Seaton Urges – By Kisean Joseph
Seaton Urges Festivals Invest
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Recording artist Arlen Seaton is urging festival organisers to reduce the number of overseas headliners and invest more of their budgets in developing homegrown musical talent.
In an interview with Observer Media, Seaton argued that promoters could scale back foreign bookings without losing crowd appeal and reinvest the difference in local artists.
“I think a lot of times we feel like the local acts may have a lesser draw or be of lesser quality,” Seaton said. “But the only way to improve is if we get the reps in. So instead of booking four or five headliners from overseas, cut it down, book three, and take the extra budget that you have and put it into promising local acts.”
Seaton went further, using one of the region’s top-paid soca acts as an example of how reallocating a single booking fee could transform a local artist’s career.
“Let us book the big gigs, the 80,000 US that Machel Montano might get,” he said. “Take half of it and give it to Tian. Let Tian take his money and make more music. Hire Young Lyrics, hire Empress. That’s how they develop themselves. Put them in the spotlight, let them be the headline, and learn how to be a headlining act.”
He was careful to stress that his proposal is not a call to exclude international performers altogether. “I’m not saying not to bring anyone in at all. We are soca lovers and we love soca from all over the world,” he said, adding that he would still buy tickets to see major regional stars perform. His point, he said, is one of balance: “Invest at home. Don’t just push the overseas guys.”
Seaton also challenged local audiences to support homegrown artists rather than wait for international validation. He pointed to Antiguan acts Tian and Young Lyrics, currently performing in London, as proof that local talent already competes on the world stage – sometimes receiving a stronger reception abroad than at home.
“Sometimes we wait for outside to validate us before we say, okay, these people are actually good enough,” he said. “We don’t have to do that.”
Seaton’s remarks followed the fourth staging of his own concert series, A Night with Arlen and Friends, held last Friday. The series showcases local recording artists and songwriters alongside his own performances. He said the event grew out of his own struggle to gain visibility among Antiguan audiences despite streaming success abroad.
