Tanya Batson-Savage,
Staff Reporter THE BUBBLING cauldron of Kingston's city streets combined with the force of Jamaican folk rhythms, strained through the rhythmic power of the drum and bass, created reggae. But though the island is the originator it only reaps the 'small daawg's' share, while lions feast elsewhere.
While interest in reggae stretches far beyond our shores, an increase in reggae fans does not automatically translate into a greater market for Jamaican reggae acts. Reggae strongholds such as Germany, France and Japan all have local musicians who record reggae in their native tongues and even occasionally in Jamaican creole.
According to a survey conducted by the entertainment cluster of the Jamaica Cluster Competitiveness Project (JCCP) in January, a lack of management skills is interfering with the local artistes' meal plan.
In very simple terms, skilled managers are needed in order to take full advantage of the international interest in Jamaican rhythms. Artistes need more just than talent to survive, especially as the music industry stares at a downturn in CD sales, while at the same time being in the hands of only a few major players.
The survey was sent to 80 international labels and the results are based on a 34 per cent response. Marcela Escobari, director of the entertainment cluster, argues that the response rate is quite commendable.
According to the survey, the four most important attributes in a manager and artiste are stage craft, reliability, communication skills and trusting relationships. Unfortunately, according to the labels polled, communication skills proved to be the weakest skill of Jamaican managers. Knowledge of contracts, basic accounting skills and knowledge of marketing and promotional strategies were also low.
On average, the Jamaican manager scored 4.1 out of seven, while the non-Jamaican managers averaged 5.8. As Escobari pointed out, Jamaican managers fall significantly below the international standard and the figures show that managers in the music industry generally need improvement.
However, the weaknesses of Jamaican managers are particularly significant because labels believe that managers are key to negotiating the music world and maximising the artiste's potential. The survey says that managers should be key players in merchandising and sponsorship, but these are some of the weakest areas.
While the rest of the reggae worlds lags behind, the Bob Marley Group of companies show the true potential of merchandising, making Marley one of the top 10 highest earners, worldwide post mortem.
Additionally, the artiste's success depends heavily on booking services, marketing and publicity, as penetrating the major markets relies on radio shows and live concerts.
Harnessing these skills are important to ensuring that we do not end up with only one Shaggy and/or Sean Paul every five or 10 years. Neither is a fluke, but has reaped the reward of talent combined with skilful management.
As the aim of the JCCP is to make Jamaican products more competitive, the results from the survey will be used in association with HEART/NTA to offer a series of workshops targeted at music industry professionals, slated for March 12 through to April 24, 2004. The workshops are: 'Record Production Management' (Jeremy Harding), 'Professional Event Planning & Production' (Lisa O'Gilvie), 'Stage Presentation' (L'Antionette Stines), 'Entertainment Marketing' (Andrea Davis) and 'The Business of Music' (Clyde McKenzie).
Along with looking at the picture international labels have of Jamaican managers, the survey also revealed possibilities for building the profit margin of the technical side of the industry.
Currently, most of Jamaica's involvement in the music industry dangles at the beginning of the very lucrative food chain. However, there is much scope to become involved in the technical aspects.
Of the 18 labels which responded to the questions about the kinds of work that they get from sources other than their own, 66.7 per cent outsource studio rental, 63.7 per cent (of 17) outsource music production and re-mixing and 70.4 per cent (of 19) outsource video production. More importantly, several of the labels expressed great interest in outsourcing these and other technical areas of the music business to Jamaica.
The 2003 Grammy Awards were significant to the reggae industry in several ways. For the first time since its 1986 inception the reggae category tripped and almost got booted from the ceremony because sufficient albums were not sent up to be reviewed for nomination. The falter seems to be a signal that the reggae music industry needs to 'wheel and come again'.
At the brighter end of the spectrum were Sean Paul's three nominations and his Reggae Grammy win. Also of great importance was No Doubt and Lady Saw's win, with Underneath it All. No Doubt's success with the album Rocksteady, which is based heavily on reggae rhythms, is important for more reasons than that their collaborations with Jamaican artistes, although Bounty Killer and now Saw have earned awards from the American music industry through this route.
At first glance they speak to the international interest in Jamaican rhythms. Rocksteady's success also speaks to the technical strength of the Jamaican music industry. Some of the tracks from the album were recorded locally and included the talent of rhythm making duos Steelie and Cleevie and Sly and Robbie.
Escobari points out that Jamaica has the greatest concentration of studios, second to Nashville, in the United States. In order to get a larger slice of the musical pie, Jamaica has the potential to become a source of technical facilities and labour,
as well as being a point of
inspiration.
