is vinyl dead in Jamaica?

[daCENSOREDone]

ernie


could you tell us by example the percentage of records you sent to europe, usa, africa etc? or even by country

it would be great to understand the worlwide vinyl appeal.

nuff respect

[leggo rocker]

This newspaper article fits perfectly into the way that "news" is fashioned by the media these days. IMO, they tell stories, not news.

Here's their formula:

1) Come up with an idea for a story (hey, I know...someone said 7s are dead so it must be true!!!)

2) Research the story and get all the facts.

3) Now SELECT some certain facts that fit into the "story"..(hey I know, some of the more popular DJs started using MP3 instead of 7s! And, a couple of 7" distributors said that business is lousy!) Important: be sure to ignore all the facts that don't fit into the "story".

4) Brilliant..now that we have SELECTED the facts that fit the "story", we can go to print.

5) Bingo, you now have a story that gets read a lot of because it is big "news" and controversial to boot.

This is 100% true. I have seen it in action in my work as a journalist. I hate this type of thing. Which is why I have always struggled to keep a job at a magazine.

[Ernie B's Reggae]

ernie

could you tell us by example the percentage of records you sent to europe, usa, africa etc? or even by country

it would be great to understand the worlwide vinyl appeal.

nuff respect

Well I can't do precise sales figures but I can say the strong areas are Japan and France. germany is strong too but that is where our last competitor is located (Sound Quake...they do a good job so it's not easy for us to compete). What is exciting is the emerging markets in Russia (lots of fraud be we weed through it somehow), Mexico, and South America.

China is even making some noise now, which is great I think...you can't illegally replicate vinyl very easily (hahaha)

Nothing in India, which is amazing since 1 out of 6 people live there. Indonesia has a lot of people too but 90% of the orders we get are fraud. Next to Nigeria they are the worst for fraud orders. Surprisingly, England hit us real hard on fraud too.

Nothing doing on orders in Africa except a little in South Africa (not much)

USA...sales OK but potential is huge if we can get the kids exposed to it...they would drop that rap junk in a heartbeat if they heard a good solid dancehall session.

Croatia is strong. Hawaii strong. New York strong now that most of the stores there have a lousy selection (except Jammyland and a few others).

Overall, vinyl is up and CD's are dowwwwwwnnnnnn. DVD's also peaked out.

[daCENSOREDone]

thanks a lot!

hey man do you realize that if you had statistics, it could be the most complete and objective datas about who buy reggae vinyl in the world?

maybe you're the only one on earth (!!!) who's able to give this kind of information...

think about it

PS: and it would be easier to chose where to spend the holydays

[leggo rocker]

I'm not surprised to hear that the UK is bad for fraud. Nor am I surprised to hear it's not one of Ernie's big markets.

Outside of the areas with ex-Jamaican populations there's very little knowledge of what reggae is. It's not even like people think Bob Marley is the only reggae music around, it's much worse! They think that modern drum and bass is reggae! Few of them have ever heard a true reggae vibe. I went to a 'reggae night' and they played this stuff all night. It was awful. Only at Higness Sound System gigs in Nottingham have I heard real reggae being played out. Of course, I also play proper reggae when I'm out DJ-ing but I get the feeling we are in the minority.

Even if they did get into reggae, there's such a culture of stealing music in this country that I still doubt you'd sell much wax here, or even CDs.

It'll take a lot of effort to revive both reggae and vinyl in the UK.

[JT]

This talks about the rise....

http://indiehq.com/2007/10/31/response- ... ds-coffin/

I still buy "new releases" on vinyl of electronic music.

[youngpeterclemenza]

I don't buy new releases (or reissues) on vinyl, but do purchase a lot of original lovers rock, rocksteady, ska, mento, calypso......

I've been struggling lately with what to do with my vinyl collection. I'm only 23 and its getting pretty extensive. I spend so much time and $ on it and I'm not sure where it or I am going. I have been contemplating selling off a significant chunk of it, but it's tough. I am attached.

Other than NYC, I don't think many Americans really know what reggae is. When I tell people that I predominately listen to reggae, they shoot me a concerned expression. When I try to find some good tunes one one of those digital jukeboxes, it's hopeless (except Marley, of course).

Vinyl dead or alive? easy answer is both. To most, it's dead. I'm constantly hearing stories about people trashing mad vinyl and I've seen more than a couple stores close down. I think the fetish/museum argument is valid. For some of us, vinyl is dynamic. I listened to 'Creation' off Mello Dub (Burning Spear - Creation Rebel Version) last weekend and I'm telling you, I was practically in tears. Then I spin "Band Bang Lu Lu" off Lord Antics - Too Hot to Hold and I'm dancing and singing and smiling- much power.

[_Easy_]

All i can say is that im so thankful that i found RA and i have a resource like ernie B to supply me with a fantastic selection of solid reggae music! (not to mention the out of this world customer service that ernie provides)

THANK YOU! Everyone on RA, all the moderators and the founders of the site, and Ernie B!!

[zurich lobby]

cupla tings id like to say
i think artists need to find ways of making money away from selling their music, maybe from merchandise or donations etc , people expect music for free,and this is how it is and looks like staying, i think its great anyone can 'own' a music collection irrespective of your income, but then artists will stop making music if they cant earn a living from it.
i think vinyl will always be here, people like to own things, if things can be presented well they will sell (like something as beautiful as roger steffens reggae scrap book, no problem paying top dollar for it)
this might cheer some up...i got a gig recently as resident in club because i owned vinyl, the boss of the place figured anyone could use c.d.s and she wanted the visual show of a dj playing vinyl had to say i agreed with her ( i would wouldnt I)
dj-ing with a laptop is crap but great that you can have thousand of tunes at the click of a mouse, long live vinyl and digital, may the co-exsist like man and fish.
7'' vinyl king for reggae bass
digital queen for convenience and spreading the word

[leggo rocker]

this might cheer some up...i got a gig recently as resident in club because i owned vinyl, the boss of the place figured anyone could use c.d.s and she wanted the visual show of a dj playing vinyl had to say i agreed with her ( i would wouldnt I)

Yep! I have recently had the exact same happen. I got a residence in a reggae bar because they favour the visual impact of a vinylman DJ. The lady also thinks it is more old skool and therefore in tune with the theme of the night.