From rebel to retail − inside Bob Marley’s posthumous musical and merchandising empire

Bob Marley performs at a ‘Viva Zimbabwe’ independence celebration in April 1980. William F. Campbell/Getty Images by Mike Alleyne, Middle Tennessee State University The long-awaited Bob Marley biopic “One Love” will highlight important moments in the musician’s life – his adolescence in Trench Town, his spiritual growth, the attempt on his life. But as a music industry scholar, I wonder if the film is yet another extension of the Marley marketing machine. Marley died in 1981 at the age of 36. He’d achieved a level of mainstream success unrivaled by other reggae acts, and he did so while challenging global capitalism and speaking to the oppressed. This image, however, is fundamentally at odds with what has happened to Marley’s name and likeness since his death. Now you can buy Bob Marley backpacks, Bob Marley jigsaw puzzles – even Bob Marley flip-flops. The trailer for ‘One Love.’ The accusation of “selling out” could once seriously threaten an artist’s credibility; the insult wields far less power in an era when an artist’s survival often depends on sponsorship and licensing deals. Meanwhile, a deceased artist’s ongoing earnings are left in the hands of others. Nonetheless, when a musician as revered as Marley –...