MusicTT hosted Feel the Beat Music Symposium, an event which featured international, multi-platinum recording producer Salaam Remi. This event took place on Thursday 27th September at Central Bank Auditorium, Port of Spain.
The Symposium:
- focused on music production at both local and international levels
- addressed current issues in Intellectual Property
- discussed how to create and exploit opportunities in the music business ecosystem
- discussed advancements in technology to better equip individuals aspiring to make music and/or its derivative industries a full-time lucrative career.
Headlining the symposium was Salaam Remi (‘Ray-Me’), multi-platinum award-winning music producer with over 30 years of experience the international music industry. He is the former Executive VP of A&R and Music Production across all Sony labels. Salaam’s roots to the Caribbean lies with his Trinidadian father – Van Gibbs who is also a music producer and musician. Those days spent tinkering with demo-tracks and remixing songs from the radio were a precursor for the man who would go on to remix and produce songs for The Fugees, NAS, Wyclef Jean, Toni Braxton, Santana, Sade, Sting (feat. Mary J. Blige), Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Usher, Miguel, Jazmine Sullivan and Amy Winehouse to name a few – which went on to sell millions of records domestically and internationally. Salaam has also produced film scores for Sex and the City, Blood Diamond, The Departed, Mike Tyson’s Documentary, Rush Hour 3 and more.
The symposium also featured local music industry virtuosos:
Anthony Vieira, Intellectual Property Attorney at Law, has been practicing law since 1983 and is also a certified mediator and arbitrator with a background in International Relations. Anthony worked at Mair and Company where his practice concentrated on corporate and commercial work; with a special interest in intellectual property, telecommunications and entertainment law. Among other things, in 1996 he was retained by government to train officers of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs on Consumer Legislation and practice. Over the years Anthony has represented and advised the National Carnival Bands Association, the Queens Hall, the Film Company, media houses, advertising agencies, actors, artists, designers, musicians, film makers and writers.
Keshav is 1/2 of duo Jus Now, who combine UK Dance Music with Trinidadian Soca. Jus Now is a production and performance outfit that have played at numerous festivals in Europe and the rest of the world such as Glastonbury, Miami Music Week, Boomtown, India’s RIFF and the Carnivals of Toronto, Miami, Brazil, London and Trinidad. They are best known in the Caribbean for their Soca productions with the likes of Bunji Garlin, Machel Montano, Beenie Man and others. Keshav is based between UK and T&T which provides him and Jus Now the platform to access the Music Industry at large. Their high energy & percussion heavy festival music is a reflection of both UK Dance music and Soca culture. Jus Now combine traditional Trinbagonian percussive instruments and rhythms from around the globe with futuristic and bass-heavy production . They are currently signed to 2TE/Warner Music. Their latest single is called ‘Fire’ and features Busy Signal.
Panelists included:
Jeanelle Frontin, Founder and CEO of the start-up Mark Made Group Ltd., a Caribbean-based company specializing in entertainment and the arts with this sole purpose: to enable adept humans, and choice projects, to make their mark on the world. Having a wealth of knowledge and experience within the creative sector both in a public and private capacity, Jeanelle noticed that several of the applied business models were either inadequate or outdated in a rapidly evolving world. Believing that the independent, entrepreneurial creative can be empowered to a new level with the coming wave of change, Jeanelle seeks to apply all she has learned, across the various sectors in which she has worked, in innovative and even disruptive ways. Her extensive experience, combined with her formal education (BSc. Eng., MSc. Proj. Mang.), allows Jeanelle to seek and find powerful intersections between seemingly unrelated fields for strategies, solutions and system building.
Jeston Lett is a Marketing Consultant who is passionate about helping businesses understand and leverage the power of digital, more specifically social media, to actually grow their business. He is the Co-founder of Cre8ive Agencies, a marketing agency which specializes in Media production with a concentration in marketing to online audiences. Jeston currently leads a team of social media and content marketing experts to provide strategic services that help organizations increase awareness and drive revenue at scale. Cre8ive Agencies’ recent clients include HBO, Cinemax, GE, Atlantic Lng, Coca-Cola, Flow, Digicel, Royal Unibrew, Vitamalt, Tobago House of Assembly, Government of T&T, Carib, Mt. Pleasant Credit Union, and the Copyright Organization of T&T.