Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016

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

of those will sign to an independent label or self-

release content.

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

When looking at expanding to new markets, what many musicians will

neglect is to look to expand their home markets first.

OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE