Entertainment: "WOMEX West"? JACAP Brings knowledge, links to seminar

A presentation of pre-packaged Jamaican souvenirs, a display of the latest issue of the German magazine, Der Stern, and heartfelt thank yous highlighted the close of the last (for this year, at least,) in a series of industry-targeted seminars by the Jamaica Association of Composers Authors and Publishers (JACAP), with support from the Caribbean Development Bank, Association of Caribbean Collection Societies and the Jamaican Ministry of Gender, Entertainment, Culture and Sports,  for members and non-members.

This edition, a five-day affair, focussed on gaining Access to International Markets, with presentations led by Frank Klaffs and Christine Semba, directors of Berlin-based Piranha Consulting.

Part of the larger Piranha Arts Group, the consultants have responsibility for - among other major music happenings - the annual Classical:next gathering and the annual world music extravaganza, WOMEX, of which the 2017 edition is impending (Oct 25- 29) in the southeastern Polish city of Katowice.

Their fulsome and adaptable dossier covered Branding for the Artist, establishing a basic business model,  music expo and music festival "etiquette" and generally maximizing one's presence - media, business and otherwise - at overseas music events. The mostly capacity audience (heavy rains only marginally affected some days) were to both receive and reciprocate, making for "Q& A" sessions peppered with lively comments and anecdotes from myriad lives and experiences in the biz....Jamaican style.

The presenters also extended their generosity to reference material, a comprehensive (though admittedly incomplete) listing of premier music festivals and music conventions. and other handouts to guide participants in their endeavours.

The latter 3 days allowed the artistes present to engage in role play, direct demos and live performances, all of which were subject to the impressions of the others. Additionally, there was ample networking conducted between acts, with the range encompassing a self- confessed deportee Jamaican rapper Jackal to a certified Ethno-Doxologist and worship leader, Jo-Ann Richards, whose polymathic interests are  centred on "freeing up" Jamaican Christian worship to accept, integrate and feature the Jamaikan language.

The German pair return to their Berlin base on Sunday with great memories and even greater potential for the expansion of Jamaican music in the German and wider Euro music market. WOMEX has scarcely ventured beyond the Continent but, who knows.....Jamaicans tend to be "first" where it matters

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