ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses changes that occurred in JPM during the 1990s. It considers the impact of new technologies and new audio recording formats and the way in which they altered established modes of music production in Jamaica. The concept of the multi-role producer (MRP) is introduced through the work of Jeremy Harding, who emerged from this period and had a significant impact on dancehall music and furthering the acceptance of the deejay in the international arena. Harding describes a Jamaican music industry where the focus was not about spreading knowledge but about establishing control over a specific set of sounds. In this sense, audio-engineering practice became a principal skill that the MRP was required to master in order to become established in the dancehall music community. In Jamaica, the new recording systems were initially embraced by producers of music for the advertising industry or musicians who owned drum machines and synthesizers and sought to expand their involvement in music production.
