Musique
En Folie is Haiti's largest music showcase. Found in 1999
by Max Chauvet and sponsors by UniBank, Rum BARBANCOURT,
and "Le Nouveliste"( one of Haiti's oldest news
papers established since 1796). This tradeshow features
the largest compact discs collection of all genres of Haitian
music, including Konpa, Troubadour, Racine (voodoo), Rara,
Carnival, Raga, and everything in between. The event also
assembles the whole spectrum of the music industry, including,
record label, distributors, promoters, media personnel along
with some of the brightest and most talented artists.
The
fourth annual Musique En Folies was held on October 25-26,
2003 at Cercle Bellevue,
Petion
Ville (Haiti). The event was a huge success. Industry representatives
and music fans (almost 2,000 of them) converged to celebrate
Haitian's music and have fun.
More than 1,000 compact discs of traditional, classic and
the latest selection of Haitian music were on display. The
showcase was designed to help artists sell their music and
also to provide a platform for music professionals to discover
and promote new talent. Representatives from every Haitian
record company were in attendance: Muzik arts, Antilles
Mizik, Nouvel Generation, Geronimo Records, and Lionel Productions
to name a few.
As
in years past, the showcase featured some of the most prominent
artists in the music business from Michael Benjamin, Jude
Jean ( Kdans), Yves Joseph ( Tabou), Roge M. Eugene (Shoubou),
Jean Claude Jean, Robert Martino, Michel Martely, Roberto
Martino, Keke Belizaire, Ti Pouch and Roro Of Djakout Mizk
Black Alex, Raymond Cajuste, Brutus( Zenglen) , Joe Zenith
(konpa Kreyol), and a large number of young up coming Haitian
artists. Every musician in attendance had the opportunity
to share their knowledge and network with key players in
the music industry.
Haiti's
Musique En Folie Showcase has come of age over the past
four years. Certainly more can be done to improve the outlook
of the show- not just to help artists sell compact disc.
In future, several workshops can be incorporated into the
program to help up coming artists to learn about all aspects
of the music industry and the path to artist empowerment
such as professional artist development, how to develop
the right relationships, marketing and promotion tools,
and overcoming obstacles.
Musique
En Folie 2003 was a success! The artists, the sponsors,
the media, and the fans all came together to make this event
an inspiration for the Haitian music industry.
