Living a copyright life

Sanch Electronix Managing Director, Simeon Sandiford, is not going to let the pirates get the better of him and his music. Like cockroaches, he knows they are not going to go away and accepts the reality that they are here to stay. Pirating accounts for over $100,000 in lost revenue a year for Sanch, he says, adding  that this is inevitable. But to beat the pirates, he tries to increase the demand for the original product rather than the copy. What he has going for him, he says, is the fact that he targets a niche market and tries to ensure that the product is of such a high standard that it surpasses any immitations. Both, he acknowledges, take time and money. The CD booklets, for instance, are made up of high quality pages which include current research and theory on pan both in English and translated into different languages. The HDCD system he uses also allows him to encode more information than on a conventional CD and this acts as a watermark to facilitate tracing of pirated material. Future releases will most likely be recorded using Super Audio CDs, “the next generation of audio” as Sandiford calls it. This technology consists of a high resolution 24 bit CD developed by Sony.

Sanch Electronics, located at 16 Riverside Road, Curepe, successfully records and markets local music but Sandiford has a penchant for pan. At the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA) Trade and Investment convention at the Hilton, he was trying to explain to both buyers and interested parties just what went into getting a CD out to the market. “Piracy is a multi-billion dollar industry,” he says, noting that he had to try and stay ahead of them. Sandiford, 55, who is from St. Joseph, says that music was a part of his life from an early age, having studied the piano in childhood. With academics a priority, his interest in music waned a bit but never died. After helping to set up the Bureau of Standards and working there for eight years, Sandiford with partners George A. Charles and the late Ruskin Punch formed Sanch in 1979, the name itself derived from their combined surnames.

They began with high-tech imports and speaker manufacturing but the downturn in the economy in the mid-eighties took its toll on them. Sanch turned to the recording industry. In 1984 they bought equipment and three years later, they had their first commercial recording. “Any kind of recording is a combination of art and science,” says Sandiford, who has an MSc in Physics. The science, according to him, consists in having the right equipment whereas the art consists in using it with precision. His preferred recording process is to first use two sets of microphones and a special non-electronic console that allows one  to mix the signals, said Sandiford. The sound is then amplified and run through the High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) converter which improves the clarity and vibrancy of the music. Asked whether the recording process is different for smaller ensembles as compared to larger ones Sandiford says it all requires balance and listening. The estimated cost of  producing an album is between $35,000 and $100,000 but Sanch has about fifteen corporate sponsors to aid in various projects. Corporate support is never about  begging for sponsorship, Sandiford says, but rather a symbiotic relationship between the corporate investor and Sanch. “The investor understands the needs of the culture sector and is proud to support a product that has some kind of international appeal,” he reasons. In turn they are rewarded by having their logos featured on the CD cases and having the CDs themselves advertised in top global magazines for world music such as Soundlines. Assistance also comes from Caribbean Export, based in Barbados, which helps exporters to become globally competitive by reimbursing one half to two-thirds of a company’s expenditure through grants.

Sanch has received over $75,000 US over a four year period in this manner and it has enabled Sandiford to do various promotions and attend trade fairs. The steelbands featured on the albums are “paid” with the CDs, which are then sold by the members of the bands. This is the preferred method of payment, Sandiford says, because sales only become profitable when one has a large enough catalog to attract international business. This catalog may take ten to fifteen years to compile. Sanch itself is just beginning to make waves in the international market. Its international partners include CAM (Italy), Delos, One Music Library, Blue Rhythm Records (USA), Koka Media (France) and Panyard Posse Productions (USVI). CDs are available in North America, Japan, France, England, Barbados, South Africa and St. Thomas. Also, according to Sandiford, Sony is showing interest in the simpler pieces of  pan music now whereas a few years ago they felt it was not profitable. But the real hurdle is marketing, says Sandiford who has run the gamut of the internet, calendars, tee-shirts, mugs to magazine advertisements and  derivative copyright, whereby three-minute excerpts of established local compositions can be used to advertise consumer goods and services. How many local steelbands has Sanch recorded? “Everybody,” he says matter-of-factly. He has also recorded bands in St. Thomas and acted as a consultant in the Virgin Islands, where pan is used in an anti-delinquency programme for the youth.

Significantly, for bands in Trinidad and Tobago, these recordings also serve in preserving the memory of arrangements that have never been scored. Also, through the restorative work of Soundreaction, a subsidiary of Sanch run by Sandiford’s son, nineteen-year-old Sean, new life is being breathed into old, faint and distorted recordings through the use of new and superior technology. The future looks bright for Sanch and its fans. Within the next few months Sandiford hopes to release eight new CDs. Another item on the agenda is a project for the Pan In Schools initiative using six-minute arrangements and Sandiford is hoping to get financial support for this from the Ministry of Education. Noting there is need for more corporate support, he says TT needs to get tied in to a big international conglomerate instead of operating in pockets. He advocates minimum local content regulations for the airwaves and the creation of a public radio station. As for right now, Sandiford is focused on the launch of the new album Reid, Wright and be Happy featuring Ron Reid, Orville Wright and David “Happy” Williams. The idea for this project was conceived one night after Reid, Wright, Shannon Dudley and Sandiford had eaten dinner at Sandiford’s home. They recalled a duet that had been recently performed by Reid and Wright which received a standing ovation from a room full of musicologists. On that basis, they decided to produce “a pan-jazz album of solos and duets featuring the steelpan and piano” and to ask “Happy” Williams to join Reid and Wright on the bass. This CD costs $15,000 US to produce, Sandiford says, noting that the objective is to let the project pay for itself.