UB40 urges local artists to adapt

Caption:  UB40 front man Ali Campbell

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, January 25, 2016 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

UB40 front man Ali Campbell has urged local artists in the country to adapt to the changing trends in the music industry.

His comments came when asked about music sharing online, which is a huge issue being faced by local artists in the country.

“We come from an era where we used to sell CDs (Compact Disks) where we started in excess of 70 million CDs.”

“You can’t do that anymore because of downloading and stuff, you have to adapt, it is as simple as that.”

“That is what’s happen, and they are not even making CD players anymore, so you have to adapt to the situation and we are very lucky that we are a live act.”

“There are a lot of people who are brushed away who used to make CDs, who were particularly known for live performance have disappeared now, because CDs used to help pay for your tour.”

He referred to the UB40 concert experience which he said at some point was paid by CD sales.

“You can really make money from CDs. You used to do it at concerts to advertise you CD, but now it is the other way around where your CD is to advertise your concert,” Campbell said.

He called on upcoming reggae bands locally to look back and concentrate on decent lyrics development.

“Search your roots out and try to be conscious and write good lyrics. Gangster lyrics are old fashioned and we are all tired of that.”

“Reggae is a music form and there are lots of different styles and a lot of people making reggae. Thing about reggae is that it is universally loved.”

“People in France, Italy- they don’t speak English but they all love reggae, you can say a lot more with the drum and the bass than you can say with language,” he added.