David Ireland, the owner of Ireland Records and producer of Malie Donn’s “V6”, is defending the decision not to sell the record after an offer was made by a major label out of the United States.
Malie Donn appeared downcast in a recent interview as he revealed that he could have been signed to a major label deal had it not been for the fact that he had no rights in the masters of the song “V6”.
This year alone, several Jamaican artists have struck major record deals, like Masicka, who signed to Def Jam, and Teejay, who signed to Warner Music. In the latter’s case, he was able to buy a new home for his family, and thanks to the label’s funding, he has also traveled and performed at events he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to had it not been for the deal.
Many artists like Malie Donn believe that a major label deal might be what they need to get to the next level. However, the artiste revealed that the label that approached him wanted exclusive licensing of the track, and without that, a deal is not on the table.
However, Ireland is standing behind his decision not to sell the song, even if it means that the track could have transformed the life of Malie Donn. According to him, he was approached by Stefflon Don to remix the track, but Malie Donn turned down the offer.
“Ireland Records owns the masters; I am the owner of Ireland Records. It was a good decision not signing it over to the labels. We got a bigger deal to even do a remix with Stefflon Don and that was turned down by the artiste. The song has been doing well on its own, so we didn’t need a major label,” Ireland said.
The producer claims the song is best with him since overseas labels don’t know much about dancehall. “Major labels don’t know what to do with dancehall music. Look at Talibans (by Byron Messia) and Drift (by Teejay), those were big songs before major labels got involved. We don’t need the major labels. What can they do that we haven’t done?” he asked.
The producer added that his decision would benefit the artiste later on, especially since the song has generated interest from many labels across the world.
Ireland previously produced hit songs like “Glock” and “Middle Day” by Chronic Law, “Oh Jah” by Jah Cure, and “Tip Inna It” by Laa Lee, among others, and he’s worked with some of dancehall’s biggest names including Beenie Man.
