Cape Town — Western Cape Premier Lynne Brown has launched SA's first music industry commission, Cape MIC, to tap into the potential of the R1bn music recording sector following a worldwide trend in the rise of creative industries.

She said she was excited by the venture because in 2006, SA's recording industry was valued at more than R1bn. About R996m of this went to the recording industry and about R50m to digital sales.

Brown said that SA was then ranked the 19th-largest music market in the world and a year later it had moved into 16th place.

"We're a market on the move -- and the reason for this is simple: few other countries have marched to the tune of the digital revolution as comfortably and, indeed, as enthusiastically as we have. And the future of music is ... yes, digital. So watch this space," she said.

She said the latest estimates were that the music industry in Western Cape employed about 2000 people, about a 10th of the national figure.

She said up to now Gauteng had been regarded as the "heart" of the South African music industry, a fact she found "irritating", especially since many talented local artists and industry players "have had to relocate to the north to access the infrastructure and music machinery that their talents required". But it was time that the status quo was challenged.

The creation of Cape MIC has been done with the support of the provincial economic development and tourism department and is a culmination of the efforts of local music industry stakeholders to entrench the Western Cape music industry and help it to reach its full potential provincially, nationally and globally.

Brown said Western Cape was again at the forefront of pioneering economic development in SA with this initiative, which aimed to boost the province's unique musical products which have been opened up by advancements in technology.

Brown said while the advent of Cape MIC was unlikely to result "in a flood of music millionaires in the Western Cape", through its guidance programmes and mentorship systems it would help local professionals make wise business decisions.

Brown said the commission's primary mandate was to position and market the Western Cape music industry. It was also set up to support and develop music industry businesses and entrepreneurs through skills and enterprise support.

Cape MIC will also be tasked to become a reliable source of information, and harness the potential of technology and innovation to place the Western Cape industry at the forefront of development.

Brown said new methods of distribution and digital management systems were shifting the traditional balance of power in the music industry and new opportunities for production and distribution were arising all the time, including in Western Cape.