Reggae Month celebrations to include lobbying

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

This year's Reggae Month will not only be a celebration of our music but it will also be a time of active lobbying through the 'Save The Music' campaign.

Charles Campbell, chairman of the Reggae Month committee, said Reggae Month would also focus on the issues surrounding the artform.

He said the committee would be lobbying for updating of the noise abatement act for radio stations to implement playlists for their disc jocks and issues relating to payola in the industry. He said they will also be supporting the Broadcasting Commission in its efforts to help clean up the industry.

"JaRIA (Jamaica Reggae Industry Association) is basically a lobbying organisation, lobbying for issues relating to the industry. We believe that we need to update that law (Noise Abatement Act). And, we need to rearrange radio so that music is played for the quality and not because somebody has a contact at a radio station," Campbell told The Sunday Gleaner.

Joan Webley, chairperson for JaRIA's Constitution, Advocacy, Lobbying and Membership (C.A.L.M.) Committee (the group spearheading the 'Save The Music Campaign'), explained that last year the group met with the police and the ministry of culture.

"This year, we are making it more visible and taking it to the public," Webley said.

Petition

She added that throughout Reggae Month, the group would also be going around with a petition with the hope of getting signatures from people who are part of the industry and those who support it. She said the petition will be on the social-networking website, Facebook, at weekly events during the month and members would also be travelling around with it.

After the signatures are signed to the petition, she said C.A.L.M. would then take it to the bodies that can actually make changes.

C.A.L.M.'s 'Save The Music' Campaign also has other aims.

They are to increase music education in schools and facilitate the preservation of local music forms; to reassert the importance of artiste's legal right of attribution for works used in public spaces or mass media; and to put in place legislative and institutional measures necessary to bring about the end of payola practices in all media forms.

While the campaign will be a major part of the month, there are other activities that will take place throughout.

Live free show

The celebrations will actually kick off on January 30 with the Dennis Brown Tribute, which is a live free show at Big Yard, Orange Street, downtown Kingston.

Through collaborations with the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, JaRIA, Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA) and several other organisations, a wide range of activities have been scheduled for Reggae Month.

There will be events such as a church service, Trench Town Tour, JAVAA Tribute to the 'King, Crown Prince & Cool Ruler', Bob Marley Symposium, Fi Wi Sinting, Honour Awards, Reggae Village Negril, Annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash, Annual Bob Marley Day and a JaRIA workshop.

Campbell said this year's staging can be used as a way of reflecting on where the industry is at.

"Coming out of a year like 2010 when the industry faced many challenges and the realities of recession, it is a good time to celebrate and reflect on where we are at," Campbell told The Sunday Gleaner.

Like previous years, funding is still a problem.

"We are struggling with the funding as in previous years. We are in discussion with some sponsors but already we have some positive indications that RJR, Irie FM, Red Stripe and the Jamaica Tourist Board have agreed to come in as sponsors," Campbell said.

"We are certainly nowhere near the level of sponsorship that we need but we are grateful for the sponsors that we do have. We do have a lot of work to get done but we will launch it on the 30th."