Five-day Island Music Conference returns

Set to take place from February 19 to 23 at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston, Island Music Conference (IMC) 2025, the third edition, promises a networking week of global music industry leaders converging to drive Jamaican, Caribbean and world music forward.

In a press release, the organisers stated that “the conference offers insight into practical strategies and tools for music industry professionals to successfully navigate the ecosystem”.

Endorsed by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Ministry of Tourism, the Jamaica Tourist Board, CHASE Fund, the Grammy’s and YouTube, among others, IMC’s 2025 staging will feature speakers from the soca, reggae, dancehall, hip-hop and Afrobeats fraternities. Experts will also focus on successful formats and techniques.

IMC 2025 boasts more than 25 panels and a songwriting workshop.

SCHEDULE

Days 1 – 5 will include keynote address, panels, songwriter workshops, leading music executives and practitioners demystifying and giving tips and insights into key global music topics, including:

How streaming platforms, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality are shaping the music industry

Government policies/ Partnerships for creative economy growth;

– Is music success a numbers game?

– Reclaiming the UK market

– Money management for the MIP

– Sonic branding

Grammy award winning artiste Mya, who was a panellist at the 2024 Island Music Conference, also told Blavity, one of 30 global media entities that covered the IMC 2024, that attending the IMC can potentially build one’s infrastructure.

“I’m an independent artiste, and I’ve never been to an event like this during my journey before I was an artiste or during my independent journey. So I love things like this, where unity is in the community and that there are people here to educate and uplift with awareness, knowledge and discussions; where we can ask questions, and a lot of things are on our radar in one place where we can pull from and decide what pieces to choose,” Mya shared.

Artistes including Kemar Highcon, StoneBwoy, Kevon, Jesse Royal and Yohan Marley performed with Shaggy and WyClef at IMC 2024.