Trident Music app offers payout to artistes

Artistes will soon profit from a new audio streaming e-commerce platform that claims to provide actual value to creatives by paying them 80 per cent of the money from work sold on the platform, its founder has said.

Graham Yarde, entrepreneur and founder of Trident Music, told those gathered for the app’s launch at Carrington’s Wesleyan Holiness Church on Friday that Trident Music would provide a better deal for artistes who often had to struggle to make money off wider-known internet platforms.

“My aim for Trident is to make it solely exclusive. I want that if Bajan artistes are out there on other streaming platforms and fans value them, they should be able to come to [Trident]. 

“Most artistes would put on all streaming platforms and then gain revenue from that; my aim is not that. I did not want to split [the revenue] in the middle, I wanted to give an incentive that they can gain more. The 80/20 [split], they are gaining more revenue from that.”

Yarde added that the upcoming platform was a dream come true for him, as he hopes the new application will become a platform to help bring new talent to the forefront.

“I am honestly emotional. I am trying to hold back tears,” said Yarde. “What drove me to start Trident Music was not only my love for technology and business, but I also see daily how our local artistes struggle to make ends meet. Yes, we put soca out there, because soca is our brand, but there is a lot of hidden talent out there.”

Carl Alff Padmore, in his first speech as president of the Barbados Public Workers Co-operative Credit Union, said he and the credit union fully endorse the platform and encouraged Yarde to see its archiving potential.

“There is a part of this that means a lot to me,” said Padmore, a comedian and spoken-word performer. “I would perform at NIFCA, and even then I would always ask myself where can I go to find my work and archive it…. What you are actually doing is archiving and documenting. So persons at the university [level] should be able to go on your site, and pull up music and archive the music of Barbados.

“Yes, go beyond the shores, but have a section that speaks to that archiving. Richard Stoute passed away recently, where can we go and find his full body of work and interviews and all of that?”

Entertainer, actor, media personality and entrepreneur Kirk Brown said Trident Music offers artistes a new platform, adding that he liked its “transparency”. 

“Obviously, it’s a level playing field. Most times you have to be booked, certain artistes may be given more opportunities; that comes with the territory. But here you have a platform where anyone from around the world can tune in,” he said.

The new application is scheduled to be launched on the Google Play Store and the App Store on September 30. Artistes interested in having their works featured during the initial stage can reach out to Yarde at tridentmusicbb@gmail.com. The platform also supports spoken word and visual artistes.