BILLBOARD Magazine is America’s longest running music charting publication, and one of Henry Stone’s most prolific promoters. Of all the media companies that wrote about Henry Stone, like The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The LA Times, Ocean Drive, Cash Box, and Record World, BILLBOARD wrote about him the most, going all the way back to the late 1940s, before even Jerry Wexler was a writer there. In this January 1976 edition, Stone expounds on his independent distribution of r&b, jazz, and gospel, and staff hiring for the new product. People tend to forget that recording was initially a hobby for Stone, whose 20,000 square foot warehouse in Hialeah was primarily concerned with distributing millions of units of indie labels from around the country throughout Florida and select transhipping markets. Henry Stone’s companies employed hundreds of shipping workers and record promoters throughout his time in the business, and T.K. Productions even offered pension plans when it was #1. Check out this great article.

ARTICLE SUMMARY: “Henry Stone, TK Production chief: “1976 will be the year of independent distribution, which will strengthen the entire music industry. “The black segment of the industry will expand through strong sale of LPs.” A major part of TK’s expansion in 1976 will come from jazz and gospel music, with first releases set for January. Stone points out that this expansion will bring about a larger staff in order to handle the new product.”

PUBLICATION: BILLBOARD Magazine

DATE: January 10, 1976