OFF: the future of the rock industry

[Jon Jarrett]

On Tue, 8 Aug 2000, K Henderson wrote:

> Most of the other labels of that sort, major-indie-niche labels like Cleo,
> Man's Ruin (and perhaps Meteor City if that continues to grow), Darla, Sonic
> Unyon, Parasol, World Domination (momentarily 'bought' out by WB, then
> subsequently 'let go')...they seem to be run by entreprenurial folks who
> started out in mail order/distro.  Or at least that's my perception.

        Certainly that's where Meteor City came from, Jadd and Aaron ran a
mail order, and indeed that's how Delerium and Dead Earnest started over
here, and whatever Cranium's label in New Zealand is called likewise. But
they're still small fish really. Delerium has a very patchy shop
distribution, the others are all pretty much mail order only. Now of
course, that means we can find the stuff when it comes out, but meanwhile
they're all, with the exception possibly of Man's Ruin and Meteorcity who
keep up a prolific release rate (and in the case of Meteocity are actually
ahead of the game enough to sell MP3s, I think the first label of any size
to do this) sitting on a lot of product they don't have the money to
release. Which in the end stifles the field. It's a stifling it can and
has to survive, but it would be marvellous to see someone put the energy
into, and get the return out of, the space-rock scene, that Jadd and Aaron
do with the stoner one. But where's the money to come from? It doesn't
sell as well.

        Of course, why the two scenes fail to intermix so dramatically,
especially given the sharing of so many basic influences among the
musicians, notably HW, is still something I don't understand. Partly it's
the labels, though. The two stoner ones were started by people who were
fanatic about both their scene and the Internet. The space and psych
labels always seem to me to be kind of reluctant to tap the internet,
which is odd given their inspirations. Woronzow is the only label on that
sort of scene that seems to really `keep in touch'. I don't have to go
looking for Woronzow info because it's always coming. Finding out about
the actual state of Delerium releases, for example, is bloody
difficult. If you want to know you have to mail them. They do all their
publicity through the mail order catalogues and it's not really clever
enough. For example, last thing they had to say about DarXtar's _Tombola_
or whatever it will finally be called was that it was coming out this June
and so far it's mentioned on the website, dateless, once. So they
shouldn't have said... They also fail to mention the On Trial album on
Burnt Hippie, and the news page hasn't been updated since June 26th. I've
no doubt Richard Allen is very busy, but I'd like to be able to see some
sign of it. And as for EBS - well, I guess we'll never know what happened
there. Where are this scene's Jadd and Aaron?  Are they in fact Nick
Saloman and Ade Shaw?

> (BTW, is Frank Kozik a musician?)

        Journalist, novelist, poet and artist only I believe, though I
think one or other of the MR bands talked him into strumming an acoustci
somewhere.

> As I've stated before (and others seem to have thought also), some of these
> other 'niches' seem to be a lot more 'with it' than the space-rockers.
> Stoner rock, Post-rock, Darkwave, you name it.  I guess maybe they're
> perceived (or the bands perceive themselves?) as more modern and hip -
> and/or are simply younger people with more energy.
>
> So I can go into a store in Columbus and easily find Man's Ruin, or The
> Music Cartel (now what is that exactly?  From the sounds of the name, it
> almost sounds like a stoner version of what is being discussed here.  I
> thought it was a US 'label' that was created mainly to release/distribute
> European stoner/doom rock over here, like Rise Above...is that right?), and
> I almost never see a 'real' new Hawkwind album or anything (Thrilling
> Adventures never showed up here).  Snapper does pretty well, as I could find
> all the Ozrics, Gong and PT new releases.  But forget EBS or anything else
> remotely unusual.

        Yeah, well finding EBS stuff over here is none too easy
either. Snapper on the other hand have got the distribution and the
product angles down pat, but not the publicity or the band relations
angles.

        My point is we've got lots of these little labels, including a
good few run by musicians (Rise Above, EBS as was, Woronzow, Eternity's
Jest (I think?)) - and none of them can do very much. But if they worked
together on things like distribution, sponsorship, advertising, etc., they
might be able to break into rather bigger time by consolidating their
market impact.

> I think I remember Paul W. (Quarkspace) saying something about whether there
> should be a 'consortium' label to release all of the SD-type spacers,
> ArcMet, FF, AP, QS, BtG, etc., and the consensus was that everybody has a
> 'real' job, so who would do it?  Gets back to that 'younger people with more
> energy' idea, or more likely, no family and/or mortgage.

        Isn't EJ that sort of thing? It seems to be trying.

> Steve Hayes was just telling me (I hope it's ok to relate this info) that
> none of the SD bands of years' past (save HW) have been particularly
> interested in the high-quality multitrack recordings he's made from '98 and
> '99.  So I guess the bands' just don't see any interest in getting
> whatever-label-that-isn't-
> already-ignoring-their-studio-stuff to put it out.  And some bands (like
> BtG) don't even have a real release of any kind.  Anyway, the result is that
> he's not going to do any recording of SD'2K.  Almost makes me wonder if
> there should be a 'boc-l CD-R label' that self-produces/distributes product
> and kickbacks (kicks back?) something to the artists somehow.  No, I'm not
> volunteering.  :) Bob L./Kevin S. kinda did this on their own with Bob's
> tapes (?), and I'd imagine that we would have more success obtaining the
> music we wanted if we got it ourselves (this way), rather than waiting for
> the bands to find go-betweens to get it to us.  No offense, Andy.  We know
> you try!  :)  (We need Dead Earnest US).

        Now, that sucks. Apart from that the only way for Jim to make any
real money back is by flogging recordings, it seems to me symptomatic of
this reluctance across the field to put out any goddamn product. Okay, so
the market is disappointingly slow and space-rock will never make anyone
rock stars again. But it is _there_ and this refusal to approach the
market is killing it. It may not be much fun to try and find the time and
money to get a record out, or the support, but it's very trying to have so
many bands in this halfway house where they have recordings but never get
round to releasing them, or just won't record, and would still like a
fanbase. I can't help feeling that either you shouldn't court the public
at all, or you should accept that you've got to give them something to
make it worth their while. But then, I've never been in a band. I tell you
this, though, if I ever do get anything recorded, I shan't be making only
50 CD-Rs. You see my point. Yours,
                                   Jon

--
 |  Jon Jarrett (01223 741219)           jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk
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