Music Matters: The Caribbean Edition

Laura and Nigel host a panel at the MusicTT RVRB X Conference in Trinidad on Festivals as the new investment opportunities for the regional music industry, with Dr. Jo-Anne Tull from Barbados and Sobers Esprit from Dominica. They speak on the development and business opportunities for growth and data capture of the live music festival industry, with a goal of finding a workable template for effective private and public sector investment.

Laura and Nigel welcome UK-born Barbadian emeritus professor of Recording Industry, author and consultant Mike Alleyne to the podcast as he discusses the efforts and "adjustments" made by the global the recording industry to successfully market indigenous Caribbean music and artistes; Bob Marley, Rihanna, and more.

Laura and Nigel have a conversation with Donovan Watkis of World Music Views about how his push to chart and certify Jamaican music's global sales and streams is converting cultural capital into financial capital. His strong entrepreneurial spirit comes through as he pursues the task of putting dancehall and reggae music on a level playing field within the global music streaming ecosystem, to accurately identify its value.

Laura and Nigel have a conversation with Elizabeth Lady Montano, mother of Caribbean music superstar, Machel Montano, and author of his new coffee-table memoir/biography King of Soca. Published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of his professional career, Lady speaks her truth about Machel, she being the ultimate insider, the former manager, and the archiver of more than forty years of memories.

Laura and Nigel have a conversation where they ponder the future of the Caribbean music industry after the disruption of the two-year COVID-19 pandemic. The evolution of music festivals and Carnivals, the new economy of music for new and legacy artists, the coming-of-age new audiences in and outside the islands.

Laura and Nigel speak with Caribbean-American music executive Nolan Baynes on the ins and outs of the modern US music industry, as he lays out what needs to be done by Caribbean artists and music business to get a significant space in that market. They analyse a few case studies of Caribbean music entrepreneurship and creativity.

Laura and Nigel speak with BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ and selector Seani B about his prominent role in putting Caribbean music on the radio in the UK and beyond, and on global playlists. Bashment party vibes from the Caribbean and beyond.

Laura And Nigel speak with soca entrepreneur and facilitator, Terron Callender, JAIGA TC, on the way forward for the music genre. This TV producer, radio announcer and hit soca writer and artiste, among his other qualifications, gets real on the possibilities of soca in the global music industry highlighting pluses and pitfalls.

Laura and Nigel begin the fourth season of the podcast with a conversation on the outlook and some of the recent happenings within the Caribbean music industry after 20 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Laura and Nigel speak with soca producer Kasey Phillips and former Grammy Awards genre manager Marlon Fuentes about the clear opportunities towards recognition of the genre within the Recording Academy by their facilitation of the soca producers' significant membership drive in 2021. This first step is a real world initiative that can move the needle on Caribbean music's growth in a rebranded World music category.