CAAMA Music
Music is a vital thing in the lives of Aboriginal people in Central Australia. It allows for the expression and celebration of cultural and personal identity, and provides much loved entertainment. Music also influences social standing and brings an alternate income stream to musicians.
Music is at the heart of CAAMA. From its establishment in 1980 the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association has given maximum priority to recording traditional and contemporary Aboriginal music.
CAAMA’s charter is to use the mediums of radio and television to give Aboriginal people a strong voice in the development of country, culture, politics and education; to use the broadcasting arts and sciences to arrest cultural disintegration, to empower people and bring inspiration to their lives. Aboriginal music, particularly CAAMA Music, has been integral to all these processes.
CAAMA Music has now existed for more than 25 years. In that time thousands of Aboriginal musicians have been recorded in the famous CAAMA Music studio, their work then being broadcast on Radio 8KIN-FM.
Our key activities include:Recording high quality Indigenous music and distributing and promoting it to local, national and international markets. Recording, preserving and archiving Indigenous language and culture through music recordings. Organising, supporting and participating in community events, festivals and concerts Fostering and developing music industry skills, through workshop and training opportunities for Indigenous artists Providing employment opportunities within the music industry for Indigenous people Providing music royalty income to Indigenous musicians Providing state-of-the-art music rehearsal, recording and production facilities at the CAAMA Music studio in Alice Springs Facilitating a network for Indigenous musicians and artists and providing a communication gateway for contacting Indigenous performing artists Distributing music industry information to Indigenous musicians, and participating in industry and related Indigenous policy formulation Licensing CAAMA recordings to the local, national and international market Increasing Indigenous music content on radio and television
Go to CAAMA Shop to purchase the freshest in contemporary Indigenous music
CAAMA Music bestsellers now available for download from the iTunes store
Recent events at CAAMA Music:
MAD for Life
CAAMA Music has recently wrapped up 'MAD for Life', a combined rhythm, vocal and dance project in Central Australian Aboriginal Communities. 'MAD for Life' or Music and Dance for Life ran for 12 weeks in six Indigenous communities in Northern Territory between April and June 2008. The fortnight - long workshops, aimed to inspire young people towards further education and training through music and dance, and were a huge success, with enthusiasm and participation running high at each community. The workshops were held at Ikunji, Willowra, Amplatiwatja, Areyonga, Aputula and Titjikala.
The CAAMA Music 'MAD for Life' workshops were funded through the FAHCSIA's Central Australia Petrol Sniffing Unit.
For more info check out our blog, or our MAD for Life article in the National Indigenous Times
CAAMA Music was lucky to recently host legendary Jamaican reggae artists Luciano and Mikey General along with veteran producer Jack Scorpio. The reggae masters gave workshops for local aspiring musicians both at CAAMA studios in ALice SPrings and PAW Media in Yuendumu. The Yuendumu workshop was followed by a concert with an awesome lineup of six bush bands and the Jamaican stars. The tour was a great success with lots of excitement and we all reckon we should do it again really soon!!