We are planning on posting a review of the British black music sector in 2009, and possibly 2008, very soon. In the meantime, it's worth reflecting on one of the  Black Music Congress’  last debate at City University London - ‘Thinking Out Of The Box: What We’re Doing To Raise The Game In The Black Music Sector’, which took place on Jan. 19 2008.

The press release for that debate started off with two comments.

At the start of the new year, I said: "Business-wise, 2007 is probably the worst year for British black music since the BMC was formed five years ago." This was followed by "What's good for the British black music industry is good for Britain and the economy!", a comment made by Hugh Francis, former Jet Star head of intellectual property & business affairs, in his keynote speech at the BMC’s Feb. 2006 debate entitled ‘Should British Black Music Shut Up Shop?’ (Click to read Back To Black? An Analysis Of The British Black Music Sector or scroll to the bottom to read the Thinking Out Of The Box outcomes) In the last few years, we've been trying to highlight the importance of business, although racism had its fair share of coverage in the process. Anyway, one of the things I did to focus the 2008 debate was the BMM Production-Consumption Loop (see accompanying image), which provided a visual representation of the interdependence between the creator, consumer and the various intermediaries, which make up the music industry. We are all somewhere in there - perhaps in more than one role.

To elaborate, I'm going to use the copy i sent to a journalist on a national newspaper who wanted some background in order to run a story. Remember what follows was written early 2008 (keep checking for the 2009 update soon). 

From the Production - Consumption Loop I created, which is attached, you will notice a) it starts with the creatives - artist, musician, songwriter, producer. I think the days that the argument could be made for poor quality are long gone. We have talented creatives, sometimes much more innovative than their more popular American or Jamaican counterparts.

But the problem is that often, b) the industry, particularly record companies and publishers, do not sign up these talents as priority artists, where serious investment is put behind them as potential global acts. Black artists are more likely to get small development or singles deals with a let's see how it goes attitude - that's not the mindset needed to break an act as a global and long term proposition, and finally the loop needs with c) the fan or consumer - they are key. The fact is that they have not supported domestic talent as much as they ought to.

However part of the problem, is not lack of quality talent to support, but the media's role in not highlighting the options available. Our media tend to feature foreign talent, which then sell, so justifies their focus by saying that's what people want. However, we have not had the experience of trying to proactively promote domestic talent to see if given comparable media profile, British consumers would not buy into it with equal gusto. We have emprical evidence in France where after their law which mandated a pro-French music and new french music quota on radio saw French black acts regularly selling gold/platinum in France and across Francophone Europe.

What can be done? British record companies must have faith to sign and see domestic talent as priority acts (Leona and Corinne Bailey Rae are the only ones that spring to mind in the last couple of years that have been treated as priority). Our media need to support our credible talent much more, instead of taking the "easier" route of supporting what's already proven itself from the international markets, particularly America and Jamaica. And consumers must not just wait on the media, if they're conscious of discovering and experiencing music from these shores, they must be pro-active in their consumption - there's much to be discovered say via internet searches, underground activities like showcases, and independent releases (sadly some of the innovative or exciting stuff have little or no proper distribution - Kevin Mark Trail and Hil St Soul spring to mind).

Those businesses operating within the black music sector need to up their game by being more business savvy, trying out new ways of doing things, and also networking more by sharing industry intelligence, and they need not go to MIDEM to make that happen - which is one of the reasons the Black Music Congress has convened the Jan. 19 forum.

Finally, the issue is not about black music, because if you look at say the 2007 top 100 best-selling albums and singles, black music was reasonably represented. The issue is about BRITISH black music. Poor sales of British black music means poor domestic communities, etc.

Outcome Points
·        Support British black music, DJs to play conscious British Black music, promoters to support initiatives such as Brit on the Bill and ensure that when there are gigs with artists from outside the UK, there is at least one Brit on the bill, so that British black artists also have opportunity to play a big venues and raise their profile, consumers to  support British artists by buying their CDs, attending their gigs etc., buy British black music.
·        Doing it for self, getting a fan base and engaging with new ways of getting music out there, internet websites etc. before one thinks of engaging with record companies
·        Importance of building a career, live performances so that one has longevity, and an income even if one is not selling records
·        Importance of  music industry education, and understanding how the industry works
·        Importance of networking and making valuable contacts

Kwaku