Local and regional music industry stakeholders gathered in Grenada from December 9 – 11 for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Caribbean Creative Industries Music Forum, themed ‘Amplifying Caribbean Music as a Global Gateway’, hosted in collaboration with the ministries of Legal Affairs, Labour and Consumer Affairs, and Tourism, Creative Economy and Culture. Joined by facilitators from Geneva, South Africa, London, Canada and Mexico, participants of the three-day forum explored leveraging intellectual property systems to design a roadmap for long-term growth of strong, sustainable music industries in the Caribbean.
Carol Simpson, WIPO’s Officer in Charge for Latin America and the Caribbean, shared the factors driving the importance of this forum. “The global landscape of cultural and creative industries is shifting rapidly, faster than we even can grasp it. Streaming, digital distribution, AI driven recommendations, new licensing models, and data driven markets have transformed how music is created, shared and consumed, but it also possesses great challenges for the protection of our creators. This is where intellectual property becomes essential.” Noting that intellectual property (IP) is more than administrative formalities, Simpson continued: “IP is an infrastructure that allows creatives to be fairly compensated, producers to invest confidently and governments to build sustainable creative ecosystems. A strong intellectual property system supported by good governance, collective management, digital registries, and cross border cooperation are the very foundation of a modern music industry.”
The first day of the forum focused on the Grenadian music industry. Together, local musicians, producers, recording artists, and industry partners shared practical solutions to design a national roadmap toward a thriving creative ecosystem in Grenada. Speaking during the opening ceremony of the forum, Sen. the Hon. Adrian Thomas, Minister for Tourism, Creative Economy and Culture, reaffirmed government’s commitment to building a stronger, more equitable and sustainable creative economy. “Over the last three years, we have made strategic, targeted and deliberate investments in the creative industry as part of a comprehensive national strategy to build a creative sector that is skilled, competitive, export ready, and globally connected. Today we must build on that momentum. Intellectual property is fundamental to the development of any modern music ecosystem. We can no longer speak about creativity, production, performance or distribution without speaking about the frameworks that protect the rights of our creators and ensure that they benefit from the value they generate.”
Grenada continues to make significant steps towards building a robust intellectual property system and copyright framework with Grenada’s recent accession to the Madrid Protocol for the international registration of marks, which was announced by Sen. Sen. the Hon. Claudette Joseph, Attorney General and Minister for Legal Affairs, Labour and Consumer Affairs, at the forum. “Grenada’s accession to the Madrid Protocol is a significant development for our entrepreneurs and creatives in Grenada who, as of April 2026, will have an efficient and cost-effective mechanism to facilitate the registration of their trademarks in over 130 countries worldwide through a single application with the International Bureau of WIPO.”
