UTUSAN Malaysia reported local jazz queen Datuk Sheila Majid (pic) as lamenting that many people were being featured as “artistes” just because they have many followers on social media.
Sheila, who ruled the local charts in the 1980s and 1990s with hits like Sinaran and Lagenda, said artistes should be featured for their talent and not for their popularity on social media.
“You’re not an artiste if you have many followers on social media. That’s just popularity,” she said, adding that it was too easy nowadays to get coverage.
“Let them be popular on Facebook or Instagram because that’s their right but the mass media has to play a role to ensure that local artistes have a class of their own based on talent,” she said.
The 51-year-old said true artistes were the ones with talent and who were unique.
