Nolan Baynes talks Caribbean music in the lead-up to IMC
Published:Monday | January 9, 2023 | 7:36 PM
Entertainment marketing executive, Nolan Baynes, who is currently general manager for 300 Studios and IAS Agency, is one of the panellists at the Island Music Conference (IMC) in February.
A Caribbean citizen, Baynes believes that “if all the countries of the region came together it would provide a power base that cannot be ignored. As individual nations we can only offer a few million in audience. However, collectively we can provide over 40 million people, that is a huge consumer marketplace ... If the Caribbean can demonstrate a comprehensive region of fans who consume the music, provide a touring base and provide a cultural incubator for incredible musical/cultural movement … the world will take notice”.
IMC shares its pre-conference Q&A with Baynes, who is a member of the Content Evolution Panel which will meet on February 10.
Our major mainstream artistes are pretty much a Shaggy or a Sean Paul where it concerns our global numbers and our global strategy out of Jamaica and out of the Caribbean. Is there a formula that we’re missing?
“I have a long answer, but will try to be concise. Our artistes aren’t able to ‘break thru’ because they/we tend to only cater to the educated dancehall fan. The music for the most part is niche. Shaggy and Sean Paul have a digestible sound (by global standards) and their music tends to be more pop-centric (popular/larger audience) … Dancehall’s path went a bit more hardcore and restrictive. Music is a language and if the language is hard to comprehend, global fans won’t be able to embrace it. Afrobeat artistes used dancing and joy to sell their brand of music. Now that is reason one … if the music is not global, digestible with the potential to have a large TAM (Total Addressable Market) and able to grab the imagination of a larger audience, it will be difficult for strategic business partners (labels, management, agencies, etc.) to risk on us. Those partners help us to scale our business, but a lot of them don’t understand or appreciate the heavy lift of promoting our music. The solution is simple … we have to start by making music that is incredible by anyone’s standards. We have to make sure the music stands for something. It must be emotive and inspiring … we need movements. Our artistes must be invested in the craft. When we do that, we can provide the world with something different and exciting. We can’t make singles; we have to think about a comprehensive body of work that provides a narrative that anyone can buy into. Until we do that, labels and strategic partners will not invest. Shaggy and Sean for the most part created their own creative movements, attracted larger partners and never strayed from that path. After you achieve that, there is still another level to go … taking your brand beyond entertainment … .”
The IMC is a convergence of global music practitioners in a Caribbean location, looking to strengthen the Jamaican and wider Caribbean music voice. Do you think there is any significant importance for a conference like this on the island?
“Our culture is a huge selling point of our music. The way we talk, laugh, dance, love … our expressions are all tied to the incredible settings we see and experience every day. The way the warm tropical breeze feels on our skin, the beach, cool river water, the bright flowers and dense forests … our food, the variety of skin colours … all of that helps produce our vision of the world and hence come alive in the music we make. It’s important that the ‘big players’ experience that. It’s a prerequisite to understanding our music. IMC got it correct by staging the conference in the Caribbean. Those vanguards of the industry must be reminded that we are amazing. We need to remind ourselves of how incredible we are as a people and the land that provides for us and nurture us is the foundation of our music and culture. I applaud Shaggy, Judith and Sharon for this IMC initiative.”
Nolan added, “Coming together means we will need to have the technology and infrastructure to demonstrate measurable economic data. As a region we are slow to embrace technology to help measure our business viability … that needs to change. The Caribbean region, if united via technology and business initiatives will and can become a powerhouse for the music industry.”
Endorsed by Jamaica’s Culture Ministry, IMC is co-founded by Orville ‘Shaggy’ Burrell (chairman), media maven Judith Bodley and music mogul Sharon Burke.