The Island Music Conference, held annually in Kingston, Jamaica, has evolved into a vibrant experience for various members of the Caribbean music industry to learn, grow, synergize and, most importantly, flourish.
Chaired by legendary Caribbean musician Orville “Shaggy” Burrell and founded by Judith Bodley and Sharon Burke, IMC provides unbridled knowledge access for anyone striving to succeed in the music industry.
The recent conference series of panels that are relative to the current state of the music industry. Some subjects included artist management, the rise of generative AI, the advent of new music genres across the Caribbean, YouTube 101, how to acquire a record deal, how to make the news, digital marketing strategies, making music videos that matter and much more.
“As a community manager on YouTube Shorts, I also manage a ton of the DEI initiatives that we do, and with it being Black History Month, I realized that there’s a space for us to reach a Caribbean audience,” YouTube community partner manager Amanda Agyapong told Blavity. “I have Jamaican creators in New York. I have Trini creators in L.A., but I don’t have any creators that are based in the Caribbean, so I recognized that there was space to build that on this trip.”
As someone who plays a crucial role in YouTube creators’ discovery and subsequent success, Agyapong recognized the Island Music Conference as a viable conduit to provide opportunities for the Caribbean community to prosper.
“$6 billion got paid out to the music industry just last year,” Agyapong said. “I personally want to make sure people like us are a part of that. There’s so much money out there. If I can give anybody out there information for how to get a piece of that pie, then I’m doing my job.”
“I think it’s an amazing platform for musicians like myself, creatives, filmmakers to connect,” rising musician Jamila Falak told Blavity. “I think the connection piece is what this conference is the epitome of; networking, meeting people. I just met someone, and they told me they saw me performing. That was a different mode of connecting. That’s the importance for me and making the connections and beautiful things coming from it.”
Given the platform’s consistent success and growing popularity, it looks like the event will continue to stir dialogue and fuel creatives’ dreams.