Question 7: SLEPT ANALYSIS OF TRINIDAD

Sociocultural Factors
• Great emphasis on content depicting foreign popular culture and lifestyles is being used. The music is being influenced by American and Jamaican cultures such as the emphasis on getting rich quickly, sexist ideals about the roles of men and women.
• Soca music which is primarily part of popular culture can be seen as a genre which all classes of people enjoy now. While it is not considered part of high culture it is now an aspect of popular culture which all classes enjoy.
• More emphasis is placed now on training young upcoming aspiring artists in the musical industry. The need for education spawned the creation of the National Academy for the performing Arts .
• Greater emphasis is now being placed on searching for and honing talent of individuals hence the creation of shows such as Digicel rising stars, Synergy Soca Star

legal and Political Factors
• The Copyright Amendment Act (2008) seeks to protect local content producers
• Considerable emphasis is now placed on copyright and intellectual property rights involving music publishing and composer’s royalties with Copyright Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago (COTT) acting as the custodian for these rights. The advent of COTT has led to some degree of formalisation of the music industry.

• Thrust to crackdown on sale of illegally acquired content store fronts

Economic Factors

• Recorded Audio Compact Discs amounted to $1,348,000 US and at an average cost of $8.00 US it is estimated that 168,500 units are imported.
• Steel band Musical Instruments show an import value of $53,000 US.
This is surprising given that Trinidad and Tobago is considered the home of the Steel Pan where it is manufactured in great quantities.
• The only significant musical instrument exported from the country the Steel Pan. A total of $505,000 US is recorded showing that this could develop into a lucrative industry. Recently the Electronic steel pan was created thus usering the dawn of yet another lucrative industry.

Technological Factors
• The creation of the electronic steel pan has birthed a new era in steel drums. This instrument takes advantage of all the electronic enhancements available today such as inability to go out of tune and inability to rust.
• Websites such as youtube.com and vimeo.com allow upcoming artists to debut their works and upload to an international audience.
• Development of studio software e.g. Virtual Dj, Adobe sound booth by international companies allows for digital editing.
• The advent of the CD and by extension the mp3 formats have led to easy access of material both through online means and offline means.
• The accessibility of the internet for the purposes of reproduction, marketing and distribution for either the sale of CDs and/or access to MP3 downloads.