The reggae market and curiosities about vinyl!

With the dollar exchange rate currently around 3 reais, it is becoming increasingly difficult to buy imported Reggae albums. The lack of a label that releases material from foreign record companies in Brazil is also a problem. A highly promising market is being spoiled by the record companies themselves, which increasingly raise product prices, leading much of the population to resort to piracy.

Nowadays an imported Reggae CD can be found in stores in the range of 50 to 70 reais. But something that most people are not aware of is that much higher amounts are charged for a simple vinyl record. The vast majority of reggae collectors prefer vinyl and singles, which is why these items are highly valued among them. Just to give an idea, there are LPs that have a value similar to a brand-new car on foreign auction sites (such as ebay - www.ebay.com).

Furthermore, even Brazilian collectors when parting with prized pieces from their collection often quote the product in dollars. It is truly difficult for the reggae public in general, which is mostly made up of humble people with low purchasing power, to buy original CDs, LPs and singles. The high price of items ends up encouraging piracy, which is consumed by the vast majority of buyers, not for the pleasure of owning a pirate copy but because it is impossible to buy originals.

It is a fact that even people who today do not even own a computer or other device capable of playing music in MP3 already have CDs containing this type of file. With the CD market in decline worldwide and the MP3 crisis, it is very unlikely that national companies will invest either in launching a Reggae CD label or in importation.

Just to remember, a few years ago we had labels in Brazil such as TOP TAPE and JHO RECORDS that had the catalog of two of the world's largest Reggae record companies (Ras Records and Hearbeat, respectively) available. However, these labels released very little on the national market, and today it is rare to find CDs by bands such as Black Uhuru, Gladiators and Israel Vibration from these labels. We hope the recording industry will truly overcome the crisis, which in my opinion depends 95% on it, and be able to make quality music available to the public at prices accessible to the entire population.