Persons involved in the music and creative industries here are being given the opportunity to interface with a panel of top international music executives.{{more}}

A workshop/seminar on “all aspects” of the music industry will be held from November 4 to the 6 at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown. It is being organized by Invest SVG (formerly the National Investment and Promotions Incorporated), the Ministry of Culture and music producer Mark Cyrus in an effort to build capacity in the music industry.

The seminar will use a multi-faceted approach and will deal with the “ins and outs” of the music industry, intellectual property rights, marketing strategies and the identification of prospective grants and potential agencies for funding.

“The workshop is intended for persons to make (the) transition from doing music as a hobby,” Curtis Dennie of Invest SVG said.

“We are saying that in this service driven economy, where there is lack of professional development, we want persons to understand they can move their music to another level and be able to become an entrepreneur,” he continued.

“We want our musicians to become very professional, very articulate in speaking authoritatively.”

A panel of eight executives is expected to be present at the workshop, including Ivan Berry, formerly of Sony/BMG Records (Canada), Vivian Barclay (creative/administrative representative for Warner Chappell Music), Bob O’Neal (videographer associated with Bad Boy Entertainment) and Jonathan Ramos.

Anthony Theobalds, Cultural Officer in the Ministry of Culture explained that it cannot be business as usual, the Vincentian way, when it comes to the music industry. “That’s not good business; that’s not sustainable business,” he explained.

“What you are doing must generate supportive income-it may not pay all the bills, but at least it must generate some income,” Theobalds said.

“That is the specific thing we hope this is going to achieve,” he added.

Theobalds further stated that the workshop was to the benefit of not only those directly involved in the music industry but for all who are in some way connected, for example fashion designers, videographers and the media.(DD)