By Howard Campbell—-
THE third Jamaica Music Conference starts Friday in Kingston. To be held over three days, seminars with presentations by industry insiders dominate the roster.
Kwasi Bansu, CEO of the event, said participation has grown since the conference debuted.
“The response is growing every year. Our first year, 2013, we were at Edna Manley and had an audience of little over 100 people. Last year we had close to 300 people over two days. However, we recognize that more efforts are necessary and so we have partnered with publicists and grass roots organisations on the ground to increase awareness,” Bansu told the Jamaica Observer.
An interesting aspect of the conference takes place on opening day with ‘The Foundation: The Role of Education in Creating Independent Music Professionals And a Sustainable Music Industry’ which focuses on youth involvement.
Rayven Amani, founder of the Jamaica’s Best High School Band competition, will lead a discussion on the importance of music programs in high schools.
“We have created a youth component as we realize more must be done to create a culture of education within the creative industries for artists and musicians. The most effective way to accomplish this necessary goal is to start with the youth,” Bansu explained. “By exposing young people to the realities of the music industry early they will better be able to prepare to operate a business within the music industry.”
‘The Institutions. Music Industry Institutions: How Jamaica’s Music related institutions serve Jamaica’s Independent Music Professional; the Women of the Jamaica Music Industry, Music and Social Change, Reaching the People: The Direct to Consumer Relationship and Navigating Prime Time, complete the list of seminars.
Ibo Cooper of the Edna Manley College, music industry lawyer Kendall Minter, and artist manager Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, are some of the presenters for the Jamaica Music Conference.
The seminars take place at the University of the West Indies, Nanook headquarters and Haile Selassie High School.
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