About Us

IMC

IMC is an Island meeting place where music professionals share experiences, forge alliances, expand knowledge base, expose new music and talent, and connect with the heartbeat of the global industry

IMC content is geared at Caribbean growth in the international music industry and helping participants navigate and overcome challenges. Each conference addresses a music business -glossary of terms and FAQs. Along with key-note presentations and panel discussions the IMC’s education and networking process also happens curated and organic through

IMC Founders

Sharon Burke

Director / Co -CEO - MUSIC

•The force behind the major events held in Jamaica and the Caribbean for the past 3 decades, Sharon Burke started out with Reggae Sunsplash in the mid- 1980s.

•Since 1991 she has been planning concert tours, facilitating effective artist management and development, and directing event production and promotion, Globally.

•Co-founder and President of the Solid Agency Company -Booking Agency for Shaggy, Bounty Killer, Marcia Griffiths, TeeJay and most of Jamaica’s leading artistes. Solid has aterialized some of the region’s most exciting and memorable events.

These include:

•Sinbad’s Soul Beach Music Festival -14 years”

•Reggae Jamboree in New York.

•The New York music festival

•The Days Music Festival in Nigeria [4 years]

•The Antigua Music Festival – the first and only one

•St. Lucia Jazz Festival

•All Shaggy & Friends Charity Series,

•Sharon Burke was the Producer and Promoter of Buju Banton’s Long Walk to Freedom, Jamaica’s Verzuz Clash Beenie Man and Bounty Killer. She was also the Talent Producer and Producer of Reggae and Dancehall Pass the Mic by DJ Cassidy and B.E.T

•Hardly anything happens in Caribbean
entertainment where she is not the lead or consultant.

Dr. Orville ’Shaggy’ Burrell

Chairman

•Orville Richard Burrell CD, better known by his stage name Shaggy, is an acclaimed Jamaican reggae musician, singer, DJ, and actor who scored hits with the songs “It Wasn’t Me”, “Boombastic”, “In The Summertime”, “Oh Carolina”, and “Angel”. He is a Multi-Platinum artiste and double Grammy winner for Best Reggae Album with Boombastic in 1996 and 44/876 with Sting in 2019 and has won the Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist in 2002.

• In 2007, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Distinction with the rank of Commander. In 2022, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Brown University. The Ivy League university honored Burrell for his accomplishments as an artiste and his service to others. The citation recognizing the award noted that Burrell’s leadership and dedicated philanthropy through the Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation have inspired peers and musical legends to join him in concert to raise funds for more than $100 million in equipment for Bustamante Hospital for Children in Jamaica. For over a decade he has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to helping the hospital.

• Shaggy’s massive contribution to the development of Jamaican music and solid work ethic have cemented him among the most respected and recognized Jamaican acts worldwide. His craft and general conduct have led him to rub shoulders with the world’s
leaders and shakers.

•The Reggae Dancehall icon and US Marine who got his start in New York City’s dancehall scene after moving to Brooklyn in his teens, and who after serving four years in the U.S. Marines, including two tours of duty in the Middle East as part of Operation Desert Storm, earned his first record deal and scored a global crossover hit with ‘ Oh Carolina’.

•As the only diamond-selling dancehall artist in music
history, Shaggy has sold more than 40 million album units to date in addition to landing eight singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and seven albums on the Billboard 200, including four in the top 40. He is among the top three streamed reggae artists of all time on Spotify.

Judith Ann Bodley

Director / Co -CEO -MEDIA

•Representing 30 years of expertise in the Broadcasting Industry with an emphasis in Radio and Television. Jamaica Federation of Musicians awardee for outstanding contribution to the Jamaican music industry. Media Consultant, Manager & programmer.

• Programming coordinator for IRIE FM in the mid-nineties. In the late 1990’s, a member of the team that changed radio listenership in Jamaica, at FAME FM. In 2002 conceptualized and created the programming format, station format and identity for ZIP 103FM and was the first Station Manager, taking the station from concept to reality. The first Female Station Manager for RJR 94FM, in the mid-2000s. Previously the V. P. News & Current Affairs at CVM Television, spearheading international best practice superior coverage of the 2016 General Elections and in 2017 launching Jamaica’s first hybrid 90-minute news programme, merging a newscast, current affairs discussion and various information elements. V.P. of Content Strategy at CVM Television (2019- Nov 2020).

• Solid Agency PR Affiliate working on all the agency’s products since 1998.

•C0-Director of Burke Bodley Limited, executing for the recent Beenie Man/Bounty Killer Verzuz clash. Recently directed and produced the “Dennis Emanuel Brown Documentary” for the Government of Jamaica. In 2022 Co- produced the Reggae edition of DJ Cassidy’s ‘Pass The Mic’.

•Communications Lecturer at NCU., specializing in radio & television.

Directors

Tanya Lawson is currently the Director of Marketing Strategies for Caribbean and Gospel at Audiomack. Lawson currently oversees Caribbean and gospel curation as well as content and events. Ms. Lawson previously served as the promotions manager at VP Records working on artist projects such as Gyptian, Assassin, and Ricky Blaze to name a few. Prior to VP Records, Tanya was an intern in the Promotion Department at Sony Music and eventually was hired to work in the Marketing.

Began her career as an editorial assistant at ‘ entertainment company . During her time she was given the opportunity to run the company’s music channel as Senior Editor, where she spearheaded and produced a plethora of music content franchises for the company.