Most internet radio stations don't have a Grammy-winning producer behind the mixing desk, but Big Reggae Mix does. The commercial-free station, streaming under the tagline "The Global Healing Has Begun," was co-founded in November 2014 by Scott Brown and Errol Brown, and the second name carries serious weight in reggae history.
Errol Brown is the nephew of Duke Reid, the legendary founder of Treasure Isle studio in Kingston, and he trained as an engineer there under Reid himself before leaving in 1979 to join Bob Marley and the Wailers at Tuff Gong Studios. He went on to work on Survival, Uprising and Confrontation, and produced Legend, the posthumous Marley compilation that remains the best-selling reggae album ever made, with more than 30 million copies sold worldwide. Over a career spanning more than 370 recording credits and six Grammy Awards, he also worked with Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, Marcia Griffiths, U-Roy and Culture, a resume that makes him one of the most important, and least publicly known, figures in the genre's recorded history.
From Tuff Gong to San Diego
Big Reggae Mix, based out of San Diego, California, is a much smaller operation than the studios Brown built his name in, and that seems to be exactly the point. As a non-profit, listener-supported station, it runs without commercials, streaming roots reggae, reggae pop, dub, island reggae, reggaeton and ska across a schedule that runs every weekend from Friday afternoon through midnight Sunday. Station director Scott Brown handles the day-to-day, while Errol Brown serves as executive producer, lending his ear and his history to a project built for the love of the genre rather than for profit.
The station's most distinctive slot might be the Big Ganja Mix, airing Friday afternoons from 4:20 to 10:20 PM, a lighthearted nod to reggae culture that fits comfortably alongside its more serious mission of keeping roots reggae alive for a global online audience. It's a small, unmistakably independent operation, run by people who could easily coast on decades-old accolades but chose instead to keep building something new.
A Living Connection to Reggae's Golden Era
What makes Big Reggae Mix worth seeking out isn't production value or a massive playlist, it's the direct line it offers back to reggae's foundational years. Few internet stations anywhere can claim a co-founder who helped shape the sound of Legend, and fewer still use that legacy to spotlight the genre's ongoing life rather than just its past.