AltWeeklies Wire
Mirror Universe Tapes Helps Revive Interest in a Once-Dead Formatnew
It's hardly worth declaring a cassette revival, or even to say tapes are the new vinyl. But the recent success of the Charleston-based cassette-only record label Mirror Universe Tapes seems to indicate otherwise.
Charleston City Paper |
Bryan Reed |
10-14-2009 |
Music
Good Records Recordings Returns In A Big Waynew
When TVT went under and the Polyphonic Spree's 2007 release The Fragile Army was purchased by digital music label The Orchard, Tim DeLaughter and his wife Julie decided to revert things back to before they went the major-label route.
Dallas Observer |
Pete Freedman |
09-28-2009 |
Music
Will Gossip Blog Notoriety Translate into Music Industry Clout for Perez Hilton?new
You could almost hear universal snickering in the music industry a few months ago when Perez Hilton announced his intention to start a label and become the next Jimmy Iovine. Now the industry watches to see what the Perezcious Music label will bring.
NOW Magazine |
Jason Keller |
09-21-2009 |
Music
Sub Pop Offshoot Hardly Art is Hardly Starvingnew
Like the now-defunct Sub Pop offshoot label Die Young Stay Pretty, Hardly Art receives financial backing from Sub Pop. But unlike DYSP, Hardly Art is determined to live to see middle age on its own dime.
Seattle Weekly |
Sara Brickner |
09-21-2009 |
Music
Why is Modest Mouse Frontman Isaac Brock Starting from Scratch With Obscure Portland Bands?new
Brock, 34, acknowledges that his new role as an indie label kingpin is a departure, though he's quick to add that he's always been interested in the business side of music.
Willamette Week |
Casey Jarman |
09-16-2009 |
Music
The Blue Scholars are Turning the Artist-Label Relationship On its Headnew
Seattle hip-hop group Blue Scholars have brokered a deal in which New York hip-hop label Duck Down Records signed to them. Whether that's the most accurate way to put it is debatable, but the message is clear: things are changing.
Seattle Weekly |
Jonathan Cunningham |
08-10-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
What Happens When a Label Deal Goes Right and the Band Breaks Up Anyway?new
Sometimes for bands, the stars align just right. Labels clamor for the artist. The terms of the deal are more than fair. Offers for maximum-exposure tours abound, and press is eerily pitch-perfect. And the whole thing goes to hell anyway.
Nashville Scene |
Tracy Moore |
06-05-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Be Your Own Pet, record labels
Hey, Young Nashville Band—Want a Major-Label Deal? Read This Firstnew
If the Nashville curse used to be that no local rock band could snag a record deal, then perhaps now the curse is that they can. It's staying afloat afterward that has proved most elusive.
Nashville Scene |
Tracy Moore |
06-05-2009 |
Music
Tags: Nashville, record labels
Bypassing Record Labels, Jill Sobule's New Album is Funded by Fansnew
Sobule has had a hard time with record companies. The singer/songwriter has been dropped by MCA and Atlantic, not to mention the two indie labels she recorded for are now defunct. Naturally, Sobule was hesitant about shopping her latest album to another label; but without any money of her own, other options were few and far between.
New York Press |
David Chiu |
05-14-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Advertisers Go from Licensing Songs to Releasing Themnew
The synergy of marketing and indie music has evolved so swiftly that selling a tune for use in a commercial or video game seems almost quaint. Marketers aren't just horning in on the territory of record labels' promo departments -- they're starting to act like labels.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
04-13-2009 |
Music
Label X Closes Up Shopnew
Label president Todd Smith is a pretty circumspect cat these days. You would be too if you just pulled the plug on your own company.
LEO Weekly |
Mat Heron |
07-14-2008 |
Music
Ingrid Michaelson Knows the Way into America's Heart is Through 'Grey's Anatomy'new
After 25 million viewers heard her song "Keep Breathing" on the hit show's third-season finale, Michaelson's second album shot to indie fame. With no support from a label, Michaelson suddenly was everywhere.
Style Weekly |
Anne Larimer Hart |
06-11-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Giving It Away Can Paynew
RCRD LBL lets advertisers support the artists so consumers don't have to.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
03-03-2008 |
Music
Pitchfork's Progress: Influential E-Zine Gets Spoofednew
The funniest Onion-esque fake news story penned so far this year sprang from Sub Pop Records, which deserves full credit for "Pitchfork Staff Member Says 'Hi' to Real-Life Woman."
East Bay Express |
Rob Harvilla |
07-16-2004 |
Music
Tags: Illinois, Chicago, record labels, Minnesota, Pitchfork, Minneapolis, a Pitchfork writer and advertising director, Anniversary's album Your Majesty, bootlegged videos, Canadian art-rock collective Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It in People, Chris Jacobs, Eric Carr, Pitchfork mastermind Ryan Schreiber, staff writer Brent DiCrescenzo, Sub Pop's marketing director and unofficial ringleader of the Popdork parody