The document discusses how Barbados can develop its cultural and entertainment industries to create new jobs. It argues that Barbados needs to establish its unique cultural identity and sound rather than copying others. Developing storytellers, musicians, researchers and other roles could generate exportable cultural products like performances, videos, books and skills. This presents an opportunity for a new business model and jobs in areas like music, dance, film, writing and technical roles to share Barbados' stories and culture locally and globally.

1. The Cultural and Entertainment Industry: Where new jobs can be created
Currently, there is a chasm between entertainment and culture in Barbados. The only thing that appears
to be common between the two is that there are both going nowhere fast. It is my opinion that the
current servings of music has little marketability, sale ability, and sustainability at home far less abroad.
Secondly, too little attention is paid to culture itself… in fact one may be tempted to ask: what is our
culture?
Two major decisions have to be made: what is the sound of Barbados? And secondly, what is
Barbadiana (i.e. the Bajan Culture)? These two should then be blended into the Bajan Brand. I think the
time has come to stop copying others; and to start creating our own image. We have the intelligence
and our current circumstances demand it.
The cupboard is stacked with the toys we had put away, so that we could play with what others have.
We must now recapture our pride and industry… pull the ring-bang (Eddie Grant style), the raga (RPB
style), the spouge (Jackie Opel style), and the tuk (Poona style); the lessons of the landship, the rum
shops, the churches, Baxter’s Road, Oistins, and Six Men’s… mix and blend, people, mix and blend!
Where are the jobs?
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Song writers who can tell the Bajan stories and experiences.
Composers who can capture the Bajan atmosphere and character
Arrangers who tweak and twiddle those 8 notes into that moving Bajan sound
Singers who can deliver the stories and experiences in authentic Bajan emotion
Musicians who can play the compositions in authentic Bajan style and professionalism
Script writers who can research and recount the stories in more detail
Researchers and historians to authenticate what is being told.
Videographers, fine artists and cartoonists to capture and edit the concepts of the stories
Choreographers to translate the movements into dance
Dancers who can portray the movements of the stories
Technicians and technical personnel
Producers, Directors, Marketing, Sales, Entrepreneurs, lawyers, insurance, accounting
This is not a suggestion to copy Hollywood or Bollywood or any such like, but rather this is to point out
the opportunity to create a new type of business in Barbados. A new business model where individuals
are treated as professionals; and are hired based of their value-adding capacity rather than their
affiliations. It will be a model where work is supplied on a contractual basis (e.g. by project).
Just imagine the products we can generate and export: live cultural performances, music videos, dance
videos, mp3s, books, research papers, performers, technical skills, management skills, etc…..
Many of us are sitting down on a treasure chest of stories waiting to be told… if you can’t tell the story
yourself… then create a job opportunity for someone to tell that story for you… to the rest of Barbados
and the world… who knows!
[ry moore]