’t know how to monetize it you lost and other people will take it dont care how the hung you up and say you a me song you me bredda, you a me sister once there is an opportunity to take it they will take it,” the 54 year old music legend continued.
Shaggy says the right manager is key to developing an artist’s career but that manager must be sensitive to the marketplace.
“If you get a manager who don’t know how to build a career they just know how to collect a money then you gonna have a problem, you have to figure out what to take and when to get your money, when to say the opportunity, the look is better than the money, you have to know and that takes experience and education,” he said.
He plans to bring valuable insight to the music industry in Jamaica through the
“I want to bring some of my friends, people who i deal with, the head of some of these companies and let people learn, just come in and just learn,” he stated.
The 1995 album of the same name won the Grammy award for Best Reggae Album in 1996.
Robert Livingston, Shaggy’s then manager and producer of the track told World Music Views how acceptable the world was to Jamaican music at the time;
“When Boombastic was number one on the British Chart I had 4 different No. 1 records at the same time,” he explained to WMV News.
The rock infused track saw successes in Ireland, UK, Sweden, New Zealand, and Australia, where it topped the singles charts. It spent a week at number one on the US Billboard R&B chart, and reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
Part of the original Boombastic’s success is due to its involvement in a Levi’s commercial which became popular all over the world in key music markets. The claymation commercial featured the song playing as a man used the core of his Levi’s jeans to save a woman from a burning building as they both swing on a makeshift zip-line into each other’s arms.
Shaggy also told Anthony Miller of Entertainment Report last year that artists should make more songs that can synchronize if they want success.
“So we have to think about what that sound is – and the language and the melodies, and all of these things that work. Songs like what Barrington Levy is doing and all of these songs. Those songs are great sync records and we have to create sync records, records that do well in movies and commercials and stuff like that. You can’t just do it fi yuh likkle niche market. Is either you gwine keep it local or global,” Shaggy told Miller.
Speaking on how Boombastic was composed for the foreign markets so that it would get radio play, Shaggy recalls when his team, “…put in Marvin Gaye sample under Boombastic to create a leverage so that we can get on these platforms, and that’s kinda what we have to kinda figure out. Because we are in the age of hybrids. Everything is a hybrid at this point,” he explained.
As for how much he makes with his catalogue of hits including Boombastic? Shaggy told World Music Views last year in May, “my catalogue does very well. My syncs do better than any other reggae artists including Bob. We just did Cheetos, Chase. But I have partners because when I came out the only way to get on the radio is to have samples. We did covers and samples and whatever was needed to get on the radio. So I share revenue with them even though the catalogue makes money, I have partners.”
Other countries where Boombastic the single has certifications include Australia : certified Platinum (70,000), Austria certified Gold (25,000), France certified Gold (250,000), Germany certified gold (250,000), New Zealand certified Platinum (10,000), Norway certified Platinum (10,000), and United Kingdom where the song first took off it is certified Gold for selling more than 400,000 units.
Grammys
