Call for Government to ban music on PSVs

Government has been urged to ban the playing of music on public service vehicles (PSVs). 

The call came from Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne during debate in the House of Assembly recently on the Copyright Bill, 2025.

The Christ Church South Member of Parliament also suggested Government purchase the works of late author Timothy Callender and broadcaster Alfred Pragnell.

Thorne commended the intentions of the legislation to protect the works of young artistes and support their goals of making money from their talents.

However, he said the focus should not be on monetisation at the expense of “a moral deficit”.

Music, he stressed, was not played internationally on public service vehicles and queried why it should be allowed on local PSVs. 

In a reference to some of the music played on PSVs, he said: “It is not entertainment. It is degrading . . . . Students on the way to school are affected by filth.”  

The King’s Counsel lamented the airing of messages associated with sex and violence and recommended that Government “consider removing music from public service vehicles”.

“The talent may be there but there are consequences for the children, there are consequences for the entire society. May I suggest we encourage the young people to make money but we also make a good society”. 

The Democratic Labour Party leader applauded the National Library Service for its radio service, Radio Bimshire, which recently carried folk stories written by Callender and read by Pragnell.

“We were lamenting the absence of Barbadian literature from the curricula in schools,” he said.

Thorne speculated that limited readings on Radio Bimshire could be related to copyright legislation and protection of the artistes’ rights.

He recommended that Government buy the works of Callender and Pragnell to expand the number of broadcasts carried by these “two geniuses”. (HH)