Caribbean Music to the world? What we need is…
What we need is Caribbean music to the Caribbean first. This has been my belief for the past 5 years as I researched Caribbean culture marketing strategies. Spoiler alert: I have found interesting practices but they’re not maximized. To be fair, I just focused on French Caribbean artists at first. I’ve done several podcasts on the lessons we should learn from various situations, but when I started talking with English-speaking Caribbean experts, I realized this wasn’t just a Guadeloupe/Martinique problem. In my #streamcaribbean discussions with creative industries expert Sobers Esprit (Dominica), producer Kasey Phillips and DJ Jel (Trinidad & Tobago), I got a better idea of the challenges we face as a region and the opportunities we have today. Although I have yet to get the Spanish-speaking Caribbean perspective to have a complete picture, I can share the one missing yet crucial element in any discussion about Caribbean music… Are you ready?
THE KEY ELEMENT TO sustainability?
“In conclusion, Zouk can become an international pop music genre and touch a non-Caribbean audience. The comparison with K-pop isn't to set K-pop as the example to follow. When you study Kassav’s career, you can see that K-pop has followed the early Zouk strategy. […] In Zouk’s case, this traditional music culture is a transmission vector that must be explained for the 21st century Zouk’s Caribbean identity to shine even more instead of being erased.”
This was the conclusion of my first academic presentation about Zouk during the International Zouk Conference in Martinique in 2019. I never got any feedback from a French audience. Listen, I got my Bachelor's degree in Korean civilization and language in 2012. I'm in my late 30’s and I still remember the burn in my heart whenever people would go “oh, you want to go to the North Korea. You want to marry a Korean guy“... No question mark. This was the narrative they wanted for me whenever I said I was passionate about Korean culture. I got used to the mockery and kept it moving. That's why I never bothered to translate this academic presentation into English. In 2016, when I opened my first blog, which is now my author blog, I wrote a couple of articles about the similarities I was seeing between K-pop and music from Guadeloupe. My analysis was based on the 7k+ articles/interviews I had translated and/or written about the Korean cultural industry in the span of 5~6 years while I was working as a senior editor for Soompi France. It was the biggest French platform dedicated to Hallyu news at that time. So, I witnessed the shift in the Western perception between that indifference/mockery about Korean entertainment in the 2000’s and the interest/fascination for it starting in the mid-2010’s. I must say it's always exciting to see people get into what you like. Yet, after the lack of response that my academic presentation got in 2019, I still felt quite lonely in the critical analysis discussion about the Caribbean entertainment industry until I got recommended Lisa Gordon's “International Trade and the Music Industry” last year.
Although I may disagree with a few things because of my experience, her essay was a refreshing read. During the Island Music Conference held in Jamaica in February 2024 and the Caribbean Music Convention held in Trinidad and Tobago in June 2024, the K-pop industry was mentioned a few times but only to talk about how the government invested in the industry… And while it's true the Korean government truly started investing in music exporting in 2011, I think there’s still a misconception about how K-pop got global. The reason K-pop is getting so much success is the theme that was talked about without being properly named in both conferences: fan culture.
The key element to data?
The K-pop industry is rooted in mastering tech culture, which is something Caribbean music also pioneered in the early 2000’s, and the K-pop fan culture is rooted in people who mastered the algorithms’ language. And I do insist on the “people” element. Yes, we live in a data-centric era, but this data represents people. Just like Lisa Gordon and many Caribbean experts keep saying, we need to build our measuring tools to keep track of our data. However, numbers will only speak the language you want them to speak. For instance, Spotify streams and followers seem to have become an important measuring tool. However, Spotify has been available in the region for 5-6 years at the earliest. Caribbean artists still managed to get millions streams on Youtube before that. Aside from the fact that artists might not have been making enough money to lead a decent lifestyle, these Youtube streams prove that Caribbean artists already have enough data without any marketing action to capitalize and figure out promo strategies. Now if you want to compare to the K-pop industry, Spotify is the music streaming platform that South Korean listeners use the least, so how do you explain BTS breaking records on this platform? That’s the consequence of streaming practices that South Korean fandoms learned in the early 2000’s with their local platforms. Then, they shared with international fandoms by the late 2000’s before K-pop music companies decided to join mainstream international platforms like Youtube. And that is multilingual multicultural fan culture power.
For the past five years, I heard a lot of discussions on how to appeal to a global/US audience, but I have yet to hear a discourse on marketing strategies for a local Caribbean audience. In both conferences, they had interesting panels on social media and the importance of constant posting, but it still felt disconnected from the local Caribbean reality. For instance, which social media platform is the most adequate to target a Caribbean multilingual audience? TikTok? Instagram? What about X, Facebook, Snapchat or WhatsApp? I live in France and I streamed exclusively French Caribbean artists for four years, yet they're still deep down in my algorithm… Why? Because these artists refuse to be associated to Zouk. They brand themselves on their versatility, “I can do any type of music”, they often say with pride. In the end, they do every other genre but won't define themselves with one specific genre. US hip-hop artists will claim hip-hop until their last breath, but we don't do the same for a genre we created. And from what experts in these conferences said, Dancehall and Soca also struggle to bring a generation of new artists… But that’s a topic for another day.
Hashtags are still important for Caribbean artists to link each other within algorithms. That’s why I named my podcast #streamcaribbean and I have been encouraging artists AND the audience to use it. That is how artists with “big” platforms can boost “smaller” artists who in return help to showcase a Caribbean music movement, a Caribbean music identity, a Caribbean music community. My point is: the global music market keeps getting segmented. Caribbean artists can't just apply generic marketing strategies that worked for non-Caribbean artists. For instance, I would argue that music videos of Caribbean artists no longer have an impact unless they’re telling a Caribbean narrative. For instance, Buju Banton released a dance video and a visualizer for “This is Jamaica”. The visualizer has a similar concept to Mano D’iShango’s “Byenbonjou”. Both videos show the people and the culture. This is impactful. A music video with a party concept in 2024 is cute but generic. When done right, visualizers are a better strategy because they cost less money.
I keep hearing complaints about how the Caribbean audience is too small in numbers (yet everybody agrees that the Spanish-speaking community is huge), how the Caribbean audience doesn't stream enough (yet everybody agrees that Caribbean artists can reach millions streams), how marketing requires a big budget (yet everybody agrees that we lack strategy so what’s the point of having money if you don’t know how to use it?).
the key element to have a fanbase?
Yes, it is important to make good music, to plan and strategize to get your music noticed, and to collect the money, but how do you engage with a multilingual and multicultural fanbase? How do you expand a multilingual and multicultural fanbase? This is the reality of Caribbean artists. Unlike a South Korean artist whose core fanbase is a (diaspora) Korean audience, the average Caribbean artist’s fanbase is multilingual and multicultural by default.
Do Caribbean creators know what the Caribbean audience wants? Do they care about catering to this specific multilingual multicultural audience? Do they even care about making specific strategies according to the age target they want to reach within the Caribbean? As a self-proclaimed born-to-be a fangirl and as an Afrocaribbean French woman you can't imagine how disheartening it is to realize I represent no value in the eyes of the people I want to support. I understand the impact of slavery, the migration waves toward bigger continents and how it shaped our approach to the world. We keep selling ourselves short, thinking there’s a magic formula that others have we don’t while still claiming that we’re talented. By the way, media training to stop devaluing ourselves would be necessary.
In the 20th century, Caribbean artists from different countries used to collaborate and travel across the region. This is why my friend with Panamanian roots who grew up in the US and I can talk about Kassav’ or Haitian group Tabou Combo. This is why there's no need to explain who Kalash is when the French Caribbean is mentioned. This is why Zouk was mentioned in both conferences, although I'm pretty sure none of the panelists can name a recent Zouk artist from Guadeloupe. We know the importance of collaborations within the region, but is there a standardized procedure to make them happen? Are there entertainment lawyers specialized in this field? How come discussions aren’t centered on being intentional to build a strong regional market first? How come there's no discussion on how to market yourself to a multilingual and multicultural audience? Don't get me wrong I'm not saying Caribbean artists shouldn't want to get worldwide recognition. For instance, Haitian DJ Michael Brun is laying the groundwork for collaborations with African artists. Mr. Vegas also had collabs with young artists from Guadeloupe, Martinique (check out my #streamcaribbean collab playlist on Spotify with 100 tracks so far) and established singers from Africa. What I'm saying is the business standards of any creative industry and the work ethics training should start at home. If we need to see music as a quality product, we also need to see ourselves as a viable market that our artists and our production companies should cater to. With the current technology and the right marketing, Caribbean artists could build a career at home and have people travel to see them. We have a bunch of music festivals across the region. Intracaribbean collaborations and partnerships we see in the Carnival industries should be implemented in other creative industries. And collaborations between artists should be power tools to define what the Caribbean audience wants.
In conclusion
As I'm writing this blog post, my Twitter/X feed is about Kamala Harris, Black romance authors promoting their books and 2NE1 fans celebrating the 15th anniversary tour announced earlier this week. When I visited Seoul back in 2011, I bought the Lollipop phone 2NE1 promoted for their predebut. I got it for a cheap price because it was no longer in style, but I kept that phone for years although I couldn't use it in France. I did some fansub work for their reality TV debut back in 2008/2009. I remember the Blackjack unity to support Park Bom when she got harassed by tabloids, the disappointment when the unofficial disbandment happened. I've seen the constant support CL is still getting although she doesn't release new material and she operates as an indie artist… And the gag is I wasn’t even a 2NE1 fan. I was a BIGBANG Taeyang’s fan, but this is what fan culture is about. They were signed to the same company, so I supported them because they were part of a movement that I wanted to be a part of. Fan culture is about feeling like a Very Important Person just by being you, regardless of the language/culture barrier. It is about building memories within a community and feeling safe to express your inner joy.
K-pop’s current global success wasn't just by accident. Business procedures were established through many trials and errors. It's a process that has been going on 40 years. I'm not saying their system is good. It's as corrupted as any capitalist system. AND with BTS being their first superstars, the dilemma is to figure out now if they should invest on making other superstars OR making global stars. However, instead of dismissing the human connection to the public, they centered their strategy around it. The K-pop industry started with the vision of 3 different artists. Each one of them had their business approach. Each one of them built their lane and their brand, but they understood they were all in the same race. That's why I hope that when the K-pop industry will be mentioned as an example from now on, it will no longer be just about how much the government invested. There are things we can learn when it comes to branding/storytelling/fan culture, but there are many things we should improve such as protecting the integrity of artists and their mental health. You can work a plan without a budget. You can't work a budget without a plan. And to build a plan, you need to have a vision.
That’s why I’d push back against the idea that there’s a lack of transmission or mentoring between the old generation and the young generation or that people gatekeep info… In the grand scheme of things, gatekeepers are necessary to preserve the culture so it doesn’t get commodified and stolen. But from what I see, people who gatekeep business info aren’t people you should want to learn from anyway. Sure, it’s always nice to be directly validated by someone you admire, but it’s not an obligation. The few ones who care about legacy, who set up conferences, who join panels always find a way to connect and to share. And anyone can learn just by taking the time to study on their own. Maybe, this is something we also need to develop: work values, vision compatibility and patience to learn. Another thing we might need to think about is the role of Caribbean media in building this Caribbean market. We need more articles, podcasts, and online shows to build a strong digital space for people to connect, for people to understand why this song is so great, why this album is innovative, or why they should follow this artist. The fact that both conferences are available online is awesome, but if we had a strong media industry, there should have been several articles, reports and analysis of the panels to keep promoting these events until next year.
In the past 50 years, we’ve gone through impactful changes in the way we make and consume music, but there’s enough free knowledge out there. I learned everything I know by reading and watching interviews online since 1999… I can edit/sub audios and videos, I can translate interviews because I was an active fangirl for a decade. As I’m getting older, I realize this is a true Caribbean skill. It’s in our DNA to become Jack-of-all-trades by necessity, now it’s time to become masters of our crafts by intention. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but whatever we do, the vision must prioritize the way we want the Caribbean audience to feel.
Summary for those who don’t want the long version
1) The key element to sustainability is fan culture.
2) The key element to data is reading data from a place of abundance and not from a place of lack.
3) The key element to fanbase is to care about people and make them feel important.
My recommendations when it comes to branding and building a vision for yourself as a Caribbean artist :
Island Music Conference : Shaggy’s keynote.
Caribbean Music Convention: “Collaboration and Cross-Pollination: Exploring Fusion in Caribbean Music" (Day 3) + "Global Trends in Caribbean Music: Opportunities and Challenges" (Day 4)