Jamaican Music Industry - Essay Example

? Jamaican Music Industry Jamaican Music Industry Introduction Jamaica is widely known for the creativity of its music industry. The Jamaican music industry has a great number of genres and the popularity of the musicians can be traced back to many years in the past. Today, Jamaican music is very popular outside Jamaica and as such, its artists are famous in many countries all over the world. While music industries in other countries are usually sidelined as insignificant to their economies, the Jamaican government safeguards its music industry as it is a major player in the country’s economy. Several researches were done on the Jamaican music industry between 2001 and 2002 and according to them Jamaican music industry is indeed significant to the national’s economy as it accounts for at least 12 percent of the total gross domestic product. The most amazing thing is the amount of the music export, which usually surpasses the local proceedings realized from the sale of music within Jamaica. In 2002, exported music amounted to 100 million dollars (McChesney, 2009, pp. 195). However, the current state of the Jamaican music industry is unable to sustain the artists due to inadequacy of professional and experienced producers, as well as unappealing distribution sector. The music quality fails to live up to the standards and piracy has risen to the extent that it has become a threat to the industry as it eats away the advantageous end of the industry. Moreover, the royalties from oversees music societies remain uncollected; there is lack of adequate knowledge when it comes to foreign markets and, thus, the amount of uncollected royalties from abroad is hard to define (McChesney, 2009, pp. 200). The purpose of this paper is to provide the information concerning the development of the Jamaican music industry and to access the main features within the industry. In addition to this, the paper will also bring forth the potential consequences with regard to the cultural industries within Jamaica. The main challenges on the way to achieving this aim are inability to get the full disclosure of the potential consequences in the area of cultural industries due to the diversified cultures entailed in Jamaica (Dorfma and Mattelart, 2005, pp. 43). Jamaican Music Development Jamaican Music industry has quite old and rich history but it became successful only in the early 1970s. This success is largely attributed to the late Bob Marley. As such, he has been acknowledged for transforming the reggae genre into an internationally known and accepted phenomenon. During this newly established wave of success, many new artists came up from Jamaica; the industry began its journey with regard to growth and development all over the world. Jamaican music can be said to have sprung from Jazz music, which was a stronghold of the U.S. Since Jamaica is a former U.S. colony, Jazz music was brought into Jamaica in 1949s and at that time Jazz was the only genre (Rutten, 2001, p. 302). This dominated the music industry until the late 1960s when another genre sprung from Jazz that was called race music but later renamed as Rhythm and Blues. Due to the emergence of this genre, jazz music slowly started its journey to oblivion in Jamaica. Indeed, Rhythm and Blues began transforming the music industry in Jamaica. Kingston began holding dances where strong sound systems would be installed and as such, music would dominate the air (Dorfma and Mattelart, 2005, pp. 47). Everybody, from young to old could be seen dancing to the tune of Rhythm and Blues. People would travel all the way to the U.S to obtain the new records and this became the trend. During dance sessions, a popular track would be played for up to twenty minutes in raw. The first sound systems to surface were Duke Reid and Clement Dodd. The competition between them became fierce as each wanted to outdo the other. This was ideal as it catalyzed the growth of the music industry in Jamaica. These systems exclusively played records from the U.S as at this time Jamaica had no recording facilities. The first production facility was established just before 1960. It was named Federal. With this facility established, homegrown talents started to surface experimenting with new music styles. Rhythm and Blues was quickly becoming unappealing during dances and this necessitated coming up with a new style of music, which was born soon; this new genre was called Rock ‘n’ Roll (Dorfma and Mattelart, 2005, pp. 69). The music industry was taken a notch high in the early 1960s. The first player was Edward Seaga. He found the second recording label called West Indian Records Limited and thereby assisting the local talents to produce their compositions. The local talents aped the U.S music and as such, their songs had an American notion in them. Edward Seaga promoted local talents and, therefore, it’s no wonder he became the first Jamaican Prime Minister. From there henceforth, many recording studios emerged and this marked the birth of the Jamaican recording industry (Wasko, 2003, pp. 47). After independence, a new music genre called Ska was established and this is the one largely attributed to the emergence of purely Jamaican music in which no American notion was included. Rhythm and Blues was transformed into Ska and the genre slowly established itself as music with smooth danceable beat. It was not until early 1970s when it became fully known and accepted. Reggae popularity can be attributed to then young Robert Nesta Marley. Indeed, due to his fine pieces of work, he managed to get tremendous returns from the sale of his works for just a short period of time (Wasko, 2003, pp.49). Live shows started being held in Kingston and hit songs started being produced. Due to its popularity, the Jamaican Government attempted to market it in the U.S. The government sent a team to the U.S. to promote the Jamaican music on the American market. They were supposed to perform and conduct Ska classes to the people in the U.S in order to impact acceptability. However, this did not go well as expected. Instead of the U.S. Ska became widely accepted in Britain. The main reason behind this was that there was a growing population of Jamaicans in Britain due to the events of the Second World War. Ska dominated the radio waves until mid 1970s when it moved on and never gained its tremendous popularity back. Music professionals were involved in continued researches until they blended Ska with new beats and, therefore, a new genre was born. This genre was named Reggae. Bob Marley again fared successfully in this genre as compared to other genres and as such, this became the beginning of international music rivalry. At first, the rivalry was insignificant and was taken as normal (Rutten, 2001, pp.40). This, however, changed when Bob Marley was mysteriously murdered. The Government took charge of the industry and as such, it introduced rules and regulations to govern the industry and common sense was regained (Martin, Michael and Roger, 2009, pp.180). New genres have since been established, but reggae and related genres have been adopted as the main trend in the modern Jamaican music industry. Today, there are widely known artists and, according to major researches concerning the world music at large, it is found out that, in every five popular hits, two of them come from Jamaica. In addition to this, many music awards are being held worldwide and it is Jamaicans who are dominating in nominations (Michael, 2002, pp. 175). Indeed, the Jamaican music genres have become increasingly prominent and as such, many artists from different countries adopt them (Martin, Michael and Roger, 2009, pp.185). Main Features of Jamaican Music Industry The most dominant feature in Jamaican music industry is the roots in folk music in regard to the African population. As such, the folk music tends to draw from a number of strands, that is, the fife, as well as the fife drum music originating from the Jokanoo masquerades, the Pocomania church and the adoption of the work songs during planting and European Quadrille. Jamaican music industry also entails disc jockeys, commonly referred to as DJs who talk, rap or even toast whenever the song is being played in a kind of stylistic response (Mihir, 2009, pp. 9). Another dominant feature of the Jamaican music industry is the large share contributed by the performances held overseas. As such, these oversees performances add up to the national earnings as it is a part and parcel of foreign exchange. The industry can be said as transnational because several key players, such as artists and firms involved, tend to spend a great deal of their time outside their countries. A good example is the Canadian firms and actors who can be traced throughout the Caribbean region (Mihir, 2009, pp. 10). Another important feature underlain in the Jamaican music industry is the contributions to the carnivals, which is by far significant. Furthermore, Jamaican music industry contributes to the entertainment, as well as the tourism sector, in a significant way. As such, most labels produce music putting festivity into consideration (Mihir, 2009, pp. 12). Current Debates concerning Jamaican Music Industry Jamaican music industry is usually largely attributed to the use of marijuana. Jamaican music videos across the media can be seen such that the individuals involved openly use the drug causing many debates to arise concerning whether it is good for the image of the music industry in Jamaica. Indeed, it has become an increasing concern among aggrieved parties as they see it as diminishing the positive attribute of the Jamaican music industry. Other individuals see such actions as immoral as it is the youth who are being affected. After all, the young people around the world adopt the vice. Other people don’t see any problem in this (Andrew, 2001, pp. 68). Potential Consequences of Cultural Industries on Jamaican Music Industry A cultural industry can be said to be mass produced and projected into mainstream popular culture, thus, it poses a threat to the development of Jamaican music industry which encompasses high arts. Cultural industries can have devastating effect on the Jamaican music industry as popular culture diminishes the efficacy of high arts (Andrew, 2001, pp. 70). The music industry entails some form of autonomy that in real sense has never been predominated in a form that can be regarded as entirely pure. In addition to this, the music industry’s autonomy encompasses constellation of effects and thereby permeability. If the modern cultural industries’ values are adopted in Jamaica, or any other country in the world, it means that the music industry’s autonomy will be withdrawn tangentially by the adopted culture within the industry, regardless of the fact whether the individuals mandated with the responsibility for decision making are conscious of it or not (Andrew, 2001, pp. 77). Conclusion From this analysis, it is evident that the music industry in Jamaica has come a long way before becoming popular in the world. The industry is, therefore, said to have started in 1940s when Jamaicans were still a colony of the United States. The U.S. introduced Jazz music that rocked Jamaica until race music began to flourish. This type of music was later renamed to Rhythm and Blues. This was again an American genre and as such, it was perceived as superior piece of work and everybody was crazy about it to the extent that people would go all the way up to the U.S. just to buy the records. It is during this time that dance competitions started to take place in Kingston. Later, two recording labels were established and this improved the ace of the Jamaican music industry. Local talents sprung and these systems assisted them a great deal. The Rhythm and Blues era reigned until Rock ‘n’ Roll era has began, which led to the establishment of many recording studios in Jamaica (Matt, 2011, pp. 40). The Reggae genre we have today took its shape in mid 1970s during Bob Marley’s era. When looking at the history of Jamaican music it becomes clear why Jamaican music industry is rich in features. There are several traditional aspects traceable in the industry, such as Jokanoo masquerades, the Pocomania church and the adoption of the work songs during planting and European Quadrille (Matt, 2011, pp. 40). In addition to this, Jamaican music industry entails performances abroad and as such, it earns Jamaica a great deal of revenues due to cultural exchange within the music industry. Jamaican music has became so popular that is foreign firms are interested in its promotion all over the world. The music industry also contributes to the carnivals, as well as festivals. As such, it makes these activities lively and promotes people’s engagement in them (Matt, 2011, pp. 41). Currently, there have been a number of debates arising due to the nature of the Jamaican music industry. These debates revolve around the issue of marijuana use, which is seen in music videos. The majority of people perceives this as a vice and condemns it while the others see it as appealing since, according to them, it improves the music themes. If popular culture industries were adopted in Jamaica, it would have negative effects on the music industry, which promotes alternative values in its essence. As such, the notion of cultural differences would jeopardize the music industry autonomy and thereby totally eliminate it (Matt, 2011, pp. 43). Recommendations To safeguard the music industry in Jamaica, the government should establish a body under which the artists will get their loyalties, that is, so-called Music Society. The government should also establish a unit among the law enforcers to protect the Jamaican music industry from local, as well as international piracy. In response to the underlying debates concerning the issue of marijuana use, the Music Society ought to abhor the music videos which seem to advocate the use of Marijuana. The owner of the music video should be prosecuted and punished accordingly. References Andrew, Leyshon. 2001. Time-space (and digital) compression: Software formats, musical networks, and the reorganization of the music industry. Environment and Planning. 33 (1), pp. 49-77. Dorfman, Ariel and Mattelart, Armand. 2005. How to read Donald Duck imperialist ideology in Disney comic. New York, NY: International General. Downing, John. 2006. Internationalizing media theory. London, UK: Sage. Martin, Keith, Michael Roger and Roger, William. 2009. The changing locations of intellectual property rights in music: A study of music publishers, collecting societies and music conglomerates. 17 (2), pp. 163-186. Matt, Davis. 2011. Jamaican music industry. Journal of High Arts, 6(2), pp. 40-45. McChesney, Robert. 2009. The political economy of media. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press. Michael, Alvin. 2002. Music licensing in the digital age. 10(3), pp. 165-177. Mihir, Bharat. 2009. The music industry in the digital world: Waves of changes. New York, NY: Institute for Technology and Enterprise Press. Rutten, Paul. 2001. Local popular music on the national and international markets. Cultural Studies. 5 (3), pp. 294-305. Wasko, J. 2003. How Hollywood works. London, UK: Sage Read More