THE Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM), Institute of Jamaica has announced its plans to host a symposium to address the potential for the Jamaican cultural industries, particularly music, to make a more measureable contribution to the Jamaican economy.

Funded by a grant from CHASE, the theme for the symposium is ‘The Business of the Jamaican Music and Cultural Industries’. The event will be held on March 28 and 29, 2014, in the Lecture Hall at the Institute of Jamaica.

The symposium will invite presenters from the cultural industries, including music, and leaders in business, finance, government and international trade to meet, discuss and exchange ideas on how to maximise the potential of Jamaican music and cultural industries to fulfil its role in nation building.

“The objective of the symposium is to develop a set of concrete recommendations, which can be used as a strategic framework for informing policy and initiatives within the public and private sectors,” stated Herbie Miller, director/curator of the Jamaica Music Museum.

A steering committee will be established to manage the directives from the symposium and all necessary business connections from the private and public sectors, service clubs and social organisations in order to stimulate, facilitate and pilot specific investment projects and goals. It is anticipated that the steering committee will be funded through ongoing contributions from both private and public sector interests.

As a department of the Institute of Jamaica, JaMM is mandated to archive, research and exhibit the various Jamaican music forms to highlight their social, historic, and musical values and aesthetics. This symposium is part of JaMM’s broader mandate to safeguard one of Jamaica’s most appealing intangible assets and global brands.