Nice thread ! good to see somewhere that netlabels can be discussed without scorn, as was the case at the start of 2005 when a lot of labels started appearing, we did our first proper releases in January 2005 having put tracks up in dribs and drabs to test the water.
Without going into that - it's long past history - I guess I should talk about our viewpoint, before I do - I've really enjoyed reading what the likes of Pheek, Steevio, etc etc have to say here and also the viewpoints from folk caning the trax - like L'Embrouille and co - very interesting thoughts
We've hada lot of instant sucess from our netlabel, our initial downloads shifted faster than your average record would - meaning we reached an awfull lot more people than we ever would via vinyl, . it seemed the logical way to go as we simply like making music, we make lots of it, and I was getting annoyed at having to travel about so much, burn CD's for folk, do gigs to people I didn't know or identify with as where I'm from - there is very little support for the sort of music I like to make, normally - I am railroaded into hard techno as that's what I've done for years, not that I mind - it's fun , and I do love this sound, but as a producer - it can be unfulfilling, I need to vent my experimental bone in order to keep things fresh - it always makes my harder stuff evolve more when I let go and try new stuff..
Having found a lot more people online that are into the dub-tech/minimal and more experimental sound - which I was struggling to even find on vinyl (I mean - there's a lot of good minimal labels - but I can't handle that generic - lets rip of villalobos or whoever any longer)- the choice to begin releasing more constructed stuff online was obvious.
It's actually saved me time and money - and focused my writing a lot more as there is more purpose to my work.
As I don't know any labels that release the whole clicks and cut/dub/techno thing - I'm far more in my element with the netlabel sphere which to my mind represents a more underground approach than the current vinyl labels that are really struggling and the quality is often being effected by the pressure to flog units.
Netlabels don't have this problem, and so as some have said - it's ended up with music which possibly might be passed over by a traditional label.
So - from our point of view, our netlabel allows us the freedom to try new styles, release other artists that might have similar ideas, and also, we try to find bigger name artists and remix their trax, the netlabel has given us that little bit of respect in which bigger artists think - hmm there might be an opportunity to promote myself to a different audience If I let them release mixes of my work, and this seems to be a good thing to do, It has certainly made it easier to talk to people now that they know who we are , rather than just being lik - ohh, not another one...type attitude..
So for us - It's simply a platform to try stuff out, we've never really been interested in selling vinyl - since I was a teenager - I've known a lot of people who have ran techno labels , some of the big ones too : Sativae, Stay up forever etc, and it's a pain in the ass, not only that - but once a sound emerges - it's not easy to shift it - cos the fans want consistency - I guess It depends on what syle tho - some punters are obviously more open minded - but my experience of it - is that it's a pain, and as someone who wants to be spending time producing and writing - I can't afford to run around distributing stuff, organising the product etc, it works far better for us to release in this way as it gets it directly "from our minds to yours" without the messing - which keeps everything fresh and dynamic. So I'd definatly agree with Steevio's comment - the quality of the music is exactly the same, we don't think - ohh that one isn't so good - we'll stick it on the web for example.
As for the money part - well, yes - we're not stupid, we're not ritch , we can't afford to keep things going all the time for no return, so on that tip - gigs, score work, doing stuff for computer games, running music technology classes for kids, and often dayjobs in IT/Design etc pay the bills and keep it all running, so at the moment - we're happy to keep things as they are, some of our artists do release on vinyl : Flameboy, Lo recordings, SCSI AV, Noodles, Penalty etc, so their needs are taken care of on this front anyway, and the rest are all pretty close to being taken on by other labels, so for us - we'll let others handle the marketing/pay for things element, I have enough hassle sorting out invoices and the books on our other projects !. Apart from anything esle, I can't see the point in trying to compete with established labels, some of them I like - why would I try to compete with them , there currently isn't the market for more techno labels, I'd rather just send them a demo, if they don't release it - their loss, I'll stick it online anyway and get the hits for it
An interesting comment from Pheek - on the hooking up front and joining forces - hopefully , some already are !
We certainly have been putting ourselves about more recently as our confidence in our art has grown dramatically since we started out, and have been making contact with a good few of you - sure, the identities are all maintained - but with netlabel artists releasing on other labels, this does form a bond, and I think it's looking quite tight now, maybe tha's because we've only been going properly for one year, and we're not that fed up of it yet
LOL
But yeah - I agree, keep it together, join forces - inter-pollenate - it's all good
I really do have a lot of confidence in netlabels right now - some new mixes I've heard and suchlike really have convinced me that the future of electronic music is hiding out in forums like this and will steadilly emerge as being the driving force of the scene, I'd easilly prefer to listen to the output on labels like thinner, textone (nooo please don't stop), archipel and clevermusic over anything I currently hear in the shops.
The only thing I can see as a spanner in the works is MP3 lisencing in terms of the actual coding on the MP3's - this looks as if it could effect all netlabels and force them to charge for MP3's to pay for the encoding lisence - I don't know too much about this yet - but it's all listed in the many rants you hear on MP3 V OGG, I'm sure some of you probably know a lot more about this than me tho !!.
I think though that as with everything - you will end up with all the sh!t quality labels, and schneiders leaving it alone once things like this kick off, I also think that the attrition of those that really do love their art will shine through as has been the case with techno in general these days - a lot of the folk that were on the bandwagon have buggered off, leaving those that are down with it to come through a lot more.
So, yeah - fair play to those that do charge - I've heard some really naff stuff going on sale as MP3's maybe a few decent netlables there taking money would even up the balance, but for us - the ideology is that this music should be free until such time as we can make something on it - lisencing it for a film, releasing it on vinyl (tho probably not ourselves), etc.
OK, not the best put together rant, but I've said my peace
Shouts.
Patrick @ AVXR
