This meeting took place at Jamaica House on the same day that we carried a story about the Marley family making a deal with Hilco Consumer Capital to "manage the Jamaican singer's brand and handle licensing rights for products, including apparel, video games and luggage".
Noting the connection
It is, of course, significant that the Marley family should enter into such an arrangement and it underscores the earning power of what Hilco managing director Reyaz A. Kassamali called "one of the world's most popular brands and iconic images that are regularly counterfeited".
There is a connection between the meeting at Jamaica House and the Marley deal or, more accurately, there is a disconnect. For, despite the technological developments that have made the dissemination of the music, that is at the core of the cultural product, much easier than it was when Bob Marley was alive, it is hardly likely that the material which was under discussion yesterday would have anywhere the reach and longevity of Marley's music.
This is, we suspect, a result of (among other factors) the subject matter and manner of expression.
We do not expect every - or even many - performers to have Marley's rare gift for crafting lyrics, his sensitivity to and grasp of international issues and the extraordinary passion, which permeates his recordings and was a hallmark of his live performances. Neither do we expect every - or even many - of the current crop of singers and deejays to have his extraordinary business acumen.
But we do expect (and it is not unreasonable) that they learn from Marley's example if they have a smidgen of regard for their craft and realise that for music to have reach and a lasting effect, then it must be fit for consumption in the homes of persons who would never attend a dance or stage show.
And the material up for discussion at yesterday's Jamaica House meeting is fit only for consumption at such events, which should be for adults only and private, but which, unfortunately, are often neither.
Marketing to 'de worl'
In the thanksgiving service at Fellowship Tabernacle, which marked the start of Reggae Month, the Reverend Al Miller spoke about sending Jamaican music 'to de worl'' - the currently popular saying which encapsulates intent and braggadocio - elaborating on just what kind of reggae and dancehall should be sent out.
We suspect that many of the daggerin' songs, and those which need extensive editing for public broadcast, might be popular for the moment but will not go 'to de worl'.
In the end, it becomes a contest about which performer can get cruder and more base instead of the honing of the creative expression of ideals which touch the soul.
Those performers (and they may be prominent, but are only some of those involved in a large Jamaican music industry) would be well advised to ask themselves if they are shaping music for the world, which could bring them immense financial rewards, or for parties, which are quickly forgotten.
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