Grange Welcomes Unity Within Music Industry, Charges Young Artistes to Observe Positive Tradition

Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports Olivia Grange has said that unity among stakeholders has been one of the keys to the success and viability of the Jamaica’s music industry.
Minister Grange was speaking at the Reggae Month reception (Sunday February 8) hosted at Jamaica House for members of the music industry and related stakeholders.
“I must tell you that these last few weeks have been a great joy to me, as I have seen, like tonight, the various and varied players of the industry come together to own and plan Reggae Month activities”, she enthused.
“Many persons speak of the music industry as disorganized, but the coming together of so many representatives of the industry in a determination to organize the industry and place it on a platform of unity and enhanced prosperity must be seen as, perhaps, the most outstanding achievement of this year,” she added.
She said that what will ensure that Reggae Month, and by extension the Reggae Industry Association that has been formed out of the coming together, will be assured of success in the future.
The Minister stated that she hopes Reggae Month 2009 will underscore the importance of Reggae to the economy.
“The decision to have Reggae Month officially declared last February (2008) was not only conscious and strategic, but an emotive one for me, as I have consistently pushed for more support of the music industry,” she said.
“Reggae Music continues to lure visitors from all over the world to our shores and contributes vastly to the country’s GDP. In a study that was done, the report stated that the contribution of music to the GDP was at 5.2%”, she said.
Minister Grange said that it is against this background that Reggae Month activities are organized and promoted, and it is hoped that the result will be that everyone will appreciate the importance of the music to Jamaica and come on board to support the efforts in improving the product.
She also issued a challenge to young people in the industry to use the music positively, to send a positive message to the world and to continue the tradition of excellence that the stalwarts of the industry started.