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Running a record label is a labour of love, especially in the world of punk rock, where any benefits on the financial side of things are always at a premium. In this now digital age we live in, it has become both easier for bands and labels to get their music out there to the fans, but increasingly difficult to see much financial gain back due to the sheer quantity of illegal downloads and (possibly to a lesser extent) poorly paid streaming services which much of the modern music listener rely on. I have had several discussions on both forums, Facebook and face to face with other labels about what we can do to try and make the scene a bit more sustainable. Over the past few years I\u2019ve seen so many great bands and labels give up just as they put so much in, but weren\u2019t selling enough records. The aim is by raising awareness to people of the work that goes into releasing something, we can try to change the perception that many people have that music is a free commodity rather than a form of art, which does have some sort of value.<\/p>\n
Everybody loves a freebie. Let\u2019s use an example of a chocolate bar. If you were walking down the street and there was someone giving away a chocolate bar as a free promotional item, you\u2019re likely going to take it. But would you also just go into a shop, and pick this off the shelf and walk out without paying? I would hope the majority would say no! In general terms the same thing applies to music \u2013 a band gives away a free song or EP to check out, and then put out a full release either digitally or physically (or both) but then ask for money for it. This shouldn\u2019t mean that once a band has put something out for free (in essence as a \u2018gift\u2019) that then people should in the future take advantage of that generosity by doing something like typing the band and release name into Google along with \u201czip\u201d or \u201cblog\u201d and downloading their album for free from a site essentially offering something illegally. Although I\u2019m sure most bands would say they want their music to be heard, there\u2019s so many ways to do that legally, with streams, free mp3 downloads etc that there\u2019s really no need to download a release just to \u2018try out\u2019 a band. I\u2019m not totally against \u2018try before you buy\u2019, however, it\u2019s the sheer numbers I come across as a label owner who I know have tried, loved and then never bought the release. This leaves both the band and label with not insignificant debts \u2013 as along with the obvious recording and pressing costs of release comes other costs such as mastering, licensing, distribution costs, promotional and advertising costs, as well as the endless amount of \u2018free\u2019 time which goes in from both sides on writing, practicing and recording to management, promotion and admin work.<\/p>\n
I recently heard an argument for illegal downloading, that it\u2019s good for people to check out bands, and that this particular person would never buy a release, but instead would pick up a t shirt or some other merch if the band \u2018bothered\u2019 to come and play their town. What they\u2019re missing though is that why would a band come to a town (at often great expense) on the off chance that people who haven\u2019t bothered to support the band by purchasing their music, might turn up to a gig and might buy something. It\u2019s all a lot of \u2018ifs\u2019 and \u2018buts\u2019, which doesn\u2019t really support the band. It\u2019s obviously great if a lot of people go to gigs and are picking up merch, but why would a band, especially an overseas band, risk travelling a large distance at great expense, if they haven\u2019t seen any evidence of a fanbase in these areas. It\u2019s different for buy on tour supports and on a much more DIY level, but smaller punk rock bands simply cant just jump on plane and travel across the globe when they\u2019re probably still reeling in the debts of their record, and are likely to have commitments such as rent, a mortgage, perhaps a family to support \u2013 it makes these things a lot more of a risk.<\/p>\n
The days where our parents used to go to record stores and stand in listening booths religiously checking out new bands and coming home and putting those records on the turntable may be over, but the few great independent punk rock record stores remaining (Punker Bunker, All Ages, Banquet all immediately spring to mind), still offer a great selection and experience for those who take the time to go to a store and browse the collection and pick something up. There\u2019s that excitement for going home and putting on the record or listening to the CD, which I don\u2019t think can be matched for just simply ripping some mp3s.<\/p>\n
There are so many examples of where bands have recorded albums and released them only for them to sell hardly any records \u2013 but see thousands of illegal downloads. I can remember Roger from Less Than Jake said they sold about 50 CDs the first month of the last ‘Rehasher’\u00a0<\/em>album, but had got figures of thousands of illegal downloads from various sites. The same thing has happened a number of times with my releases \u2013 with one example having 30 copies of an LP sold in a month but in excess of 2000 downloads from a particular blog, which also had a donation box (which was showing donations being made). When I asked this site where the donations went, I got no response, so I have to assume they\u2019re just going to the person who hosts these sites.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not saying that this is what every music fan does \u2013 far from it, as we see the resurgence of formats such as vinyl and (to a lesser extent) tapes, formats which have come back to the forefront due to music fans love, with avid collectors helping to keep these formats alive, and seen growth in these areas. There\u2019s hopefully always going to be people who spend their spare time and money on buying music and going to gigs, and that is what it should be all about, a genuine love of the music. If we can keep this going, and encourage more people to actively support the bands and labels they love through getting involved in the scene and directly supporting through purchasing music, maybe we can help make a world where the talented musicians and songwriters we love can work on their art without the need to constantly worry about debts and their next pay check.<\/p>\n Hopefully you haven\u2019t found this article too \u2018preachy\u2019, I just wanted to put some feelers out there with the hope that we can provoke a bit more support from those who maybe take advantage and don\u2019t appreciate music as it should be. Keep checking out new bands, buying music, going to gigs and promoting a sense of fun and passion in music, and the world will be better because of it!<\/p>\n Further information on\u00a0<\/span>Disconnect Disconnect Records<\/strong>\u00a0can be found on their\u00a0<\/span>Official Website<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Big Cartel<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Bandcamp<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a series of 4 weekly features, we\u2019ve challenged some of our favourite creative artists to think about exactly why they pour countless hours of their time into the music scene that they have associated themselves with and just what it means to them. Why do they do the things they do, in the way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8181],"tags":[62,224,122,12251],"class_list":["post-27823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-already-heard","tag-disconnect-disconnect-records","tag-feature","tag-why-we-do-this"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n