Richard Skeete

Rychard holds a BA (Hons.) degree in Music Entertainment and Arts Management from Buckinghamshire New University in the United Kingdom. After graduating in 2008 with Upper Second Class Hons. Rychard returned to Barbados to make a contribution to the development of the local music and creative industries. Realising the deficiency in the music industry for qualified and accredited artist managers and music business professionals, he established a regional branch of the International Music Managers’ Forum (www.immf.com). The MMF’s primary focus is to raise the professional standard of music managers and music entrepreneurs throughout the Caribbean. A member of the interim Board of the Association of Music Entrepreneurs, Rychard’s responsibility is to handle media relations and develop training programmes for local music managers. His regional involvement in the creative sector has seen him being part of the recently formed Caribbean Music Industry Network (CaMINO), who has already made its marked both at the regional and international levels of the music industry. At age 34 he is passionate about the development of the creative sectors in Barbados.

Always looking for ways to develop and expand the cultural landscape, Rychard has attended several regional workshops and networking sessions covering areas such as, CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), - A Tool for the Promotion of Trade and Investment between CARIFORUM member states and French Caribbean Outermost Regions (FCORs) where the stakeholders in the creative industry had the opportunity to understand and take full advantage of the EPA as it relates to trade and investment. CARICOM-SELA seminar on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Workshops with David Stopps of the IMMF on How to Make a living from Music. His International experience has seen him attending CMW 2009 (Canada), SXSW 2010 (Texas), and Music events in Atlanta, Jamaica, Martinique and New York. Looking toward the future Richard about to pursue graduate studies at the University of Westminster in Music Business Management. With his business background and experience in the music industry, Richard is destined to be one of the leaders in the development of music business in the Caribbean.