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January 19, 2007
Music Time Now - forget about the lyrical confrontations
By: Secret Agent
While dancehall fans here in Jamaica have been wrapped up in the frantic tit-for-tat jabbing between feuding artistes, and the dangerous overtones now being carried in the lyrics, they have ignored some progressive moves being made in, for, and on behalf of the music.
The MIDEM Music conference kicks off in Cannes France this weekend with mouth-watering plans being discussed by the local players who will be attending.
MIDEM is the premier arena for music moguls who are serious about inking business deals, sealing distribution arrangements, and exploring technological innovations. These are common at this festival, and Jamaicans are jumping on the wagon heavily this year.
Apart from the regular string of top shot producers, lawyers, and industry players, representatives from the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts, and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission have joined the parade as well. Also in the mix is a special set of young artistes including Oba Simba, Etana, Nanko, and Omar Reid, all considered still 'green' on the local circuit.
Developments in the music are virtually changing the business, and it appears that not many of the artistes and fans here have made full use of it. The world wide web has allowed artistes to post and broadcast themselves and their music to the world at any time and from almost any place.
With the advent of Podcasts, File sharing, and Blogging, where ring tones and tunes are shuffled around from gadget to gadget between friends, aggressive and smart marketing is needed for local artistes to establish themselves worldwide.
At the recent Press Launch for MIDEM, Geejam Studio's John Baker said times are different now, and local acts must cash in on it.
"The industry is very different now," he remarked. "We're actually going through an apocalyptic change and it's a very positive thing for Jamaica...The Record business is being monopolized by major corporations for many years. Gradually they're swallowing each other up which leaves people like us to develop independent entities again, through digital means."
Many artistes here make tons of cash annually, so they're able to comfortably invest in technology and pay for unconventional marketing. Bearing these rapid changes worldwide, why aren't more of them using the technology more often to launch themselves in other markets?
Attorney-at-law Lloyd Stanbury feels the old ways of the music business are limited in today's cutting edge world.
"The business is changing, pretty soon not many people will be going to a record shop," he declared at the launch.
"It's no longer about getting a record deal from a company, it's about finding a way to get your music to the kids, who are kicking."
With 2007 starting with this conference, hopefully the seeds will bear fruit for 2007. This could probably be the proverbial hand that dancehall pundits have been crying for to slap some sense into the dancehall business, so it can focus on making more money, rather than enduring only on hype and horror.