Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Wayne Wonder

If the US-based VP Records purchases major European distributor Greensleeves, it may usher in or disperse the clouds of sales over reggae music.

VP Records recently announced its offer to purchase Greensleeves Records & Publishing from Zest Group plc, subject to the approval of Zest's shareholders. Greensleeves Records is rich in music after more than 25 years in the business, Sean Paul's Get Busy and Wayne Wonder's Bounce Along, among numerous other songs, in their extensive catalogues.

According to www.forbes.com, "An agreement to sell Greensleeves Group to VP Records Ltd was settled for £3.1 million. Zest said initiatives at Greensleeves are not producing the expected returns, with Greensleeves' digital sales not good enough to offset a retail shortfall."

earlier days

Yet, Greensleeves Records is a landmark of Jamaican music. Greensleeves began as a record shop in West Ealing, London, in November 1975. By 1980 the record shop had become largely a sideline to the record label. The company quickly established an identity with acts such as Augustus Pablo and Barrington Levy. They also debuted albums from Eek-A-Mouse, 10 albums from Yellowman, Josey Wales, Johnny Osbourne, Junior Reid's debut Boom Shack A Lack and Frankie Paul, Mr. Vegas, Vybz Kartel, Beenie Man, Sizzla and numerous others.

On the other hand, VP Records was founded in 1979 by the late Vincent 'Randy' Chin and his wife Patricia Chin. The label established itself as one of the first and largest independent record labels for reggae and dancehall with the popularity of the 'riddim' sound of the early 2000s. In 2002, VP further strengthened its efforts by joining with Atlantic Records in a long-term strategic pact to provide VP with the vast resources of major label promotion and worldwide distribution of Atlantic.

With this monopoly about to be formed, the Jamaican entertainment world is is left to wonder about the implications. Publicist Ray Alexander of Khool Bookings doesn't believe VP Records or Greensleeves help reggae music at all, and doesn't see the merger as a positive thing. "I don't think it's good for the business. You can't have one company controlling reggae music. Monopoly can never be good," he said. Alexander noted that with the merger artistes and producers will not have much of an option when trying to promote and sell their albums.

changing for the better

Dancehall artiste Macka Diamond, who recently heard the news, was confused about the matter. According to Macka Diamond, she has not been informed by Greensleeves about the bid and the implications for her albums, which Greensleeves is supposed to distribute. Macka Diamond told The Sunday Gleaner "I just don't know where I stand." However, Macka commented that if the merger was good then artistes will either have to work with it or leave.

However, Robert Livingstone of Big Yard Music is happy about the bid. He said "A lot of people think that VP will control the business cuz they own two giants that distribute reggae music. The whole industry will say that VP is going to have too much control, but if someone else bought it it might just go down the drain. The Bank of Scotland was going to buy it and they don't necessarily know anything about reggae music, so they might eventually liquidate it and sell it to someone else that doesn't know anything about music. You have to look at it from the long term. It might be hard for a lot of artistes, as if both companies are run independently it will be better, but if it is run as one company a lot of artistes will be hurt."

Jerome Hamilton of Headline Entertainment sees VP buying out Grensleeves in a positive light. "It's a good deal in that there is a potential for growth that Greensleeves was worthwhile enough to be bought over. They have a lot of worth in their music catalogue. However, I am not pleased that there is one less company. I hope other companies will come to fill the void," he said. According to Hamilton, VP having a monopoly may not be a bad thing, depending on how the company deals with the transition.