#streamcaribbean with Sobers Esprit

How to do music business in the Caribbean? How to do music business when you’re a Caribbean artist living in the Caribbean? Let’s talk about these challenges with my guest Sobers Esprit. He’s from Dominica and has been active in Dominica’s cultural development for more than 50 years which makes him an expert of Caribbean creative industries. Our discussion was recorded way back in October 2023…

0:00 - 2:09: intro about how the Island Music Conference created by Shaggy inspired me to restaur the audio file that got damaged 

2:10 -5:39: how Caribbean governments have been fostering cultural development in a local way ( example with Dominica) and in a regional way (CARICOM initiatives) 

5:40 - 9:22: the growth of the music festival culture in the Caribbean 

9:23 - 12:59: why digital branding is important for Caribbean artists + the need for Caribbean expertise about digital strategies + transferring the knowledge to younger artists

13:00 - 19:54: the long history of music collaboration between Guadeloupe (Pierre-Édouard Décimus, Georges Décimus) / Dominica (Gordon Henderson, Jeff Joseph) until today

19:55 - 22:44: what Caribbean artists need to do to keep up with the changes of the music industry 

22:45 - 24:40: the need to rethink our approach of cultural development across the region 

24:41 - 27:13: the tools to master such as data collecting and analysis and create a new economy to be competitive at a global level

27:14 - 29:44: the importance of creating a lifestyle experience for the audience. Example: afrobeats and Nollywood in Nigeria

29:45 - 32:21: the vision to build strong creative industries

32:22 - 35:24: Sobers Esprit looking back at his journey as a creative industries expert and his hope for the next generation to keep structuring our ecosystem

35:25 - 35:54: outro + ending credits

35:55 - 41:32: how Zouk is being invisibilized in France + the importance of being unapologetically Caribbean