In delivering Remarks at the seventh annual Gospel Music Awards of Trinidad and Tobago (GMATT) on Sunday, Senator the Honourable Paula Gopee-Scoon congratulated awardees, praised T&T’s abundant talent and encouraged the pursuit of greater commercialisation opportunities within the gospel music sector.”
Referencing the 2024 “Global Music Report” from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the Minister explained that revenues from the global recorded music industry was expected to rise exponentially from USD 28.6 billion (2023) to approximately USD 53.2 billion by 2030. In addition, she noted that Christian music has emerged as one of the fastest-growing genres internationally, presenting significant opportunities for local artistes.
In part, for this reason “the Government has identified music as a targeted industry to advance the country’s diversification agenda. Accordingly, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, through MusicTT, has supported the music industry through dedicated programmes and incentives, with many gospel artistes benefiting.
“Since the launch of the Live Music District Programme in 2018 to 2024, over 330 gospel music performances were financially supported. Additionally, 21 artistes (of which, six were gospel artistes) benefitted from the Music Business Development Grant Facility during the period 2022-2024,” the Minister explained.
Encouraging the artistes to pursue greater commercialisation opportunities, Gopee-Scoon offered a few recommendations:
- Register for an International Standard Recording Code.
- Seek sync license opportunities.
- Pursue collaborations between fellow artistes, local and foreign.
- Genre-crossing and blended genres: Consider the fact that listeners are choosing music based on their emotions rather than sticking to strict genre preferences.
- Embrace and utilise short-form videos and their related platforms: TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube. TikTok remains a powerhouse for gospel music with over two billion active users and Instagram Reels have become a harmonious space for gospel artistes, while YouTube shorts have helped diversify the content available to gospel enthusiasts. A noteworthy example is gospel reggae singer Sherwin Gardner whose latest song “Find Me Here, released only in January this year, received 1.8 billion e-views on TikTok, making him the first black gospel artiste to achieve over 1 billion e-views on the platform.
- Harness the power of artificial intelligence technologies to grow the industry.
The Minster further congratulated Celian Group and its Chairman Ian Haywood on the occasion of GMATT’s seventh anniversary and recognised the organisation for its ongoing dedication and commitment to hosting the awards.
“In Scripture, seven often symbolises completion or perfection. This is indeed a remarkable accomplishment and I congratulate Mr. Ian Haywood and the Celian Group on achieving this milestone. The Ministry of Trade and Industry, through MusicTT, has been supporting this event over the years and is pleased to continue our partnership with Celian Group,” the Minister said.
