BY AVIA COLLINDER–
DownSound Records (DSR), led by entrepreneur Josef Bogdanovich who partnered with Sting’s Isaiah Laing to stream the island’s largest annual concert live to 179 countries worldwide, indicated on Wednesday that it is planning to deliver its own international staging of artists before year end.
With Swiss bankers UBS in tow, Bogdanovich announced at a conference in Kingston that he was ready to roll out his own brand of international festival, adding as well that DSR was two months away from completing a state-of-the-art music studio to which international artists will be invited to record.
“We have a studio under construction being developed by a mastering genius. We hope to attract international talent to record in a place where they can feel safe and inspired,” he stated.
The amount being invested was not shared. Other details of the international concert Bogdanovich said would be disclosed at a later time. However, using Sting as an example, he said DSR in 2013 delivered the 10-hour show to 179 countries with “high resolution, no breakdowns and production which was maybe the best you have ever seen”.
UBS, based in Zurich, has some US$2 trillion in assets under management globally. Representatives said they were on the hunt for ‘interesting’ projects.Bogdanovich is a shareholder in Kingston Live Entertainment (KLE) which operates the Usain Bolt-branded Tracks and Records restaurant; and Hardware and Lumber. His personal project DSR is now ready to export its own brand of Jamaican music for world consumption, he said.
The musical entrepreneur said that he has found ways to monetise reggae and Jamaican music, products for which the market is performing far below its potential for want of appropriate production and marketing.
In a comparison of Jamaica to Trinidad during his presentation, Bogdanovich equated reggae music to oil, describing the cultural product as a resource which could make inner-city youth wealthy.
“There is no oil here. What I am concerned with is bringing the business of show business to the youth and to bring the unity that will make an entire country prosper.”
He added, “I see reggae music as a natural resource which is underdeveloped. It is the best music coming out of the Caribbean.”
In addition to the staging of an international concert this year, Bogdanovich said he was also close to completing a new musical production platform that would make it cheaper to produce and market music.
“I am developing a better team, an international team,” Bogdanovich said, adding that among the group were private equity advisors. Present at the meeting was Marcus Richards of Greystone Capital, whom he described as responsible for leading the change process at Hardware and Lumber.
Both Bogdanovich and Richards are part of Argyle Industrial Inc which bought GraceKennedy’s 58.23 per cent stake in Hardware and Lumber on December 29. Bogdanovich declined to state his own shareholding.
KLE Limited, Bogdanovich said, had turned out to be a good investment with shares now worth $3.5 up from $1 when he went in one year ago. He said that Tracks and Records will be rolling out five new franchises in the next 12 months.
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