THE curtains came down on the inaugural staging of the Island Music Conference (IMC) on Sunday at the Courtleigh Auditorium in St Andrew.

According to co-CEO Judith Bodley, the five-day conference hit the bullseye on its objectives.

“As we had said at the beginning, the conference is for the convergence of the global music industry professionals and giving access to the Jamaican and Caribbean fraternity — and that was achieved,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Sunday saw a total of four sessions. They included a one-on-one with reggae singer Ky-Mani Marley; followed by a ‘Women In Music’ panel discussion which featured Venus Rose, Queen Ifrica, Pamputtae, and Nadine Sutherland. The evening ended with a discussion on ‘Touring’, featuring Marcia Griffiths, Markus Gavin, and IMC co-CEO Shaggy, with host Paul Lee.

Bodley explained that the women’s session was vital to explore their versatility in the industry, as well as their personal lives.

“We looked at females within the industry and how they would like to move ahead. The first question was to ask why females need to be singled out as we speak about music, but I think Queen Ifrica answered that perfectly when she said because we are nurturers along with everything else that we do we as women,” she said.

The co-CEO further said that the foundation has been laid for future stagings of the conference, and already international entities are expressing interest in collaborating.

“When we put out our first set of information we said that this is the inaugural staging, and we’re very serious about that. The pandemic allowed for a reset, and with this reset we have to look at the trajectory that we’re now on.

“So many other islands have reached out to say, ‘When will you take this to our island?’ We started out in Jamaica and we’re cementing what we do — it’s about building our Jamaican footprint. We have approximately three million citizens here, and in the Caribbean we are in excess of 40 million people.

“We are such a great influence in music for the world. Look at Bob Marley, for example. He holds the top positions on the charts decades after his death, and he only gives somebody an opportunity to have the top spot when they drop an album and then he’s right back there. So, as we celebrate what it is that we’ve already done, it’s important that we move forward,” she explained.

Bodley has been in the media industry for three decades. She started out as a news presenter at KLAS Sports Radio before moving to Irie FM as a music librarian. She was also the station manager at RJR. The media practitioner was also instrumental in the development of ZIP 93 FM, FAME 95 FM and CVM TV.

She is currently partner with music manager Sharon Burke at Burke Bodley Productions Limited.