Sheer Sound
| Sheer Sound | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Damon Forbes |
| Distributor(s) | IRIS (South Africa) |
| Genre | Jazz, rock, world, Afropop, house |
| Country of origin | South Africa |
| Official website | www |
Sheer Sound is a South African independent record label formed in 1994 by Damon Forbes.
Sheer Sound was formed in November 1994, shortly after South Africa’s first democratic elections. The label was initially a home for jazz and world music and fast gained a reputation for its extensive South African and African jazz catalogue.
By the mid-1990s, a young music marketer, Damon Forbes, was getting restless with the limited vision of his industry.
"I sunk my teeth into jazz because it carried a world music message for me; it was truly culturally representative.... I just looked at the market and I saw the economics of the people of South Africa changing, due to better access to education.... [And]the workplace was going to change; a lot more black people getting into jobs that are of medium and higher income levels.... With all that, comes the aspiration to listen to better quality music. [So] the market, in the long term, is going to increase."
With what he calls "R1 500 (just over $200) and a dream", Forbes established his own label, Sheer Sound. (Ansell 2005:269)
In 2006 two imprint labels, Seed and 2Feet Music, were formed under the Sheer Sound umbrella and has since released some of the most prolific rock and singer-songwriter music, respectively, in South Africa.
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Wikipedia