Replies

  • Even with the highest quality Steel Orchestra music (product). Nothing happening without market (demand). 

    For unique, exotic, super music; now that is the challenge.

  • This has been for the longest while the proverbial sixty four thousand dollar question, which to date remains unanswered.
    The conscientious in the Pan world is that it lack proper marketing , this I can not agree with the "pan" is now known and accepted all over the globe, we on the other hand are not a get up and get people,Give it to us and we just might be willing to move, after we find out what is in it for us.

    We have found ourselfs in a quagmire of our own making , that is paying attention to the pan only at Carnival or as Merchant said when it is perceived to be in danger..

    The pan musicians of today must be willing to invest in themselfs ALL YEAR ROUND see this as YOUR career and not just in music but Pan Music. How many of these players are willing to be school in business and marketing of one self before asking how much does the gig pay. Show that you are serious and just may be others may see you that way.
  • One of the first things steelbands has to do is organize, and be a part of carnival.

    • Cecil you are right but I believe it's best for steelbands to make a change. Go back to have pans on the road, not on trucks. To much technology today to have the pans mobile without human effort. Needs to be passive as it once was to enjoy.

  • While there is some credit to all that has been said, I'm of the firm view that it starts with the answer to the question . Will we as country support such an idea, can we see ourselfs paying what it will cost to attend performances on a regular basis?.

    If we who are the makers of the music do not support it, can we truly expect others to? Check out B' way plays audience ..

  • We are still spinning Top in Mud...Where's the Think Tank???

    The IDEAS from CIP leaders get buried after the Carnival season RIP.

    Father Knows Best - The Right Honorable Dr Eric Williams

  • To answer the question , one must decide whether to view the steelband as a business , or as art and culture.

    In business , profit simply means financial gain, whereas the benefits of art and culture are much more difficult to quantify , since it involves much more than money.

    For example , I think that a successful steelband makes a substantial contribution to a community , especially to its youth . and that to me is a worthwhile investment.

    But , how do you put a price tag on that.?

    I personally think that all the government funding that goes to Pan Trinbago (some of which is distributed to steelbands via the panorama ), whether or that funding is mismanaged, is simply the government's way of funding the steelband as art , much like government funding and endowments go towards funding symphony orchestras etc. in Europe and the US.

    Of course that does not preclude such organizations from finding and creating alternative ways generating income , which most steelbands seem unwilling to do.

    • Lloyd Best saw the panyard as a platform for economic growth and development. He saw the panyard as a centre of excellence and a pole of innovation and native entrepreneurship. He saw as one of the assets of the panyard the “capacity for civic harmony and community collaboration” as well as the potential for engaging “sleeping resources” and “native intuition”...

      Back to School in Pan

      Backtoschoolinpan-1.pdf

This reply was deleted.