Platform for creative sector work ‘coming’

The government is planning a digital platform to connect Barbadian creative practitioners with paid work, help them set rates and encourage National Insurance contributions as part of a wider push for year-round growth in the creative industries, Minister for Culture Senator Shane Archer has said.

A proposed app would make it easier for people seeking creative services to find practitioners, while also opening more opportunities for those looking for work.

Senator Archer said the cultural sector was “ready for the next step” but needed greater support to help practitioners turn their talents into sustainable businesses.

He said: “I honestly believe that all sectors in our creative industry are ready for the next step, [and] are ready to earn all year round. 

“Regardless if those are the writers, regardless of if those are the spoken word artists, regardless of those are the visual artists, musical artists…the point that we have to make is that we need to upscale our young people and our people that are involved in these industries.”

The idea for the platform emerged from a recent gig-economy workshop hosted by the Division of Youth and Culture at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, where hundreds of young people shared their views on the industry, Senator Archer said. 

“We want to create an app, but it’ll be a programme where persons can come and say, for example, if you own a restaurant in St Lucy and you want a young guitarist to come up, you own a hotel on the east coast and you want to have a young singer come up to sing at your [event]… it makes it easy and accessible for those persons that are looking for work and those persons that are looking to engage persons to work.”

The initiative echoes an earlier call by Prime Minister Mia Mottley for government technology agencies and young software developers to collaborate on a digital platform for the National Portable Benefits Framework.

Mottley said in the House of Assembly in 2025 that the proposed system would help workers in the gig economy and other non-traditional employment arrangements to access National Insurance and Social Security Service (NISSS) benefits.

The government also wanted the proposed creative sector platform to encourage practitioners to plan for their financial futures and contribute to the NISSS, according to the culture minister. 

“We will have to encourage our persons within the creative sector to also pay the NIS, to also invest in their future because, as we saw through COVID, NIS [was] important.”

The app would include a “gig calculator” to help creatives determine appropriate fees while factoring in their NIS contributions.

“We are also going to build into the app a type of gig calculator that can help you know how much to charge for a specific gig, how much you should pay towards NIS and so that you can have a realistic view as to how much money you are making and how much money you can charge.”

Senator Archer said the ultimate goal was to help creatives “take their businesses to the next level and open doors for persons at the same time to expand on their creative [talents]”.  (SB)