Music O records, a newly established Gambian music label, last Friday signed a partnership contract with four of the country's promising artists at an official signing ceremony held at the Paradise FM Building in Kololi.

The four artists are; Rugiatou Jallow aka Rugie, Haruna Touray aka Manding Morry, Lamin Saidykhan aka Mighty Joe and Ebrima Suso aka T-Smallz. The signing ceremony has been described by many as a historic event in the sense that it is the first of its kind in the history of the country's music industry. The exclusive partnership deal covers a wide ranges of issues such as music production, release of materials, promos, marketing, as well as making Gambian music accesible to every household in the country and on the international market.

In his welcome address, Valentine Kabby Banjakey, the managing director of the Music O Records, expressed delight at signing on these four sprouting music talents, describing the event as a historic one in the annals of the country's entertainment circles. He assured the newly signed on artists that they will work tirelessly to meet the terms of the deal.Music O Records, he said, wants not just to be the biggest in the country, but to conquer the entire sub-region  as well. "This is actually the first time a music label of this kind has signed exclusive contracts, where both the artists and the company are actually protected legally," he stated.

He then described the occasion as a momentous and historic which will go down in the history books. "We are very proud to be the first and we hope that several other companies and individuals will try to  do same, because if another company signs up another four artists, then it would mean that more artists will be taken care of in a more professional way," he said. For his part, Harona Drammeh, the chief executive officer of the Paradise FM, said that, the journey  has been a long one, which began many years ago with very limited financial support. "Well nothing but big heads  wanting to succeed   in the music promotion business is all  that we have been up to some few years ago.And one thing that has always been present was the patronage of Gambian artists. We can therefore proudly say that, 80-90% of the music videos on GRTS were produced by Mediamatic," he said. "The signing ceremony today is to give backing to the artists and to be able to package The Gambia and sell it to the outside world.

The Paradise FM CEO  paid hommage to all the people  who have contributed  in promoting Gambian music citing people and groups like OKO Drammeh, "Ifanbondi','Sokoto Band', 'Super Eagles' among others, who have conquered Europe and the Americas with their brand of music.Entertainment, Drammeh added, not only generates income but has also made many countries popular saying; "We have seen in  neighbouring Senegal, where a small group of Mbalax artists in Senegal  travel  around the globe."

"Until recent times, we have seen  only a few youngsters like Singateh, Jalex, Penchabi, Fugitivez who occasionally play in Norway, England, and America. What has happened to the rest?" he lamented. He then called on other partners to support them in their quest to promote Gambian music.He congratulated the young artists for entrusting their music careers in Music O records, while assuring them  of that they will strive to put them on the world music map someday.

Other speakers at the ceremony included T-Smallz, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiary artists, and Ousman Jarju of Mediamatic. The ceremony was also characterised by a questions and answers session from the journalists.