ISM and the business of culture

PAOLO KERNAHAN

THE ANNOUNCEMENT that ISM 2023 was cancelled probably came as a surprise to few. ISM, both affectionately and pejoratively dubbed "international so-cah monak," became a Carnival staple; yet it's been on state-financed life support basically from birth.

Event organisers volunteered that the festival couldn't go forward without $10 million from the Government to put on a show of "a certain standard," or words to that effect.

Minister of Tourism Randall Mitchell quite rightly remonstrated with the organisation: "...it is unconscionable for the Government to underwrite the full cost of an event that is privately owned."

Mitchell was dead on, although this sage tough love is 30 years too late. ISM existed as a peculiar hybrid – a taxpayer-funded private festival with zero financial oversight. What could go wrong?

Some commentators tut-tutted at soca star Machel Montevideo for moving his Monday to Friday and eating ISM's supper. This is, of course, nonsense. No one owns that date on the calendar. During the short eat-ah-food Carnival season, multiple events compete for patronage.

The problems with ISM run far deeper, raising questions about how we manage the business of culture.

In my reporting days, I covered the troubled trajectory of this upstart event. Every year the story was the same: blackmail, cajoling, tearful pleading – the culture will die if the Government doesn't step in! Oh lorm. The State usually capitulated, as ISM was more than a private business – it was a political tool (and liability if mishandled). The ISM became cultural CEPEP on steroids.

Even so, for years the event enjoyed rapturous public support. The air crackled with excitement in the run-up to the final. People chatted in stuffy, overcrowded maxis about who their favourites were to cop the Power Soca Monarch title or the Groovy and what have you.

ISM was a big deal – it pulled crowds and sponsors. You would think a show that had risen to such significance would never go out with a whimper like that. The promoters had the backing of the State for decades and still couldn't create a viable, sustainable brand.

Where did all the money go? What profits were generated? How was the income from gate receipts, sponsorship deals, television broadcast rights, concession sales, etc distributed or reinvested into improving the quality of the product – making the marketing more dynamic?

Throughout the life of this event, it seemed only to grow bigger in scope with scarcely any word of how it was all going to attract the income needed to endure.

For example, ISM was at the forefront of pioneering a wholly unjustifiable multi-million dollar prize structure. By comparison, The Voice, one of the most popular music competition shows in the United States, offers a top prize of US$100,000. Winners are the cream of the crop and typically go on to have successful recording careers. In TT, we beating that prize in a state-funded competition with performances that, quite frankly, would fall apart on an international stage like wet toilet paper.

Still, ISM has been able to attract some of the big names in the business like Machel Montalban, Bunji Garlin and the departed Blaxx. It made sense because most other competitors were easy meat. In my opinion, the festival has never ascended to the quality one would expect, given the whole treasury thrown behind it.

Too many of the performances have been subpar. The show often dragged on like a wounded animal that simply wouldn't die. The audio was typically abysmal and pre-performance sketches and skits were invariably amateurish and nonsensical.

If ISM relied on the private sector for the millions it bilked taxpayers of, then that bloated festival would never have been born.

In any future event, organisers might contemplate a leaner, tighter, no-frills show with fewer performers and songs – and higher standards for entry. Up-and-coming performers could use social media channels to drum up interest in their talents (provided they are so blessed) and that could be tied in with social media promotion of the main event.

Something tells me, though, Carnival has already moved on from ISM. The well of private money for the annual feeding frenzy isn't expanding – the number of people drinking from it is.

It's time the State takes note. Market tastes have evolved and, along with it, entrepreneurs and businesses with a keen-enough instinct to exploit those tastes. Perhaps other private-sector interests without an umbilical cord attached to the treasury can make a better go of monetising soca.