Stories

Unique Caribbean sounds at WOMEX festival in Portugal

29 November 2022
ITC News

Six music companies attended the most culturally diverse music meeting in the world, a unique platform to showcase their music and their businesses.

Sherwinn ‘Dupes’ Brice blends pop, reggae, and R&B to produce some of the most unique sounds of the modern Caribbean.

Sherwinn’s company, Dupes Did It Music, was one of six Caribbean companies to perform at the WOMEX international music festival in Lisbon, Portugal from 19 to 23 October as part of the International Trade Centre’s United Kingdom Trade Partnerships Programme (UKTP). 

“We are very excited to participate in this great event and to be a part of such an important platform, which for us as independent St Lucian artists represents a transformative experience,” Sherwinn said on social media at the event.

Dupes Did It Music was joined in Lisbon by other music producers, artists and label managers from across the Caribbean.

Companies including Caribbeanmecca, Wai’tu Media, Masterroom Media and Mediumship Music shared their experiences with like-minded artists and others working on building the creative industries in the Caribbean.

As artistic leaders, many of these Caribbean companies wanted to ensure that their experiences at the festival would translate into greater business and employment opportunities at home.

 

Vital for growing a music business

Marlene Mercedes and Carlos Moncion, representatives of Mediumship Music, Dominican Republic giving an interview.
Photo by ITC

Mediumship Music from the Dominican Republic, represented by Marlene Mercedes and Carlos Monción Alfonso, said they aim to encourage other independent artists working on Afro-Dominican fusion music and to grow the industry for emerging artists.

"Attending Womex 2022 was a very enriching and transformative experience, since it allowed us to demonstrate and enjoy the extensive cultural and musical diversity that this important platform offers,” Mercedes said.

“This event gave us the opportunity to show more widely the services of our Caribbean indie music production company and our catalog of artists and, at the same time, thanks to their masterful conferences we were able to expand our knowledge and obtain new work tools, which are vital for the growth and development of our company in today's global music market.”

The annual WOMEX festival brings together emerging artists and veterans of the music industry to maximise the benefits of networking, knowledge sharing and skills development opportunities.

WOMEX is the most culturally diverse meeting place for the world’s music industry, attracting more than 2,000 artists, recording studios and musicians from over 90 countries.

An important goal at this year’s WOMEX festival was to ensure strong representation from young female artists.

Throughout the festival, the Caribbean artists took to social media to amplify their talents and to attract new listeners and followers.

The success of this year’s WOMEX festival again showed the value of business development through global engagement at international trade events. 

The UKTP, with funding from the United Kingdom, is proud to partner with creative industries in the Caribbean as they grow to reach new audiences around the world.

 

About the project

The UK Trade Partnerships (UKTP) programme works with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to increase exports from SME suppliers to the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). The UKTP programme is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is implemented by the International Trade Centre.