JAMAICA’s entertainment sector was recently thrown a $90-m lifeline courtesy of the Ministry of Entertainment and Culture. While applauding the move, Ewan Simpson, chairman of Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA), encourages the Government to go a step further in ensuring the sector’s viability.

“In addition to the stimulus, we would hope they would provide some stimulus injection in the entertainment industry which would allow it to earn its way back to survival and allow members of the industry to pivot with the time to be able to digitise a lot of what they do and to able to expand their market reach outside of Jamaica or those persons who would not normally go to them,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“So we would want to see the Government being a little more proactive in finding creative ways of encouraging greater investment, whether directly or through the manner in which they engage the private sector,” Simpson continued.

According to the JaRIA chairman, the investment in South Korean popular music (K-pop) by stakeholders is why it has taken off globally.

“People need to know that investing in the entertainment, cultural and creative industries is as legitimate an endeavour as investing in stocks, as investing in real estate, as investing in farming, and in fact, the returns are longer lasting because there is something called royalty; there is something called residual income that is not often available with many of the other forms of investment,” he said.

“I wish that our bankers and portfolio managers would see this and point persons in that direction. It is not about handouts, but the industry needs funding. That is what happened in South Korea, that is why K-pop is one of the biggest products being sold globally… Somebody funded it,” he continued.

Jamaica’s entertainment sector has been shuttered since March 2020 due to COVID-19, and Government estimates indicate it has lost more than $26 billion.

Recently, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, made the announcement of the $90-m package and that her ministry was accepting applications for grants of $60,000 per individual.

“Whatever your skills are, as long as you’re a practitioner in the industry, you can benefit. If you’re an actor, a singer, a songwriter; we’re talking about the stagehands, engineers, selectors, sound system operators, owners of sound systems, people in film. So, it’s a variety. Once you meet the criteria, you will benefit,” Grange said in a statement.

“I think that the entertainment, culture and creative industries sector was probably impacted more than any other sector and so it was necessary for us to see what we can do. Even now, as the restrictions are eased, entertainment events are still restricted,” Grange noted.

Grange estimates that 1,000 individual grants will be awarded.

To qualify, prospective beneficiaries should be registered on the ministry’s e-registry; be a member of an established industry body; and, have an account with a Jamaican bank or possess an NCB Prepaid Mastercard to facilitate payment.