Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016 - 2017

OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

When looking at expanding to new markets, what many musicians will neglect is to look to expand their home markets first.

of those will sign to an independent label or self- release content.

Records, based in Jamaica, and New York, has been a dominant force in exposing Caribbean content to a global audience, releasing around 50 albums a year from the most established regional acts. Their advantage has been access to the distribution channels in the United States and globally to put their product within reach of consumers. However, other than the relative handful of artistes that have access to VP, there are many more artistes and independent record labels in the Caribbean who are looking for ways to increase the reach of their music. At the same time, there is demand for newmusic as well as continued demand for back catalogue. Streaming accounts for 25% of revenue generated by the music industry and approximately 250 million albums are sold each year globally. The move to online consumption of music has some significant benefits for emerging artistes. Online streaming and sales allow the artiste to understand what types of music and artistes are popular inwhichmarkets. This can demonstrate which market may be most relevant for them to target with their music. The statistics also help the artiste compile the sales and impression statistics that prospective promoters and record labels will be looking for. Tools like Spotify, iTunes charts, Shazam, and Bandsintown can provide specific metrics. TheInformationTechnologyrevolutionofthe1990s andtheadventofsocialmediahavepresentedawider reach to artistes today than has ever been possible. In the age of the Internet, success is possible where an artiste with a quality product can inspire people to share their product, thereby creating millions of impressions. In other words, the sheer accessibility provided by the Internet means that an artiste can release content directly to a global audience, but it is important to stand out. Artistes need a strong web presence to disseminate content, and a strong

social media presence to engage fans and promote new releases.

When looking at expanding to new markets, many musicians neglect expanding their home markets first. The overall cost of expanding one’s home fan base is substantially cheaper than going abroad. While social media is an excellent tool for expanding overseas, it is also a great tool for expanding locally as well. Essentially, engagement is key. Tools such as video blogs or Instagram are excellent for developing content and canbe utilised by fans/friends to introduce newpeople andmusic acts. The principle reason to build an artiste’s fan base is that internationally, labels and promoters are heavily numbers based and a sizable local demographic is their first indicator of the potential for an artiste to be successful. In essence, the Internet provides a true litmus test for emerging artistes. The Internet is an enabler that has allowed artistes and labels to focus on music creation without significant middlemen, while allowing for domestic and international distribution almost instantly. In the past, this same music might not have had an outlet for radio play or distribution, but if themusician can focus on releasing a quality product then it may be possible to have the song gain a viral following. Caribbean artistes can benefit from this Internet revolution even outside of the traditional genres of soca and reggae, which have generally received the most attention from the region. However, it is critical that the music produced by the artiste is of the highest quality.When an artiste decides to compete for a share of the lucrative markets such as theUS, UK, Canada, Europe, and SouthAmerica, the competition is vastly increased. While there are approximately 7,500 acts signed to the major labels, there are hundreds of thousands of acts vying to be the new signed act, and many

There are examples of Caribbean artistes who have achieved fame or recognition through non- traditional methods. Bunji Garlin is one such artiste. Asoca powerhouse for almost two decades, his song, Differentology, caused ripples throughout the globalmusic industry in2013. At one point the song was one of the top searched songs on music matching service Shazam, as people throughout theworldclamouredtofindoutwhowasthisperson withthebigvoiceurgingthemto”getready”.Whatis special about theDifferentology experience is that Bunji demonstrated that in today’s interconnected world, through social media, a quality song can reach an international audience without the backing of a record label or other supporting firms that cost up to US$2 million, as previously mentioned. Recently, Bunji played at Central Park inNewYork andGlastonbury in theUK (Jamaican reggae star Chronixx also played at the festival this year), both of which are not venues normally associated with Caribbeanmusic. There are many people who see a silver lining when it comes to new markets for Caribbean music. One clear area for expansion is on the African continent. Since Caribbean music has strong roots in West African musical tradition, the rhythmic structures and sound of Caribbean music would hold some appeal. This market, although having sporadically hosted reggae artistes over the years, remains relatively unexplored. In addition to the traditional performance avenues, there are opportunities to license music for television, film, copyright, and digital and telecommunications platforms. There are 200million people between the ages of 15 and 24 on the continent, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa, making it the

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