So the real story is there was no deals made in preparation as the deal draft was never signed as parties to the agreement did not agree on key terms and conditions. So VP has been negotiating with the parties that had licensed the rights to B&F or whosoever owned the rights. On this particular release, Horace gave the rights to VP and Steve updated his liners (so I doubt he'll sue) The artwork of the B&F release belongs to the Simply Red organization and VP had to create their own artwork. Case closed, next subject
Found this and thought it was relevant. Its an opportunity to invest in a record pressing plant, which just so happens to be Joe Gibbs' former plant in FL. Oh and I am not affiliated in any way, just thought it was interesting. Founded in 2016, SunPress is housed in the former Final Vinyl factory, which was founded in the 1970s by Jamaican Reggae pioneer and Producer, Joe Gibbs. Later, it became the main vinyl manufacturing facility for world-renowned reggae label Studio One, which is best known for producing Bob Marley’s early records. MicroVentures | Invest in SunPress Vinyl
We had a thread about this a while back: Tuff Gong to start up the vinyl presses again One guy from SunPress posted in it. Thanks for the update.
Not sure what is going on at Ernie B's but it can't be good with the constant promotions, dwindling quality stock and growing grey market releases. I know he was trying to transition from a niche distributor to a One Stop, and it looked like he was doing it, but I've noticed all his crucial imports have dried up: Ace, Repertoire, Charly, etc.,
Yeah, I think Ernie might be in trouble. It's too bad. I remember the glory days when it was reggae only, and it was amazing.
Ernie seem to be purging his stock, many of the good labels, both Reggae and otherwise, have completely disappeared lately. There has been a sale on catlogue Dub Store titles and they don't seem to be coming back in stock. They have also for example continually kept the complete Jamaican Recordings / Kingston Sounds catalogue in stock (regardless of what one thinks of that label Ernie had them cheaply so you could try them out without great loss), now those are all gone, every single title. Actually most "serious" labels are gone, it's mostly budget releases left now, the only label where I see some titles come back in stock is VP/Greensleeves. Are they slowly going out of business...?
That would be sad. The combination of this thread and Ernie B's store is what created my reggae collection in the first place! I got so many Blood and Fire titles from there just a few short years ago.
And even that was a sale on out of print titles, just as they have been doing a lot lately, digging up new-old-stock and having blow out sales. But the current and active labels have been gradually phased out, they haven't had any Burning Sounds in a while, Hot Milk (who aren't active, but still current) have gone, recent Trojan releases have all but disappeared, and of course Soul Jazz and Pressure Sounds went long before that. They still have some Dub Store and Digikiller, but they seem to be getting rid of them too. Their bestselling titles at the moment are a bunch of Clocktower LPs... Maybe Dubmart has some insight, Bristol/Reggae Archive are also on the brink of disappearing, Ernie used to keep them in stock I believe.
Two things I can share are that some labels won't deal with Ernie anymore for reasons that are their business, also Ernie's man in the UK died a few months ago and I'm sure that caused him some problems, I did check what he had of ours, not a lot, I'll find out why that is, as far as I'm aware we are still happy to supply him so I assume he's not placed any recent orders, but I will check that out, sometimes people forget to tell me things. Ernie is one of the good guys, but the world of Reggae releasing/wholesaling/retailing has changed immensely, hence Ernie's attempts at change, he's also been hit by a strong Dollar and massive shipping cost increases which must have massively reduced overseas sales, I know at least one shop that would have been spending good money a few years ago, but no longer bother because there is almost no margin and they are VAT registered and able to claim what they pay on importing back, I'm sure there are many similar former good customers. Most of the distributors I was using when I had a shop are no longer in business or exist in a very different form and some of them were much bigger than Ernie so nobody is safe, my advice is to get your orders in quickly and use a credit card.
It seems Ernie has given up the attempt to branch out into niche Pop/Rock markets as well, for a while there were specialist labels like Bear Family, Ace, BGO, Repertoire, Sundazed, etc., but they're all gone now too. From a buyer's perspective the shipping increase is taken care of with the Gift Cards that are sent out, which have also gotten more generous and if used wisely make orders practically free of shipping, but this system must of course eat up Ernie's profit.
The revival of B&F by VP with Steve was going to involve resigning licenses for the material that B&F had licensed back in the day (the licenses have expired long ago), using the artwork (which belongs to the Simply Red entity that funded B&F). VP and Steve could not agree on the terms and conditions of Steve's involvement so the deal never got signed. But VP has decided, as it is their right, to go to the owners of the content that had been licensed to B&F in order to sign new license agreements. Except they can't use the artwork and liners as those belong to Simply Red and Steve respectively. Now, that absolutely not prevent VP from contracting with Steve on a case by case basis. In the case of Good Vibes by Horace, VP contracted with Steve to refresh the liners, whose copyright belongs to Steve. We have to applaud VP for being so mindful of who owns what rights, contrary to their reputation. In all my dealings with them, they might have been tough and sometimes cheap (but then again when one gives content to someone else, one always want that other party to lavish money and resources to make the content shine!), but they never were bootleggers or cheaters.
Although I would love to sell to him again, he doesnt reply to the emails I send him, contrary to back then. I had a super relatiohsip with him and miss it. things done change as Biggie used to rap
We'd love to sell to him as well, even though we have US distribtuion he reaches people they don't, but it's not going to happen, things done indeed.
Speaking of VP... while I think that the Rockers Soundtrack is definitely crucial, this newly announced Rockers "Irie Box" set adds nothing of interest IMO. $180 for some colored vinyl and multiple copies of the movie oh and some rolling papers. Although the photo book might be interesting... Rockers The Irie Box - Various Artists (LP)
Weird if it's a VP exclusive as it's a Universal/Island album, iron on decal, it's just like the seventies again, how appropriate.
This confirms my suspicions and is really sad to hear... Thanks for the clarification. I found it hard to believe that VP just put something out without having any sort of agreement for the rights. So if Horace feels he is being cheated that must be down to whomever VP has done the deal with and who claims to hold the right sto the material, and his contracts (or lack thereof) with that party. This is crazily over-the-top priced while having nothing or real interest, but there's no reason to blame VP, they're just selling it (their shop has stuff from other labels too). This is put out by MVD Visual, who have the rights to the movie and has put it out on DVD and Blu-Ray previously (the soundtrack was originally on Island so is owned by Universal, must be a joint deal). The included DVD and Blu-Ray seem to be the ones that are already available individually.
Ok, I misinterpreted, but you did say he didn't know that it was put out and then there was all the talk about theft, lawsuits and legal action, so one could kind of get that impression.
When I saw the listing a month or so ago, I was hoping for a seriously expanded set. While all the extras are nice, they just seem like needless bloat without any musical expansion. I know good printing is expensive, but this is overpriced and pointless. It will be interesting to see how quickly this will drop its price, $75-$90, seems the right range.
here is a video of SOLDIERS, the first single from Junior Natural's debut album MILITANT produced with Sly & Robbie MILITANT will come out on October 13 for the vinyl and October 31 for the digital
Anybody familiar with Michael Granice's ' The Ultimate Guide to Great Reggae'? I have really been enjoying it. DIscusses 750 songs, 200 artists, 52 Chapters, all phases and genres of Jamaican music from mento to dancehall. The Ultimate Guide To Great Reggae
