BY CORAL CONSCIOUSLEE
11TH APRIL 2016
Everything starts with a seed doesn’t it? A seed is planted – hopefully in good
soil. It is then watered with the hope
that it will yield something exceptional and beautiful.
This particular seed was planted, when an artist posted on
facebook, her frustration at the treatment of a promoter. It wasn’t that this subject had not been
raised previously, or the situation had never been heard of; the time had come
to do something.
Consequently, an invitation was extended asking those who
were interested in discussing a way forward - regarding raising the standard
for reggae music in the UK - to meet.
This historic meeting took place on 9th April 2015. It wasn’t a massive gathering, but artists,
promoters, producers, musicians, and DJs were present; each individual voiced
their concerns with passion and eloquence.
Since then, it has been a year of peaks and troughs. When we had the peaks, we gave thanks because
it meant – however small it may be – we were making progress. The “troughs” proved to be the challenge of
being consistent in the face of those who found it hard to believe changes
could be made. It has been a learning
curve for all. However, many have
realised that this is a good cause and there is a need to fix the nuances in a structural
and business-like manner through RFUK.
As we continued we were glad to receive endorsements from those we call stalwarts in the music industry.
We started building our foundation, we knew that it would
take time, effort, sacrifices and commitment to achieve our goal. It was also important that we worked with
likeminded people pulling in the same direction.
RFUK was born out of the desire to see reggae artists and
musicians in this country get their just rewards. We want better standards and
conditions for artists to do what they love. Also through RFUK we have had the
opportunity to meet so many up and coming artists who we probably wouldn’t have
heard of. We have directly searched and
found some real gems. We want to ensure
that they have an easier time than us and have a solid foundation to build
upon.
As well as the stimulating meetings hosted by RFUK, the
highlight of our year has to be the RFUK Networking Party. It is a night long remembered and still
talked about, where the artists were featured to a warm and exceptional
audience. We had legends alongside those
just beginning and of course A LOT of networking!
As we come to the close of our first year, the natural
question would be: What now??
As I type RFUK are in the process of putting together a more
coherent structure/plan to raise our standards even higher. Bigger and better things are coming for
2016/17! In order to achieve this, we
have decided to push back the RFUK launch to next year as there are quite a few
things we want to have in place before we present it to the world. In the meantime look out for RFUK Networking
Event Part II - coming soon..
2015/2016: Laying the RFUK foundation. 2016/17: Building a solid and firm
structure. RFUK thank you for your
support and participation so far, in what has been a phenomenal beginning to a
purpose-driven organisation.
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