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Warner Music launches vinyl take-back pilot scheme with indie retailers



Throughout the programme, participating record stores will serve as collection points where consumers can return damaged or unplayable vinyl records regardless of artist, label or condition. 




Collected materials will be aggregated and evaluated through recovery partner, Virterras Materials. The pilot will assess factors including participation rates, material quality, transportation and processing requirements, and potential recovery outcomes.



While vinyl has experienced significant growth over the past decade, there has been limited industry-wide exploration of what happens to records when consumers no longer want them. 



“By examining both the practical and economic realities of collection and recovery, the pilot aims to help stakeholders better understand what infrastructure, partnerships, and investment may be required to support future recovery pathways for physical music products,” 




"Independent record stores have long served as gathering places for music fans and stewards of music culture," said Madeleine Smith, senior director, ESG, Warner Music Group. "The pilot brings together retailers, recovery partners, and music fans to explore an important question: what would it take to create practical pathways for recovering unplayable or damaged vinyl records? It’s a vital first step in understanding what’s possible."



The pilot will run from the end of June to September.


The initiative follows a May 2026 manufacturing study by WMG, GZ Media and Abbey Road Studios, which demonstrated that unsold, obsolete records can be successfully reprocessed into high-quality, commercial-grade new pressings while maintaining audio quality and a reduced carbon footprint. This pilot takes the next step by exploring how unplayable and damaged records from consumers can be collected and moved through the recovery process at scale.




The pilot is supported by the Vinyl Institute, which awarded funding to Virterras Materials.


Participating stores include:

Amoeba Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA)

Antone’s Record Shop (Austin, TX)

Country Line Records (Keller, TX)

Criminal Records (Atlanta, GA)

Easy Street Records (Seattle, WA)

Home Rule Records (Washington D.C.)

Red Zeppelin Records (McKinney, TX)

Rough Trade NYC (New York City, NY)

Spin Me Round (Easton, PA)

Reckless Records (Chicago, IL)

Sweat Records (Miami, FL) 





CHECK OPUT IMAR SHEPHARD'S NEW TRACK : Answer Me


Imar Shephard’s “Answer Me” comes in as a lean, no-frills reggae cut with a reflective edge, the kind of tune that leaves space for the vocal to carry the feeling rather than crowding it with extra decoration. 


It runs 3: 25 and was produced by Dug One, whose name has already been attached to Shephard’s “Bless Me, ” so there’s a little continuity in the pairing here. The song sits in that earnest, pleading lane where the title says plenty on its own, and Shephard leans into the question with a plainspoken delivery that feels personal rather than theatrical. There’s only one track on the release, and that single-song setup keeps the focus locked on “Answer Me” alone, with no room for filler or detours.
 


Imar Shephard is a Jamaican singer songwriter who was born and raised in Cedar Valley, surrounded by the beautiful Blue Mountains in the tranquil Parish of Saint Thomas. Being Jamaican, reggae music is the foundation of most of Imar Shephard's material. However, having grown in the church the exposure to Gospel, Jazz and Rock music have seeped into this young artiste's blood and pump out in a style that is distinctively his own. Imar Shepard's voice has been described as smooth and enchanting by media pundits on both sides of the Atlantic.




Frankie Paul – Worries In The Dance (2026 Mix) produced by Thompson Sound 2026




Frankie Paul’s “Worries In The Dance” remains one of those tunes that tells you everything you need to know about the dancehall climate without ever sounding stiff or academic. The lyric sketches a night where the party energy is real, but so is the pressure outside the speaker box: gunshots, helicopters, police heat, the whole uneasy atmosphere that ran through so much early-’80s Jamaican dance music. Frankie rides that tension with the kind of nasal, forceful singjay phrasing that made him one of the era’s most distinctive voices, moving between melody and toasting with ease.


Born Paul Blake in Kingston and blind from birth, Frankie Paul became a major figure in the 1980s because he could sing hard and sweet at the same time. He cut a huge body of work and was one of the voices that helped define dancehall’s shift away from straight roots into something more street-level and immediate. “Worries In The Dance” sits right in that sweet spot, a song that has lasted because it captures a time, a place, and a feeling that never really disappeared.




This 2026 mix comes through Thompson Sound, the long-running label built around Linval Thompson, whose catalogue has deep roots in roots reggae and dancehall. Thompson’s name carries weight for anyone who follows foundation Jamaican music, and putting Frankie Paul back into that frame makes sense. The new version keeps the song’s tension alive while giving it a cleaner, more modern presentation for today’s listeners, the kind of refresh that respects the original’s grit instead of sanding it down. For anyone who knows the tune already, it is a reminder of how durable Frankie’s voice and that lyric remain; for newer ears, it is an easy entry point into one of dancehall’s essential records.




Independent Reggae Artist Ras-I Discusses His Journey in Music

 


Reggae artist Ras-I is encouraging aspiring musicians to invest in themselves as he continues building a successful career through independent music production and live performances.



Ras-I’s musical journey began in his youth as he frequented his mother’s workplace, the Tuff Gong record label in Kingston, Jamaica. While there, he witnessed the creation of the Chant Down Babylon album and met several artists, including Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. Unaware of their global influence at the time, he says his perspective shifted after seeing them perform at a concert in St. Ann Parish. The audience’s reaction ignited his aspiration to perform on stage, a desire he shared with his mother. 



Ras-I – Recording Artist: “I had voice training, instrument training, you name it. And for me, other people had summer jobs. My summer job was probably working in the studio still or working around some big producer, just to be in the corner of the room and soak up whatever knowledge.” As he blossomed in his artistry, he developed personal relationships with musicians, eventually establishing a band and cultivating a stage presence.



Ras-I – Recording Artist:  “I want people to remember that the best experience for you with reggae music will always be live. Live drum, live bass, the live feeling, the live band effect. The horns played how the music should be played in fullness.” Furthermore, having a band is not the sole factor that has amplified his career. Ras-I has assembled a team that includes a publicist, with all expenses being covered by him. 


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Ras-I – Recording Artist:  “Are you backed by any major record label? I have a distribution deal, so that’s it. Everything else is in-house, independently.” He says the independent route is a road less travelled, but for those who decide to take it, he offers this advice. Ras-I – Recording Artist “Who better to invest in you than yourself? Who better to trust in your product than yourself? Who better to speak highly of your product than yourself? I will always bet on me.”





STREAMING WITH YOU IN THE PAST WEEK




We broadcast globally 24/7 .... 365 and have been for over a decade. We  have embedded players on our web pages, in our radio lounge, on 15 affiliate websites  and broadcast live from TIC TOC.  That's reaching out to a lot of reggae enthusiasts. Our service provider furnishes  a cumulative report from all the disbursed media players and here's the top 25 countries who tuned in the past 7 days.

The first graph reports  the top countries who hit that >> GO BUTTON<<< and tuned in. The second graph reports who tuned in for the longest period of time per session!  This is the NATION family!!!!  The people we love and respect.  Thank you for  hitting that dial and staying locked .....






And here is what we were all listening to :

Listen on Online Radio Box! Shyrick Dancehall RadioShyrick Dancehall Radio






BOOK CLUB PICK: Dub Revolution: Jamaica’s Sonic Innovators and the Birth of Remix Culture

 


Dub Revolution explores the most innovative and sonically adventurous sub-genre of reggae: dub. Dub emerged in the early 1970s through the work of legendary producers like Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Prince Jammy, Scientist, Mad Professor, and in particular the late King Tubby, who was tragically murdered at a young age. 


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Adopted by punks in London and later a crucial influence on underground dance music culture both there and in New York, the culture and legacy of dub still echoes and resonates today, reverberating from sound systems in Kingston and around the world. It's no exaggeration to say that without dub, there would be no hip-hop or house music.




​The evolution of dub marks the birth of the remix and the emergence of the studio as an instrument in itself, a place where songs and their constituent parts could be pulled apart and re-shaped into wild new cosmic sounds. 


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The history of dub is also inseparable from the often violent and troubled history of post-colonial Jamaica, gang culture and Kingston's relationship with Britain and the USA. David Katz's monumental and forensic history of a musical form that continues to astonish and sound like the future five decades after its inception stands as the authoritative book on a form that continues to fascinate generation after generation.



Brushy One String and Sean Paul get together to kick out: Burn Dem Down

 


Sean Paul and Brushy One String link up on “Burn Dem Down, ” a blunt-title dancehall cut that feels like it was made to ride a sound system. The song sits in Sean Paul’s Dutty Rock Productions camp, with Milk and Honey Records attached on release listings, and it lands in 2026. That alone tells you the lane: heavy on Jamaican identity, built for impact, and fronted by one of dancehall’s most globally familiar voices.



Sean Paul hardly needs a long introduction. From the breakout of “Gimme the Light” through the crossover era that made Dutty Rock a worldwide reference point, he has spent years balancing patois-heavy dancehall with pop reach, without sanding off the Jamaican edge. Brushy One String comes from a very different corner of the culture, but one that carries its own weight. The Jamaican singer and guitarist built his name on a stripped-down one-string setup, turning minimalism into a signature sound that is part roots, part blues, part street-corner performance. Put those two together and the pairing makes sense: Sean Paul brings the polish and momentum, while Brushy brings raw texture and that rough-hewn roots feel.




“Burn Dem Down” sounds like a chant built for pressure, not polish. The title suggests confrontation, and the combination of Sean Paul’s clipped, melodic delivery with Brushy’s earthy tone gives the track a more organic edge than a straight club single. Rather than chasing gloss, it feels aimed at grit, bass, and repetition, the kind of song that can sit comfortably in a dance while still carrying that old-school fire-and-brimstone energy that has always had a place in Jamaican music. The appeal here is in the contrast: a global dancehall star meeting one of the scene’s most distinctive outsider voices on a record that sounds made for the road, the speaker box, and the pulse of a forward crowd.




BLAST FROM THE PAST: TYRONE (DON) EVANS,


 Techniques LP 1983 MP3 + FLAC
Recorded and mixed at Channel One

AKA Tyrone Evans from The Paragons

TRACK LIST

Telling Me
Push On
Move On
Come Rain Or Shine
Will You

Seven Heavens
Fight For Our Right
To Be A Lover
Where Did I Go Wrong
Lately I Found You

Tyrone Evans (died 2000) was a Jamaican reggae singer and musicians. He was one of the founding members of the rocksteady group The Paragons, who had a worldwide hit song with "The Tide Is High".


With Bob Andy and Coxsone Dodd, Evans recorded a single, "I Don't Care", and recorded with Leslie Kong. By the late 1970s he recorded for Studio One, and again with Dodd released the single "How Sweet It Is". 



He worked on two more Paragons albums, both unsuccessful, and moved to New York, where he recorded with Lloyd Barnes on his Wackies label, and released Tyrone Evans Sings Bullwachies Style. 



For a while he was back in Jamaica, where in 1983 he recorded with Winston Riley. More material recorded with Evans remains unreleased. He died of cancer in New York in 2000.




Music’s power to heal mind and body


Experts highlight the growing role of music therapy in improving mental health, aiding recovery from neurological disorders and enhancing overall well-being.


They suggest music therapy is increasingly being used to support patients with neurological disorders, depression, stress, memory loss and other health conditions.



In music therapy and neurology, specific ragas can aid recovery by stimulating the brain and improving emotional well-being, experts say.


One expert stated that she has worked with patients suffering from memory loss, neurological impairments and other ailments, reporting encouraging outcomes through structured music-based interventions.



Musicians and mental health professionals also point to music’s broader impact on human behaviour. Studies suggest that music can improve mood, reduce stress, enhance concentration and support emotional resilience.



Psychiatrists note that music therapy is increasingly being used as a complementary treatment for psychiatric disorders, helping patients develop relaxation and coping skills while encouraging social interaction.


Beyond human health, researchers and musicians have explored the effects of music on plants and animals, with some studies indicating positive influences on growth and behaviour.




As interest in holistic healthcare grows, experts believe music therapy could play a larger role in improving both mental and physical well-being.






MediSun DROPS A NEW TRACK CALLED FREEDOM THAT IS WORTH TAKING A LISTEN TO


MediSun’s Freedom lands as a conscious reggae single with the kind of spiritual charge that has followed him through much of his catalogue. The Boston-raised, Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter and composer has long framed his music as healing music, folding roots reggae into a modern, crossover-conscious sound that also brushes against soul and hip-hop. That identity matters here, because Freedom sits squarely in his lane: a song with purpose, meant to speak to resilience, self-worth and the urge to keep your voice intact when the world tries to flatten it.



By 2026, MediSun was already an established name in the contemporary reggae circuit, with a profile built on collaborations across the genre and beyond, and a reputation for music that is thoughtful rather than ornamental. Freedom fits that profile. The title alone points toward a familiar MediSun concern: liberation as something personal, political and spiritual at once. The production partnership with Stay Nice Music and DubShot Records places the single in a space that understands modern roots reggae and soundsystem-ready presentation, the same broader ecosystem that has carried a lot of his recent work.




What gives the song its pull is the way that message is expected to ride on a warm, steady riddim rather than a rushed, glossy pop arrangement. MediSun’s strongest records tend to work best when his voice can sit over a meditative groove, and Freedom appears to follow that path: measured, conscious and designed to land with listeners who want substance without losing the bounce. In a scene where freedom songs can become slogans fast, this one feels like part of a longer conversation in MediSun’s music about healing, dignity and speaking up without apology.




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