The region may, by global standards, be a market so fragmented that no reliable statistics can be gathered, but this does not mean that piracy is any less of a threat to our musicians, performers, and record companies.
The global market for pirated music had an estimated value of US$4.6 billion in 2002.Īs is often the case with trade statistics, figures quantifying the value of pirated Caribbean music are difficult to find. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organisation representing the international recording industry, says that no fewer than 40 per cent of physical recordings (those on CD, disk, or audiotape) sold in the world are pirate copies - that’s two out of every five. One reason for the poor state of the industry’s financial health is music piracy. Nevertheless, many of the Caribbean’s composers, musicians, publishers, and music companies are struggling to survive.
The Caribbean’s many carnivals attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, and artists from the islands have made an immense contribution to music all over the world. The Caribbean is not the easiest place to earn money by making music, despite the fact that music is an integral part of the region’s cultural life, and a major driver of its most important industry, tourism.
