Bigger Potential

A couple of years ago, while sitting down with a brother named Max Rabaka, it was brought to my attention that governments should see music as a commodity - the way that Jamaica sees it. I didn't go as far as to research it any further but I took Max’s word for it. Jamaica has a music industry that provides for a major source of national income, and the Jamaican government plays an active role in keeping it alive through substantial grants and subsidies. Again, I didn't research any deeper into Max's claims but I have to say –“It’s a darn good idea!”

Music is an ever changing commodity but it’s definitely a sustainable commodity; meaning that it’s been around for ages and will continue to be around in the centuries to come. Now to drag the ink on the pen a wee bit further, I decided to contemplate ways in which a demographic sharing the same musical interests could thrive upon an industry that is at this stage immature, both in its market and somewhat in its identity.

In layman’s terms, the target market of island people share the same interests in music but no one has exploited that market and made it a spectacle. Bob Marley did a great thing specifically for islanders: We all love reggae music and everybody associates reggae music to us. The myth that reggae music is for cannabis smoking personalities is a falsely plastered image with an unknown agenda. There are a majority of reggae lovers that love the music for what it’s worth and not because it is associated with the Rastafarian religion or marijuana. Reggae in however form it comes in the market today is "island music!"

Next question – what are the islands doing about it? My blog may not get into the hands of any prime minister any time soon but it’s a scratch on the board for me to work towards something for the long run. To ensure that the generations of island people to come, have a say in the music of tomorrow, I think governments need to pay a little more attention to honing arts industries such as music and crafts. Not so much cultural music  that no one would understand because that would fall under tourism but more universal music genres and contemporary art forms.