Rob Bowman, a music professor from Canada's York University who has researched intellectual property and Jamaican music, said that while population numbers mean reggae's biggest markets always will be overseas there's no reason why more revenue streams from foreign commerce shouldn't flow back to Jamaica.

"With few exceptions, these styles of music cannot be authentically replicated by non-Jamaicans. As such, these styles of music represent intellectual property that is, for all intents and purposes, already a part of Jamaica's branding," Bowman asserts in a World Intellectual Property Organization consultancy report for Jamaica.

A country of fewer than 3 million people, Jamaica has had remarkable success originating influential musical forms such as ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall. Musicologists say production innovations and the discovery of "toasting," reggae deejays chanting over a beat, directly inspired hip-hop.

A cross-pollination of Afro-Caribbean folk music and American R&B, reggae first was introduced to Europe by Jamaican migrants settling in Britain in the late 1960s. Its popularity exploded in the 1970s with the rise of Marley and other Jamaican Rastafarian stars, whose music influenced British groups like The Clash, UB40 and The English Beat. Jamaican music later shaped U.S. bands like No Doubt and Sublime.

Eric Smith, CEO of the New York-based reggae label Easy Star Records, said American bands are succeeding now due to their strong "do-it-yourself" ethos and online marketing, a key to making it in independent music. Unlike some earlier non-Jamaican reggae artists who adopted island patois and themes, they use the genres to highlight their own U.S. culture, not Jamaica's.

"While we certainly need to respect, understand and celebrate the unique and rich history of Jamaican music and do whatever we can to support it, there is no practical way to stop anyone else from tapping in and drawing something from the culture," he said.

Few Jamaicans argue there is any troubling cultural appropriation going on with foreign artists who embrace their music. Still, local musicians want better opportunities to make money and reach audiences abroad playing the island's top cultural export.

Just like everywhere else, Jamaican performers have scrambled to offset losses from plunging CD sales when consumers simply download music for free. And while dancehall reggae stars like Sean Paul and Beenie Man have notched international hits over the years, other current Jamaican acts have had difficulty building fan bases overseas due to difficulty securing visas, among other issues.

Jamaican artists say sustained support from the government could give the local music industry a much-needed boost and help prepare musicians to get a greater slice of the international market. There's high hope for emerging artists like Chronnix, the most prominent member of a burgeoning scene dubbed "reggae revival" whose young artists are building their careers with a savvy understanding of social media.

Jamaica celebrates "reggae month" each February. This year, events included workshops on intellectual property for up-and-coming musicians. The island's biggest university also recently hosted an international reggae conference, where the global business of reggae was a featured topic.

While non-Jamaican reggae artists are having the most success with the niche genre, Smith and others believe it's only a matter of time before Jamaicans dominate reggae again.

"Over the years, the popularity of Jamaican music has fallen at times only to give way to a new explosion of creativity and popularity as Jamaica reinvents itself and shows the world once again what a musical powerhouse it is," Smith said from New York.

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