The Caribbean is not the easiest place to earn money by making music,
despite the fact that music is an integral part of the region’s cultural
life, and a major driver of its most important industry, tourism. The Caribbean’s
many carnivals attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, and artists
from the islands have made an immense contribution to music all over the
world. Nevertheless, many of the Caribbean’s composers, musicians, publishers,
and music companies are struggling to survive.
One reason for the poor state of the industry’s financial health is music piracy. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organisation representing the international recording industry, says that no fewer than 40 per cent of physical recordings (those on CD, disk, or audiotape) sold in the world are pirate copies — that’s two out of every five. The global market for pirated music had an estimated value of US$4.6 billion in 2002.
Derek Wilkie of CRS Music in Barbados
Richard Costas
As is often the case with trade statistics, figures quantifying the value of pirated Caribbean music are difficult to find. The region may, by global standards, be a market so fragmented that no reliable statistics can be gathered, but this does not mean that piracy is any less of a threat to our musicians, performers, and record companies. In fact, piracy may be proportionately more serious than in the rest of the world, because of the central role that music plays in the region’s economy.
Derek Wilkie, managing director of Barbados-based CRS Music, says that “In the area of sales and distribution in the region, there’s been a tremendous drop-off in the last five years, primarily as a result of piracy, and this is in every single territory in the region. This has resulted in a lot of music retailers closing down, which further resulted in much smaller revenues for independent labels — some of them going out of business, some of them barely surviving on a shoestring.”
In the case of one music production company, Roett/Hoyos Productions, piracy was a prime reason to discontinue producing music for Crop Over, Barbados’ major musical event, attracting thousands of overseas visitors.
“Piracy is the reason we stopped producing for Crop Over,” says Tony Hoyos of Roett/Hoyos. “We did produce material in 1997, 1998, and 1999. In each of those years we had a certain number of hits, but within a week those songs were on pirate ‘greatest hits’ albums in New York.”
Piracy has become so serious that other producers may now be considering not producing material for carnivals. Veteran Trinidadian calypsonian David Rudder did not release an album for Trinidad Carnival 2004, and has the backing of other professionals, such as the internationally popular Guyanese producer Eddy Grant.
Some say part of the problem is that anti-piracy laws are not properly enforced i. . .
One reason for the poor state of the industry’s financial health is music piracy. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organisation representing the international recording industry, says that no fewer than 40 per cent of physical recordings (those on CD, disk, or audiotape) sold in the world are pirate copies — that’s two out of every five. The global market for pirated music had an estimated value of US$4.6 billion in 2002.
Derek Wilkie of CRS Music in Barbados
Richard Costas
As is often the case with trade statistics, figures quantifying the value of pirated Caribbean music are difficult to find. The region may, by global standards, be a market so fragmented that no reliable statistics can be gathered, but this does not mean that piracy is any less of a threat to our musicians, performers, and record companies. In fact, piracy may be proportionately more serious than in the rest of the world, because of the central role that music plays in the region’s economy.
Derek Wilkie, managing director of Barbados-based CRS Music, says that “In the area of sales and distribution in the region, there’s been a tremendous drop-off in the last five years, primarily as a result of piracy, and this is in every single territory in the region. This has resulted in a lot of music retailers closing down, which further resulted in much smaller revenues for independent labels — some of them going out of business, some of them barely surviving on a shoestring.”
In the case of one music production company, Roett/Hoyos Productions, piracy was a prime reason to discontinue producing music for Crop Over, Barbados’ major musical event, attracting thousands of overseas visitors.
“Piracy is the reason we stopped producing for Crop Over,” says Tony Hoyos of Roett/Hoyos. “We did produce material in 1997, 1998, and 1999. In each of those years we had a certain number of hits, but within a week those songs were on pirate ‘greatest hits’ albums in New York.”
Piracy has become so serious that other producers may now be considering not producing material for carnivals. Veteran Trinidadian calypsonian David Rudder did not release an album for Trinidad Carnival 2004, and has the backing of other professionals, such as the internationally popular Guyanese producer Eddy Grant.
Some say part of the problem is that anti-piracy laws are not properly enforced i. . .
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