Next year, Caribbean Prestige Foundation (CPF) will celebrate two decades of staging their brainchild, the National Soca Monarch Competition and they will be justifiably proud of the impact of the competition over that time.Guardian Media Limited will be participating in this historic event again, continuing its role as media sponsor of the event and bringing its own flavour to building anticipation for the proceedings through its newest radio station, 100.5 FM Slam Radio.There have been significant challenges to the CPF team over the last 20 years, and the struggle for the organisation, according to officials at the launch of the 2012 edition, is far from over."Countless times I have seen the stage presence and listened to the beautiful voices of our people, only to see the majority of them fall off the horizon because the support just isn't there," said Gregory Fernandez, a special advisor to CPF at the launch event.
There's a lot to empathise with in those sentiments and much world-weariness in Fernandez' recounting of the long, torturous road that the Soca Monarch competition has travelled to achieve its place on the Carnival calendar.Today's event is a lavish, well-supported affair, attracting international stars and drawing impressive crowds to its climactic performance night. Soca's maturing range has split the event into Groovy Soca and Power Soca competitions and there's now a National Schools Soca Monarch competition that encourages tomorrow's performers to test themselves early in life.These are positive developments that have returned real value to the competitors, the craft and the community of local music lovers that remain committed supporters of this branch of calypso music.Still, there remains something painfully archaic in Fernandez' call for a 50 per cent ratio of local music to be played on local radio stations. The market has already spoken decisively on this subject, and every radio station founded on the basis of playing local music exclusively or in a majority percentage has failed to attract either the audience or concomitant advertiser support that would make it commercially viable.
This is not a reality that is particularly palatable to any fan of local music, but it is an inexorable and inescapable fact in the marketplace.But does this have to mean that there is no media space for local music available? This is absolutely not the case.Several local radio stations streaming their programming on the Internet can attest to the significant interest that our substantial diaspora has in listening to these digital feeds from home. There are local radio stations that have a relatively small percentage of the local over-the-air market that have exploded on the Web, finding avid fans and supporters among nationals living abroad and foreigners keen on our culture.The simple truth is that it would cost a fraction of the money spent on Carnival competitions, less than even the prize money offered as appearance fees, to create a bare-bones, all-local Internet stream of local music programming.
It's all, ultimately, a matter of where we want to make our money. Yes, the impact of all the converging elements of Carnival provide a powerful, compelling attraction for local and foreign audiences, but there's a desperate need to keep that line of communication active beyond Ash Wednesday.Add the tributaries of music produced in other genres and there is a surprisingly rich profile of cultural diversity sure to appeal to audiences unaware of anything beyond the road march contenders hammered into their heads over Carnival Monday and Tuesday.Musicians, composers, singers and promoters can now be their own publishers and broadcasters, building and learning from the market profiles that emerge from the global audience when they respond to such initiatives.Local music sales outlets like Trinidad Tunes open our music to global sales with a single posting. Percentages were yesterday's solution. Appealing to diverse audiences and unforeseen markets using the powerful and unprecedented reach of the Internet are today's opportunities.