A top music industry exec at iTunes has been slammed after declaring he wanted nothing to do with Jamaican artists.
Kirk Bonin, Artist/Label Relations Manager at iTunes Music Store, Apple?s online music retail shop, admitted telling aides for reggae star Buju Banton that he wanted nothing to do with Jamaican musicians after Banton?s company Gargamel Music Inc approached the iTunes for support in the distribution of his new single Magic City.Responding to an email sent by Banton?s record company before his Memorial Day concert in Miami Bonin wrote: ?Please remove me from any (mailing) list having to do with this artist or any Jamaican artist actually?.
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Bonin?s comment infuriated Banton?s handlers and the wider Jamaican music industry. Tracii McGregor, vice president of New York based Gargamel Records said Bonin?s comment was a slap in the face of all Jamaican artists who have worked hard over the years to make the music successful. ?I don?t know who this man thinks he is and what point he?s trying to make but it sure is scary that someone in such a position would be prepared to make such a statement. He has undermined the tremendous relationship that Jamaican artists and the reggae music buying public have had with Apple for years.?
And a senior executive at the Jamaica Federation of Musicians said the statement was misguided and called on Apple to discipline Bonin. ?Millions of people shop on iTunes for reggae music. It is most irresponsible that a manager charged with key responsibilities would seek to make such a sweeping statement which has the potential to rupture what has been a fruitful relationship between Apple and reggae music. Many people are deeply concerned that this kind of view is expressed in too many music boardrooms.?
But Bonin told The Voice he was expressing his personal views and not those of the company. He said: ?I am personally offended by his homophobic lyrics. Unfortunately I had a friend who was murdered in a homophobic attack some years ago. His lyrics personally and spiritually upset me and when I come to work in the mornings and I see those emails they bring back painful memories. I?ve heard his records and from my listening and interpretation the lyrics are still there.?
Bonin said he did not see any reason for an apology and does not anticipate that his comments will affect the relationship between the reggae industry and Apple. He said that the iTunes music store still boasts an impressive range of Buju Banton?s music. ?I personally won?t deal with it but there are people who work beneath me who love reggae music.?
However McGregor was unimpressed by Bonin?s explanation. ?If those were his personal feelings, he?s entitled to express them. But I was certainly not expecting that as a professional comment. If his statement comes against the background of the campaign that has been waged against reggae music in recent times then I ask how it is that no music executive has come out against Eminem whose style of music resonates more readily with them? ?
