YOU will not be able to walk into their office to purchase CDs but Capsicum Records are ‘virtually’ everywhere making deep inroads into the reggae market courtesy of internet sales-driven sites such as iTunes, Amazon, e-Music and others.

Roger Meltzer, one of the main players behind the record label, explained that he decided to go the ‘virtual’ route as the buying trend has shown that more and more music is being bought via the Internet. The unique thing about the label is that it started out as an Indie record label but is now making big waves in Jamaica on the Reggae scene.

What caused the big turnaround? As Meltzer pointed out, “The first night I heard Bob Marley and the Wailers in Philly, I felt an instant connection to the music and wanted to be involved in the recording process.”

His opportunity to have that dream fulfilled came about via a chance meeting with Nedeck Adams, the leader of a group called Adja, who introduced him to some big players on the reggae scene. Coming closer to home, Meltzer got involved with the Excellence In Music and Entertainment Award through the sponsorship route, confessing that he used this opportunity to introduce the new/ Reggae-In-Fusion/Sound of his Hartford-based label to Jamaican radio audiences. Determined to make an impact, he started making the rounds of the radio stations to drop off copies of the CD while here.

His persistence has now paid off as his tracks from the label’s Reggae In Fusion compilation album has been receiving a lot of love from disc jocks on top radio stations. Among the songs that can be heard blasting on the airwaves are Enuf is Enough by Cuban Cohiba featuring veteran dancehall deejay Shabba Ranks; Just As I am – Misteree; Take Me There – Sledge; Life is Too Short — Mayyah Stuart; and Exactly by Sal Anthony.

Now an official player in the reggae market, Meltzer says there is a lot that people don’t understand about this special genre. “Reggae is a genre that fuses easily with other musical genres because it’s more a production style and flavour than an ethnic statement. It’s not like trying to cut a country song in Polka.”

Meltzer also admired Jamaican taste in music as he says, “They also have eclectic tastes and influences in their own music. There are more ‘regular’ stations in Jamaica than there are reggae ones. Reggae is like rice and peas, it goes with everything.”

Speaking about Capsicumrecords.com, Meltzer says it is essentially a virtual label. He decided to form Capsicum Records so that he could create an honest outlet for his music and that of others with talent. Meltzer said he was fortunate to find a business partner in Melanie Burg, who supervised the creation of the website and set up a digital distribution through DigStation, CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, e-Music and Napster, enabling the company to launch capsicumrecords.com the same week they launched the first album Reggae-In-Fusion.

Many of Capsicum’s artistes are Caribbean nationals. Sledge is from the Rae Town and Grant’s Pen neighbourhoods of Kingston, Misteree hails from Spanish Town, Cuban Cohiba is from Montego Bay, Burnie T and Mayyah Stuart are from Dominica. Only Natasha Redding, a Hartford resident and Sal Anthony are US born, as was Meltzer.