ALEX Morrissey is only 22 years old, but he’s committed to making it as an entrepreneur — although that wasn’t a part of his original plan.
Two years ago, he launched Jamaicansmusic.com — a website which offers, among other things, an online dancehall/reggae video game called “Songwrita” that is growing in popularity. The site — which makes Morrissey his earnings through advertising — also gives visitors access to dancehall and reggae music, and biographies on popular dancehall and reggae artistes.
“I learnt how to create things in 3D,” said Morrissey, who holds a first degree in industrial design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
“Although it doesn’t really blend with what I’m doing now, it has given me lots of ideas. I did not study web or graphic design either. I just took web designing upon myself from I was about 12 years old. Now I’ve designed my own website and it’s my investment,” he added.
The former St George’s College student noted that launching the website — which cost him US$200 — was no small feat.
“It was not an easy project to complete. I started the project in January and I launched it in July of the same year. I had to balance a part-time job and completing my bachelor of science degree in industrial design at the same time,” he said.
Morrissey is now set to launch his own online radio station, which will cost him nothing up to 1,000 listeners, with his own equipment. After that, it will cost him upwards of US$500 in the payment of deejays and for the promotion of the station.
“Already 15 of our local deejays have been lined up to play. So when browsers visit the website, they will be able to hear some live dancehall and reggae music being played,” said the youth, who is recently back from Asia where he was promoting the website.
“The response there was great. I also have to constantly update the website because each day new songs and other new things emerge,” Morrissey added, while providing insight into the hard work he has had to put into getting the business going.
He has also been to Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the United States to promote the website, which Morrissey left his part-time job as a web developer to do.
“When I had the launch party in Indonesia to promote the website, 200 people were invited. At the party, over 1,000 Indonesians came. I have also come to realise that people in foreign countries are more (receptive) to the reggae music, than Jamaicans are,” Morrissey said.
Meanwhile, his new game “Songwrita” enables players to select a current dancehall or reggae artiste to play. Once they have selected the artiste, they are then tasked to “capture” the words of the song as they fall on the computer’s monitor, in order to earn points.
Morrissey currently has over 208,000 fans following the site on Facebook, one of the tools he has relied on to spread the word about his online ventures. He is equal parts pleased and surprised by the numbers.
“It feels good to have my own website and so many followers. Sometimes, I still can’t really believe how big it’s gotten in such a short period. The amount of e-mails from people globally thanking me for the launch, mainly for the use of research, is overwhelming,” Morrissey told Career & Education.
Source: The Jamaica Observer