Fake indies

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE
by Iain Macintyre appeared in Woozy #5
and is reprinted w/out permission

LATELY I'VE BEEN PONDERING the proliferation of scam indie labels. It seems like every major label has started one. At first it seemed odd that they would get involved in this. I couldn't image why they would start little businesses that made miniscule amounts of money. After a while the fog began to clear, and I learned what was going on.

It gives them covert access to the indie buying underworld ("street credibility" is an oft-uttered phrase in major record label board rooms these day, apparently). This is useful as a marketing tool.

It allows them to acquire "talent" (i.e. bands) at cheaper prices. Major label accountants point out that the costs of signing unknown bands and marketing them through scam indies are less expensive than having to buy talent from say, Sub Pop [now mostly owned by Warners, BTW], or Taang. Also with scam indies they can spread costs out over several baby bands at once and hope that two or three hit. If it works it beats the shit out of making a half a million dollar bet on one horse.

Atlantic [Time Warner] seems to be fairly successful in this area. Besides creating Seed, they've formed a strategic alliance with Matador and bought out Mammoth. These smaller labels in a way represent preformed "packages" of indie talent. Also, Matador's image adds nicely to Atlantic's profile. So does Bad Religion... in fact, if the price for Sub Pop wasn't so high, they'd probably buy that too (or is SONY first in line?) [Note: a few months after this article went to print, Warners bought a 49% share in Sub Pop]

In the end, even if a major loses money on a start-up scam indie, that's okay. Most majors probably expect to. The money lost is seen as a necessary cost of marketing bands in today's "alternative" music environment. More than anything this is the precise reason that scam indies should be reviled by anyone who believes in what used to be called independent music. Majors have very deep expense accounts. Their ability to lose money on scam indies is a cut-throat strategy. It pulls in bands that would otherwise go to future Touch And Gos or Am Reps or even Sub Pops of the world. It also clogs the arteries of independent distributors. By soaking up the talent pool at the lowest levels and by muscling in on independent distribution, major labels are pushing the little guys out of the game.

This article is part of a much larger rave that originally appeared in the excellent Bobby Fred Newsletter (address: PO Box 25656, Los Angeles, CA 90025, USA).

Record industry dirt from America On Line

>Subject:  Major Label Promotions             95-05-04
>From:  RKT 88
>
>Servicing an act to college radio is a base
>building maneuver, as previously mentioned.
>It is tried and proven. I have had a major
>suggest an indie release of a band I managed,
>for no other reason than to begin a ground
>level campaign. In today's market it's easier
>to market and sell product that has college
>radio (street) credibility. That credibility
>is often artificially created and supported
>by major label $. That's one of the reasons
>we call it the record business.
>

Makes yr blood run cold, doesn't it? Reprinted without permission from C Notes Interactive's Net Bits (Vol 1 No 2) {cnotes@cloud9.net} (Mike Corso)

Mr Bernard Langham :: Perth, Western Ashtraylia
"It's only their lives and the lives of their next of kin that they are losing" Stereolab "Ping Pong"

Last updated 04 January, 2003