From left, AMPP marketing consultant Colin Leslie; founding member Ira Bloom; partner Stephen Cat Coore; vice president of production Mich Maketansky; president Allen Newman; CEO Davon Carty; and vice president of intellectual properties Mike Millius.

A group of Anguillan and Jamaican professionals in the entertainment industry have invested US$7 million in the development of a music production and publishing company that will be based in Anguilla.

The company, named Anguilla Music Production and Publishing (AMPP), will focus on intellectual property, music creation and artiste development, according to CEO Davon Carty.

"We are creating a music publishing administration company on the island of Anguilla where we will be able to offer tax-free status for our clients," Carty told the Business Observer. "We have the blessings of the Anguillan Government. We see Anguilla as an ideal foundation and location for the whole AMPP project. Because of geography and because of the politics and the whole concept of being a tax-free country."

Carty, an Anguillan, has among his partners, Jamaican veteran musician Stephen 'Cat' Coore. An arm of their operation will be a US$2.6-million recording studio where they will produce works under the label West Indie Records.

"We recognised that going forward in music it would be really really important that musicians and artistes be given the opportunity to have their finances taken care of or given more alternatives than they currently have," said Carty. "And Anguilla's tax-free status and AMPP's location in Anguilla give you that."

Carty said his vision was to offer the Caribbean the comfort of a professional music industry administrator and producer who can take their product, nurture it and get it out into the wider world.

"This goes not only into producing our own artistes, but also artistes who have done work and are looking for intellectual properties administration facilities," said Carty.

According to its mission statement, AMPP will identify opportunities to implement pilot programmes with a view to developing and procuring sustained funding for broad-based innovative educational programmes for young people. Activities may include training internships, mentoring, special events, classes and workshops.

"Whether you come down and record the music with us in our studios or whether or not we do a deal to offer administration services. along with our education programme, which we're working with the government of Anguilla on, we have a true music entertainment company," said Allen Newman, president of AMPP.

"We're going to be able to provide production services, post-production services, then we're going to provide ongoing administration services for your publishing and all your copyright holdings," he added.

The company also has a tour arm called 'AMPP Fantasy' offering holiday packages to vacationers, particularly families and groups who wish to travel to Anguilla for a music fantasy experience.

"So we're planning on building a haven, a music haven where artistes can come from around the world and create music," said Newman. "That is a very important aspect of what we're doing. Our studio, called AMPP Studio, will be a first-class recording studio."

Newman, who is from New York, said that in the US, a lot of times issues come down to black and white. "That can be taken in terms of politics, in terms of music, in terms of business. But when you look at the Caribbean, the Caribbean is made up of many different cultures," he said, adding that part of the group's mission was to give the Caribbean an opportunity to put all its various music together.

"Imagine if there were an entity that could talk to all of these genres in all of these islands and find a way to present it to the world," he said. "I believe that's what we're doing. that's one of the things that got me excited in the beginning. we want to build an organisation where we could help let the world know that there is all this different kind of music available, all this fabulous array of talents... but we also want to run a smart business."

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