KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Newly-appointed Minister with responsibility for Entertainment, Hon. Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange said she was delighted to be Guest Speaker at the launch of the Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS), an independent, non-profit performance rights organization formed to defend the rights of Jamaican music producers and record manufacturers.
She was speaking at the Terra Nova Hotel on Tuesday, November 27th where she reminded that she has been intimately connected with the publishing side of the music business for many years.
The event was hosted by Mr. Haldane Browne, Chairman, in association with Mrs. Carol Simpson, Acting Executive Director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), and Mr. Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Browne, Chairman of the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJam), with an address by Mr. Emilio Garcia, representative of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
JAMMS has been established to collect and distribute royalties from licensed music users including radio, television, cable operators, non-interactive webcasters, satellite radio services, clubs, sessions, live concerts and festivals. The organization will work in collaboration with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) as well as the locally-based Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJam).
Minister Grange said that several persons including Neville Lee and Sonia Pottinger have been struggling for years to encourage Jamaican music producers to register their products appropriately so they can reap benefits. She said that producers have lost an enormous amount of potential earnings because they have not understood the potential of their products and the need for them to demand what is due from the users of their products.
Minister Grange said it must be admitted that most of the losses incurred by Jamaican music producers were incurred primarily due to their failure to recognize the value of their works, so she was able to see in JAMMS the fulfillment of a dream of a properly organized and professional music industry with its creative, recording and performing areas intact and fully developed.
In closing, Ms. Grange said that her mission was to ensure that as Minister, the Jamaican music industry will make a giant leap forward from being a mere collection of labels, rhythms, writers and artists, into a fully developed and globally recognized industry. She therefore heartily welcomed the launch of JAMMS and looked forward to working with the organization for the general benefit of the Jamaican music industry.
