Who is Going to Invest in Reggae Music?

Chris Dehring's recent article in the Jamaica Observer titled Time to bottle lightening ... and develop the Jamaican sports industry- Part I is well-needed and I hope that those with the capital to invest are paying attention.

He speaks of Reggae music, saying "It is speculated that Jamaica retains less than one per cent of a US$500-million global reggae music market - a result of our tardiness in recognising the vast potential of this cultural asset." As the CEO of a company that recently became the first Caribbean-owned company to have a revenue-share deal with YouTube.com, the largest video-sharing website in the World, and already has signed deals with some artistes to distribute their content via the web and share that revenue with them, I can attest to the fact that finding investors in Jamaica is extremely hard.

I have met a number of people who talk about supporting things like music and sports but I have yet to meet more than a handful who actually put their money where their mouth is. Mr. Dehring seems like he is not part of this 'bag-a-talk' group and I hope to see people like him allowing companies like ours to make presentations and pitches for much-needed capital in order to grow Jamaica's share of that US$500 million-per-year global Reggae music market.

The level of support and enthusiasm for what Realvibez Media is doing is far greater amongst Americans and that must change. We must support our own if we truly expect to generate significant revenues from our culture that has reached every corner of the world. No one doubts that the money is there and a number of us entrepreneurs are trying to show how we can get to it.

Where are the investors who want to support these ventures and make a good return on their investment? Where are the low-cost Government loans without onerous terms?

These ventures create jobs in Jamaica, generate revenue that will be spent in Jamaica, result in taxes for the Government of Jamaica and give us more control over our image on the World stage.

Bob Marley famously said “In this bright future you can't forget your past.”

Reggae is our past and present. There is a bright future ahead thanks to technology and Jamaica stands to benefit only if the capital is made available to entrepreneurs.