KINGSTON, Jamaica — There was standing room only at the latest instalment of the series called E-Registry Live as dozens of content creators, musicians, artistes and creatives converged on the offices of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports in New Kingston on Tuesday to let their voices be heard.

The event was held under the tagline ‘Building bridges, Connecting the music industry’, an event geared towards creating networking opportunities and connections for up-and-coming musicians, creatives, consultants and artistes.

The panellists included Sara Hsia (entertainment lawyer), Joe Bogdanovich (promoter and Chief Executive Officer of Downsound Records), radio personality Burgerman (Edge FM), Corey Johnson (a record producer and music mogul from the United Kingdom), Claude Mills (publicist), and Marlon ‘Boom Boom’ Wizard (selector and host of popular weekly events). Several industry heavyweights were also in attendance.

The event led to lively discussions between the panellists and the audience about the Night Noise Abatement Act, the challenges faced in marketing reggae and dancehall in the international marketplace and the importance of branding and trademark in protecting.

Attorney Sara Hsia expounded at length on the importance of trademarks which led to one of the most important revelations made by selector Boom Boom who admitted that he had not applied for a trademark for Boom Sundays through the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office.

The revelation further underlined the importance of sessions in identifying key areas where the entertainment community is underserved.

Hsia assists prominent United States (US) and Jamaican clients with trademark prosecution, enforcement and litigation before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and United States District Courts, and the Jamaican Intellectual Property Office (JIPO).

Selector Boom Boom also raised the sore point of the Night Noise Abatement Act and how it has affected the ecosystem of event promotion and negatively impacted the livelihoods of hundreds of promoters, sound system selectors and even led to corrupt practices in the police force.

Boom Boom’s comments triggered a lively discussion about the wide-ranging effects of the Act and the discussion of the establishment of entertainment zones across the country.

Publicist Claude Mills reminisced on his experiences of building his own personal brand, working for entertainers Beenie Man, Vybz Kartel and the Portmore Empire, Khago, G Whizz, Macka Diamond, Vershon and others. Mills also made the point that the narrow focus of crime, sex and violence in today’s dancehall has created a scenario where reggae music is being marginalised on the world stage, losing market share and relevance to afrobeats.

“MTV has a top afrobeats video award, Billboard has a top afrobeats song, where are the accolades for dancehall?” Mills mused.

Minister Olivia Grange announced that the next phase of the Jamaica Entertainers and Creatives Insurance Plan (JECIP), which offers health coverage for music industry creatives and entertainers, would be launched soon.

The government has allotted $55 million from the Consolidated Fund to cover the JECIP policies for these practitioners. Minister Grange launched JECIP last year, with comprehensive coverage in case the worst happens. At present, the scheme covers those members in the E-Registry.

Businessman-investor-festival organiser Joe Bogdanovich urged greater ‘unity’ in the music business between the artistes, promoters, talent-buyers and creatives, an appeal that was greeted with applause by the audience. He also confirmed that there would be another edition of Freedom Street this year.

Burgerman injected a moment of levity in the proceedings when he chided Bogdanovich that his most enduring memory of Freedom Street centred around an outburst regarding a suggested act to be performed on someone’s matriarch. Much laughter greeted this remark.

The event was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports. Gillian Wilkinson McDaniel served as the panel moderator.

The National Registry of Entertainment and Creative Industries Practitioners (E-Registry) currently has over 4,200 persons registered. It is a mechanism to provide key services to the industry including social and financial benefits, and provide access to professional development and key industry connections.