How Stick Figure’s Reggae Success Rules In America

The band currently dominating the Billboard Reggae Album Chart with three releases has a new record arriving in November. Its rise is supported by the independent Ineffable Music Group.

Stick Figure is one of several American acts emerging since the 2010s with a homegrown brand of roots reggae supported by intensive touring. Led by producer and multi-instrumental musician Scott Woodruff whose professional identity as Stick Figure is also shared by his band, the six-man outfit has topped the Billboard Reggae Album Chart with each of the three records that remain in the top ten: Set in Stone (2015), World on Fire (2019), and Wisdom (2022).

Billboard calls Stick Figure “the world’s top selling living reggae artist” with only the late icon Bob Marley (d. 1981) providing consistent market competition. World on Fire, debuting at #34 on the Billboard 200, became the first reggae album to sell more than 10,000 copies in its opening week since Sting & Shaggy’s 2018 release, 44/876. The Stick Figure record registered sales of over 14,000 on its debut, even briefly dethroning Marley’s perennial Legend compilation.

Stick Figure’s next album, Free Flow Sessions, arrives on November 13, and the lead track “Moon Palace” debuted on October 16. Two other songs – “Welcome to My World” and “Forever” – will also be released in the next month prior to the album’s availability. The instrumentally-focused collection is built around Woodruff’s “freestyle beat making,” and his behind-the-scenes improvisational sessions have been posted on YouTube across the past seven years. Free Flow Sessions is the first formal release of this material.

The Ineffable Vision

Driven by themes of spiritual positivity, Woodruff’s singular production vision and his business sensibilities, the rise of Stick Figure has also been propelled by the Ineffable Music Group. It was founded in 2006 and has been Billboard’s top independent reggae label across several years since 2019, with the company’s operations also including dedicated live and artist management branches. Stick Figure’s relationship with Ineffable Management predates the establishment of the record label, and all of Scott Woodruff’s releases are issued on his Ruffwood imprint.

Ineffable’s New York-based president, Adam Gross, says “Stick Figure is a band name, but it’s one person who’s creating all the music and who runs the business, and he’s a producer first and foremost, and so [for] every album, he records every element, guitar, drum, bass, keys, vocals – all of it – and every album, he’s focused on improving production, and getting better at what his sound is.”

Gross notes that Ineffable’s reggae album chart success has been achieved despite Billboard changing its survey methodology to include compilations. Three such hit collections on other labels – including Bob Marley’s forty-one year old Legend – currently occupy top ten Reggae Album spots, potentially distorting the commercial landscape and the impact of other acts with standard releases.

He remarks that the size of record sales in the American reggae market measured by Billboard does not reflect the genre’s global reach and its commercial presence amid thriving local scenes. Gross adds that “The US represents over 70% of our streaming revenue, followed by the U.K., then Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan, and Brazil. That is pure revenue and not a per capita situation.”

Live Impact and Collaborations

Stick Figure has made a significant impression on the live music market. According to Gross, the band made the Pollstar Live 75 list of the summer’s biggest tours, selling over 100,000 tickets and generating over $8 million in revenue across twelve headline dates. The act also headlined three festivals and played its first headline shows in Brazil and Chile to over four thousand people.

Gross says one of Ineffable’s strategies to attain international market penetration is to curate relevant collaborations, with Stick Figure being one of the label’s beneficiaries. This global outlook introduces each collaborator to new listeners, increasing their visibility and widening their crossover appeal.

As one example, “Soul of the World” on the Wisdom album, features star Jamaican reggae vocalist, Barrington Levy, bridging the gap between older and newer audiences. As a longtime fan of Levy, Woodruff felt the track would be a good fit for the veteran vocalist who agreed and happily added his contribution.

Gross emphasizes that Ineffable’s business philosophy is centered on financial equity with its artists, and that this has not always been the typical music business experience for reggae acts, especially with major labels whose chart presence remains dominant.

The Ineffable Music Group is also in the enviable position of having the original Wailers signed as a management client. Although the band’s only remaining member from its classic 1970s line-up is leader and guitarist Al Anderson, its performances provide a direct connection to Bob Marley’s music at the peak of his career.

Building from the ground up to develop viable careers and authentic multicultural audience connection, instead of seeking shortlived viral social media sensation, Gross says “I hope that artists can continue to have big eyes and realize that their dreams are attainable.”