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Several creatives, artistes, and musicians gathered at the latest instalment of the E-Registry Live series on Tuesday at the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sports’ offices in New Kingston. Held under the tagline ‘Building bridges, connecting the music industry,’ the event aimed to create networking opportunities and foster connections for up-and-coming musicians, creatives, consultants, and artistes.
The panel featured entertainment lawyer Sarah Hsia; Joe Bogdanovich, promoter and CEO of Downsound Records; radio personality Burgerman; record producer Corey Johnson; publicist Claude Mills; and selector Marlon ‘Boom Boom’ Wizard. Several industry heavyweights, including Howard McIntosh, chairman of the Entertainment Advisory Board, were also in attendance.
Olivia Grange, minister of culture, gender, entertainment, and sport, announced that the next phase of the Jamaica Entertainers and Creatives Insurance Plan (JECIP), which provides health coverage for music industry creatives, would be launched soon. The government has allocated $55 million from the Consolidated Fund to support JECIP policies for these practitioners.
The event sparked discussions on several key issues facing the music industry. Boom Boom raised concerns about the Night Noise Abatement Act, which he argued negatively impacts event promoters and the livelihoods of sound system selectors. This led to a wider conversation about the establishment of entertainment zones across the island.
Trademark protection was also a hot topic. Hsia emphasised the importance of trademarks, leading to a revealing moment when Boom Boom admitted he had not yet registered the Boom Sundays trademark with the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office. Hsia advised him to take the necessary steps to safeguard his business interests.
Publicist Claude Mills shared his experiences building a personal brand, having worked with notable entertainers like Beenie Man, Vybz Kartel, and Khago, among others. Mills also pointed out that the narrow focus on crime, sex, and violence in today’s dancehall has contributed to reggae’s marginalisation on the world stage, losing market share and relevance to Afrobeats.
“...MTV has a Top Afrobeats video award, Billboard has a Top Afrobeats song award, where are the accolades for dancehall?” Mills mused.
Joe Bogdanovich called for greater unity within the music business, encouraging collaboration between artistes, promoters, talent-buyers, and creatives. His call was met with applause from the audience. He also confirmed that another edition of Freedom Street would take place this year.
Burgerman injected a moment of levity in the proceedings when he chided Bogdanovich that his most enduring memory of Freedom Street centred on an outburst regarding a suggested act to be performed on someone’s matriarch. Much laughter greeted this remark.
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