Hawaiian Tunes in Sync With Music Market

It’s an addiction Ron Wilson can’t seem to shake, a habit the retired truck driver has spent thousands of dollars maintaining. It accompanies his morning coffee, outings in his Ford Explorer, his afternoon downtime.

He loves Hawaiian music.

Wilson, 68, may seem like an unlikely fan -- living in Valrico, Fla., about 4,700 miles from the islands. But since he and his wife made their inaugural visit to Hawaii about eight years ago, he has been hooked on the sounds of Israel Kamakawiwoole, Ledward Kaapana and Hui Ohana.

“It took maybe about 30 minutes to become addicted,” said Wilson, who now owns dozens of Hawaiian CDs and tapes. “It’s the easiest music on the Planet Earth to listen to.”

Wilson’s passion is one growing among music lovers across the country.

It is a trend that is difficult to track, with neither the Recording Industry Assn. of America nor Nielsen SoundScan, the two top sources for national CD sales data, recognizing the genre independent from the world music category. But record labels that produce Hawaiian music and the stores that sell it see a surge in interest.

The Mountain Apple Co., one of the largest Hawaiian music labels, has seen overall sales swell about 150% in the last five years. On the mainland, sales rose 28% in 2001 and 43% last year -- impressive given Nielsen SoundScan reports that 104 million fewer CDs and cassettes were sold in 2002 compared with 2000.

“There are definitely a lot of people being turned on to this music and a lot of people buying it more frequently than they used to,” said Jason Verlinde of Amazon.com.

At Quiet Storm Records, another Hawaiian label, sales that totaled less than $100,000 when the company was founded in 1992 topped $1 million last year.

The availability of Hawaiian selections through the Internet and national chains has contributed to the recent spike in sales.

At each of Borders’ 411 stores in the United States, Hawaiian CDs are available for preview at listening stations and the retailer sponsors in-store events with island artists.

Its commitment to the genre evidently is paying off. Sales of Hawaiian CDs jumped nearly 42% last year at its 405 mainland stores.

“People are surprised when I actually show them the numbers,” said Shannon McCue, the buyer in charge of Hawaiian music for Borders. “It’s somewhat under the radar.”

Musicland Group stores also confirmed an increase in Hawaiian music business, though specific figures were not available. Sales of the music at Tower Records’ 96 U.S. stores have regularly propelled Hawaiian CDs onto the chain’s independent release chart. And the genre’s popularity on Amazon has made it one of the site’s best-selling types of world music, along with reggae and Cuban.

“It’s not going to be the big kind of spikes you get with J.Lo or anything else,” said Flip McDiarmid, president of Hula Records, one of the oldest Hawaiian labels. “But when you make timeless music like that it seems to just stay with you.”

Hawaiian music has seen a number of sparks over the years.

In the 1960s, as the Brothers Cazimero rose to fame, Top 40 stations on the islands began playing Hawaiian music side by side with pop hits.

In the mid- to late-’80s, an exodus of Hawaii residents to the mainland and their subsequent musical homesickness was followed by an increase in interest in the music among national retail chains.

And today’s surge, many in the industry agree, was spawned by a single artist -- Israel Kamakawiwoole.

Kamakawiwoole -- or Iz, as he’s called -- topped the charts with a voice as gentle and soothing as the soft Pacific breeze. The singer topped 750 pounds at his heaviest -- contributing to his death in 1997 at age 38.

Iz never saw the full following his music gained. His 1993 CD, “Facing Future,” achieved gold status last year, in part propelled by his rendition of “Over the Rainbow.” The song was featured on film and television soundtracks, but its presence on the television show “ER” last May spurred a national phenomenon.

On Amazon, sales of the album featuring Iz’s trademark song surged 400% after the episode aired, hitting the top of the site’s Top Seller list.

“His music has just kicked open doors,” said Leah Bernstein, the president of Mountain Apple, which distributes Iz’s music.

And as listeners pop in the work of Iz or Na Leo Pilimehana or other island artists, the perception of Hawaiian music slowly evolves.

Consumers are discovering that Hawaii’s music stretches from ancient chant to traditional ballads to contemporary Jawaiian, the islands’ unique brand of reggae.

“We feel like we’re riding a wave,” Bernstein adds. “But the wave just keeps building.”