In Jamaica, sound systems blast so loud that a half mile away you can bearly hear your T.V.  Some dances may be behind gates and one has to pay to enter, others are open, the holders of the dance expecting to make money from the sale of drinks.

As a lot of these functions are crowded with various kinds of people you don’t want to meet, and the price of drinks and food is exorbitant, the usual Jamaican entrepreneurship comes into play.

As the sound system is so loud, Screechies ’set up’ two or three or five blocks away, selling drinks and food  far cheaper then the dance holders.  This ’service’  has become the new money maker. 

As the holders of the dance have to often pay for the ‘lawn’ as it is called, and for the sound system, they start out of pocket.  Screechies don’t have this expense. All they pay for are the drinks, often on consignment, (meaning what doesn’t sell they return, along with the empty bottles only paying for what is sold) they can afford to be only 20% higher than supermarket. By cooking for only as many as a big cauldron can hold, they limit their outgoings on food.

Patrons load up their car with their friends, park near the Screechy and enjoy being at the dance, while not being at the dance. 

They can hear the music quite well, but it is not deafening, they can enjoy their drinks and a meal, and considering the fact most of the Screechie crowd are hand picked and notified by text on the cell, the trouble makers are excluded. Hence, the patron of the Screechy has all the benefits of the dance, and none of the draw backs.

As most people keeping dances don’t  realise half or more of their ‘patrons’ are patronising some one else, getting ‘free’ music, they don’t turn down the sound.  If they did, the business of the Screechy would end.