Page 48 - Reggae Festival Guide Magazine 2019

Jamaican

music

conference:

Putting action

Behind intention

M any working in the Jamaican new business partners, recording contracts

music scene can attest to a feeling and distribution deals in markets as diverse as

that the industry is fragmented. China and Canada. The JMC is not your average

There is a sense that Jamaican conference, and that’s a direct result of the

music, recognized and revered worldwide, intentional efforts of its organizers.

has not resonated with the government and

business community in its homeland; a feeling It is beyond time for Jamaica to have a clear

that the lack of an interconnected structure roadmap on how its people can better develop
at its core has limited the potential of this the business surrounding the several genres it

international sound. “Regulating reggae” and has gifted to the world. Jamaica has not had

its 13 sub-genres is a daunting task, but the to orchestrate the demand for the music it

Jamaica Music Conference (JMC) was designed makes – at this point in time, Jamaican music

as a response to this need, as an effort to create is already popular and loved worldwide – so

a supporting system behind Jamaica’s sound. we cannot continue to fail in making those
connections that are crucial to moving us past

In the seven years since its inception, Dejazmatch reggae’s roadblocks. This is the main purpose

Kwasi, one of the initial co-founders of the JMC, of the JMC: to create a space for the kind of
has nurtured the effort from a carefully planted

seed of a three-hour music industry gathering at The “Reggae Mekka Jamaica: Vision 2020”

the Edna Manley College of the Performing Arts, JMC conference will be held in Kingston,

to a well-rooted tree: a four-day multi-pronged Jamaica, February 13th-16th, 2020,

immersive experience that is already bearing and will feature increased showcases,

fruit! The conversations that have taken place new partnerships and contests, and an

over the years have led to action, and connections opportunity for the industry to shape the
programming.
forged at JMC have already seen attendees secure

48 Reggae Festival guide 2019