Teino Evans & Andre Jebbinson, Staff Reporters

Cowan

Christmas comes once a year, and while some artistes cannot be bothered with recording Yuletide songs, claiming it is unprofitable to do so, others say they record such songs, simply for the 'feel'.

Singer Da'Ville says this year is the first time that he has done a Christmas song, and it was definitely not to make a profit.

"Yes, is the first time me a do one (Christmas tune) 'cause couple people call me an suggest that I do it, so mi just decide say me going to deal with it. I never do it for the profit, because it only play for a couple days but it's all about the season an gives you audio presence.

"Whatever the reason, for every season, you have a tune," Da'Ville said.

Da'Ville's song, Every Year Every Christmas, was done in collaboration with Marcia Griffiths, a remake of the Luther Vandross' song, and was produced by O. Thomas and J. Brown for Fashozy Records.

For others, however, this Christmas will not be their first time producing songs for the festive season, as Tommy Cowan says this is the third year that he has released 'Christmas Everyday', and already he has sold over 12,000 copies.

Not bad for a compilation that is only good for two months out of the year.

"From my experience, if you have a good album, you will have good numbers. You find that some artistes come at the last minute to make an album and you don't usually get good sales in the first year, but it gets better," Cowan said.

He calls himself the 'Christmas album specialist' who knows how to rebrand albums each year. So while it may seem like these albums are short term, their long term benefits can be great.

Cowan already has an idea of what he wants to do next Christmas.

Santa Claus Do You Ever Come To The Ghetto was first released as a single by Carlene Davis two years ago, but now he is thinking about making it into a bonus track on Carlene's next Christmas album.

"When it was first released, it was a singles market. People prefer to buy albums these days. They will appreciate it if we add it," Cowan said.

Katalyst's approach was different, as they used only the Christmas melodies to talk about social issues.

"The truth is, it is relevant all year round. While people might not want to buy it, they can," said Mark Chung, one of Katalyst's managers.

While the numbers are not at an international standard, Chung remains satisfied with the progress of the album.

Danny Browne is impressed with the progress of his "last minute" album entitled, 'How We Celebrate Christmas', but said he would not have done it if the money had to came directly from his pocket.

"It would make no sense at all. As a Christian, I have to be putting the message out there. Thank God I have a studio and thank God I have my own studio," Browne said.

He said general music sales are down and that naturally affected Christmas albums.

Last year, a number of artistes both gospel and dancehall climbed aboard Santa's musical sleigh, but for some like T.O.K, the time was just not available this year.

"No we neva do one (Christmas song) this year, a just the time still, cause we a sort out some tings pon the album. But we did one last year, an mi tell you something about that, it look like it a pick up back this year again," Alex of T.O.K said, as the song has been playing on radio.

Last year, T.O.K released Gyal Ova Gun and while the title may not sound quite unlike a traditional Christmas carol, the song was about what they (T.O.K) would be doing for the holidays.

Well, whether these Christmas songs and albums have longevity or not, the consensus is not to make a profit, but 'tis the season for it, so why not!