Caribbean music, K-pop and the live show strategy
A few weeks ago, I got to meet Bwamélé/Blended Roots. With her platform, she wants to help create the rightful ecosystem the (French) Caribbean music industry needs to become for our artists to thrive. As I talked about my perspective of K-pop’s international growth, she mentioned Lisa Gordon's book : “International Trade and the music industry : Live music services from the Caribbean”.
This essay based on Lisa Gordon's PhD thesis gives a list of the different challenges Caribbean artists must take on to export their music. The fact that she used K-pop as a template convinced me to buy the ebook. I was impressed by the scope of her analysis as she gives researchers and art experts many topics to dig into across the Caribbean : divergent cultural policies, economic impact of music activities, exporting live shows, developing an effective intra Caribbean market between sovereign and non-sovereign territories.
It was quite interesting to read the situation from her Trinidadian perspective. As someone from Guadeloupe, I could agree on many issues, but my totally biased Karukerament point of view will take a more radical stand on the needed changes in a way that an academic work can’t do without being called subjective. We’re doing this for the culture.
Why do we want to export our music?
Being Caribbean is unique to each one of us. The culture brings us together, but we don't experience it the same way and we definitely won't define it in the exact same way. This essay gives a brief history of (the lack of) Caribbean political efforts to build a coherent united front and export our culture. We get to understand how and why some Caribbean organizations are ineffective in implementing laws to develop cultural trade with Europe. While negotiating partnerships with “the North”, Caribbean organizations don't speak from a place of being convinced that Caribbean culture is bankable.
In all fairness, before the Internet, I understand we had little evidence of the Caribbean cultural impact on a global level to stand strong while negotiating with “the North”. Not anymore. The diaspora holds leading roles in cultural industries. The Internet is our digital archives center. We will NOT forget how Ed Sheeran (“Shape of You”), Justin Bieber (“Sorry”) or Major Lazer (“Watch Out For This”) repackaged dancehall music between 2014 and 2016/2017 and made millions. At that time, the K-pop industry played along by going for a “tropical trend” and, to be quite honest, this situation was the last straw to make me leave the K-pop Fandom. I had spent nearly a decade watching all the strategies the K-pop industry used to grow with music genres they didn't even create. If they can do it, we can do it better. So what do we have and what do we need? That's what I had in mind when I started my blog myinsaeng.com before moving to karukerament.com. Not that I was that interested in doing data research on specific topics. The cultural impact of Kassav’ was enough empirical data for me. That’s why my approach was more about figuring out the branding and storytelling we were creating around Caribbean culture.
As Lisa Gordon points out, her thesis was a case study on Guadeloupe & Trinidad and I wish she'd give us more context on why she decided to use Guadeloupe as an example. Especially when most Guadeloupean artists refused to claim Zouk in the 2010's. Back in 2016/2017, this was also around the time the French music industry started to notice Aya Nakamura. She was not a rapper, but she was too Black to be in the pop category. She wasn't from the Caribbean, so despite her music being heavily Zouk-influenced, the French music industry held her up to push forward with a genre called “urban pop”. Fast forward to 6/7 years later, most artists from Guadeloupe and Martinique don't promote Zouk. Some of them even dare call themselves “urban pop artists” now... The fact that Aya Nakamura is mentioned in a book about the Caribbean industry, but there’s no specific mention of Zouk or dancehall singers from my generation is telling of how invisibilized they are in the French industry.
With that said, Haïti has one of the most influential music genres across the diaspora, there's a lot to learn on how groups like Tabou Combo, and Carimi can still hold big concerts in Paris in the early 2020s despite not going through the traditional mainstream media circuit OR how artists from the new generation start their career in France or the US. If you want to think about how the Caribbean music industry can grow, Haitian artists holding onto their identity makes them more of a case of study than artists from Guadeloupe still hiding their cultural identity. For now, at least.
That's why I wonder how non-French Caribbean people will view the case of Guadeloupe as relevant to other sovereign Caribbean countries… Especially with no in-depth comparison elements on how Trinidad has been operating on the North American market in the past decade. However, I believe this essay will be an eye-opener to those who think that Guadeloupean artists have it easy because they have a French passport.
It was refreshing and almost reassuring to see an analysis taking into account systemic racism that French Caribbean artists have always had to deal with. I've conducted a few interviews, and I've listened to and watched dozens of discussions among French Caribbean artists in the past 5 years… I don't think I've ever heard the word “racism” pronounced. They tiptoe around it and describe it in full-length details, but they never call it by its real name. In her essay, Lisa Gordon clearly explains how having French nationality doesn't mean French Caribbean artists are getting fair treatment in Europe.
So the question remains: why would Caribbean artists want to export their music to Europe or the US when those territories show them so little consideration? If the answer is money, then the question is even more valid if you want to take a look at the K-Pop industry as a viable template.
How to read the K-pop strategy
Ten years ago, academia couldn’t deliver the accurate analysis that Lisa Gordon gives of how K-pop came to get such visibility worldwide. However, my Karukerament approach would dare to say that the Caribbean has always been the template. As Lisa Gordon reminds us, the K-pop industry started in the 90’s exactly like the Caribbean industry with three indie labels trying to revolutionize their country’s entertainment. Because of our geographical and political configuration of several sovereign and non-sovereign countries, our governments didn’t back up individual initiatives that were already building cultural bridges within the region in the 70’s and 80’s.
When South Korea put in the effort to create a local ecosystem, we all ended up putting more effort into breaking through foreign markets that we felt entitled to because of former or current colonial ties… Zouk and Cadence-lypso in France in the 80’s/90’s ; dancehall in the US in the 90’s/2000’s. Now, I know Bob Marley is a music icon beyond the reggae genre, but has another Jamaican artist replicated this level of success in terms of a cultural switch? Do let me know because this is what we should try to understand. My point is that Caribbean artists invested a lot of energy into moving forward on foreign markets but how much energy did they put into nurturing their local fanbase for the past 25 years?
When South Korea went for the Japanese market, their goal was money. Their strategy was only based on connecting with the audience. As I said in my special episode, Kassav’ already had this strategy. The difference here is South Korean agencies moved from a place of showing their identity and they always developed a local fanbase before moving to Japan and the rest of the Asian market. Artists following Kassav’, especially those born and raised in France in the 80's/90’s, wanted to blend into the French industry and dissociate themselves from their Caribbean roots. So here we are 30 years later. Zouk is still earning a lot of money in the French industry, but French Caribbean artists get overshadowed. In the US, Jamaican dancehall artists are seen like trends that come back around every 10 year when Black American artists want that Caribbean flavor.
My point is this is about music. Music is culture. K-pop is the only medium that doesn’t reflect South Korean culture. The K-pop industry has yet to figure out how to create its music genre and turn it into mainstream success worldwide. Meanwhile, the Caribbean no longer has to prove its global impact on music but its contribution is constantly overshadowed.
The K-pop industry revolves around a “one-stop-entertainment” production system similar to what Motown started. It standardized and industrialized art while dehumanizing artists. It's not enough to say that we should be careful if we ever want to implement such a system. Every single example of a successful industry that we see in the US or in Europe is a toxic environment. If anything, every other industry is evidence of how ugly this world of entertainment can easily become when people give up on their values and principles.
So the question remains: why should we look up to corrupt systems to build our own? If the answer is money, then the question is even more valid in the current streaming era because the earning system is so bad that even the biggest artists sell their catalogs. Music generates money, but artists aren’t the ones who get to enjoy this money.
That's why I'm totally against the idea that we should have big agencies. I believe we should perfect our current system of indie labels which is more human and flexible in the tech-dominated lifestyle we have. The problem is, that most Caribbean artists refuse to get an entrepreneur mindset, but that’s another discussion for another day.
Also, I would dare to argue that the current success of BTS hides the fact that South Korea doesn’t have a successful system to export global groups with a significant body of work. In the past 25 years, how many K-pop agencies managed to expand their roster with successful groups back to back? For now, there's only SM Entertainment. And that's because Lee Soo Man was always 2 steps ahead on the market with a very clear vision on how South Korean music would take over the world. He found the right people to execute his vision and to keep moving in this direction once he stepped down as the CEO.
That's why I don't think the K-pop producing system is something to aspire to. I think it's just a possibility of what can exist outside of the Western system and how big it can be. So yes, the way K-Pop exported its live show can be studied, but there’s no live show without the intention of catering to an audience first.
The datas we really need
Crossing borders and cultures, we did it way before the K-pop industry did. Caribbean events across the world are always a success. Now what about the cross-bording experience in the region? I mean why I, an AfroGuadeloupean woman, can sing along Machel Montano’s or Kes The Band’s biggest hits, but can AfroTrinidadian woman sing along to the current Guadeloupean hits? Why is my Panamean friend living in the US a big fan of Tabou Combo but my friend in Jamaica has never heard any of their songs? In my “See You Yesterday” episode, I talked about how music is fundamental to keeping Caribbean culture alive in the diaspora. So, despite the language barrier, despite the lack of media exposure, how did Caribbean artists known across the region get to grow this regional fanbase?
Yes, radio play is a huge factor, but this was back in the 20th century. In this current streaming era, bouyon and trap music took over Guadeloupean youth without being broadcast on the radio… Same goes for shatta music in Martinique. How can Caribbean artists in their 20s showcase what they do and build their legacy? What if we go through another pandemic in this lifetime and artists can’t tour? That’s why the only reliable parameter is the audience. Media can shut you down (as French Caribbean artists can experience), promoters may refuse to hold your concerts (as English-speaking Caribbean artists wanting to tour in the EU can prove), but as long as you nurture an authentic connection with your audience, money will be there.
While I do agree it’s important to talk about royalties, concert fees, live shows maintenance, and anything that can make artists earn money, my Karukerament approach is all about the fan experience. This is where the real money resides. That's the popular topic in every music podcast these days: how to serve super fans? They always have this Westernized approach and think the Beyhive today or 1D’s fans back in the early days of Twitter are such a phenomenon that can't be replicated nor manufactured… but South Korea and Japan have been writing the superfan playbook since the 90s. When the Western world gave up on boy groups and girl groups, Japan and South Korea turned the trend into a staple of their music industries and re-injected it into the Western world. What we're talking about here isn't just fanbase building for the sake of monetizing, it's literal community building. It's about giving the audience an experience, it’s about building and sharing memories. This is what super fans are willing to spend money on. And this can only work when artists get a clear understanding of the culture they represent and who they perform for.
Two months ago, I attended Yoan’s concert in Paris. He's in his early 40’s, so we're the same generation. During the warmup session, the DJ played dancehall hits from the early 2000's that took me back to my nightclubbing days in Guadeloupe… The audience nodded along but did NOT pon de river, pon de bank. They didn't even signal da plane. And I don't think they were shy. They were either too young or too white to know what to do. Yet, they sang along to every single lyric of Yoan’s songs.
And before you think this was a Caribbean music thing, let me tell you that I was at Usher's concert in Paris back in September. During the warmup, the DJ gave us all the Dirty South hits from the early 2000's. The crowd sang along, but when it came to lean with it, rock with it or snap your fingers, only the Black women around my age did what they were supposed to do while other people just body waved through the song. And when DJ played “Swag Surfin”, guess who knew how to swag surf?
My point is, there will always be a cultural gap no matter where you are, no matter the music genre or how mainstream the artist is. What truly matters is how authentic the artist remains. Music sells a culture. There’s no need to overthink lyrics or song topics, to switch up a sound just to accommodate a foreign audience. Caribbean artists should just focus on giving their best to their local audience and the rest of the world will follow along as it has always done.
As long as we don’t define and curate our own fan culture, we will struggle to build a strong Caribbean market and get the respect we deserve on the global scene. My point is Caribbean music has always been circulating in the region, in the diaspora, and Africa, but most of the time it's in a one-way direction and the fan experience is the bare minimum: radio listening and if you’re lucky enough to attend one concert in your lifetime. This brings me back to the main topic: “exporting live shows”.
Technology erases most of the geographical problems. Artists can collab without having to fly out. They can even hold concerts without having to fly out. The Beenie Man - Bounty Killer Verzuz show during the pandemic would be easier to replicate locally rather than make them go on tour. If film festivals can block streams from outside the Caribbean, I don’t see why artists can’t provide exclusive concerts their audience could stream across the region… Meaning, that we developed a music festival culture, so would it be so hard to develop an (online) concert culture? Make the local audience feel that they matter, and give them the premium experience for once.
So it’s just not about exporting live shows, it’s also about building a live show local expertise. We can gather all the data we want, but if we’re not unapologetically Caribbean about it, nothing will change. I mean, data won’t change if you see the glass half full or half empty. The mindset comes first. Lisa Gordon mentions it briefly in her introduction because she met some resistance at first when she started her research. Thanks to this essay, all the live music trade talks centered around the EU or the US and how Caribbean artists need the EU or the US can be put to rest now. Lisa Gordon proved the limits of the EU-CARIFORUM trade partnership with concrete evidence when it comes to live music services. Caribbean researchers can now focus on how to improve the live music trade within the region. If English/Spanish/Dutch-speaking Caribbean countries secure their own live music trade and if Guadeloupe and Martinique do the same, there will always be the opportunity to combine these 4 kinds of expertise at some point. And only then exporting live shows together outside of the region will be profitable for everyone.
For the past 7 years, I’ve heard long discourses on what we're doing wrong, but I have yet to hear the same passion to talk about what we’ve been doing right. And we must be doing something right if “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee became one of the biggest hits of the planet (and the konpa remix “Ralanti” by Oswald & Vayb is perfection). We must be doing something right if Haitian DJ Michaël Brun could take us around the Caribbean during his Bayo stop in Paris and the crowd of mostly 20-something Haitian audience could sing along dancehall, soca, zouk, reggaeton classics. We must be doing something right if Zouk hits from the 20th century still get sampled around the world. We must be doing something right if US artists still call Jamaican artists for their summer hits…
In conclusion
In conclusion, “International Trade and the music industry : Live music services from the Caribbean” is about opening much-needed discussions on the obstacles that Caribbean artists face in building a sustainable music industry in the Caribbean. It gives a glimpse of the French systemic racism. The lack of contextualization on why the cases of Trinidad and Guadeloupe are relevant to the entire region doesn’t highlight the specific strengths of each country we can use to establish the music industry with the rules and values that are right for us. Once you’re done reading this essay, you should be convinced that the key to the future of Caribbean music is in the Caribbean and nowhere else. We do not need anyone else but ourselves to make our dreams come true. We are the prototype, the blueprint and we need to act like it.
Photo de Samuel Regan-Asante sur Unsplash