Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Co-Op Record Labels and more on Direct Distribution


This article will explore research of existing Co-Operative (Co-Op) or Work-Owned record labels. While Co-Ops have existed for many years and have gained popularity since the 60s there are few advertised Co-Op record labels. 2012 is the International Year of the Cooperative, as proclaimed by the UN Division for Social Policy and Development. I will not go into depth on what constitutes a Co-Op here in this article but wanted to share some research into locating Co-Op record labels. Another ongoing stream of research into websites and services that offer artist to fan distribution and services of which is a new start-up about to launch called distro.fm.

In my research to date three Co-Op Record labels have been identified that show some success in their operations and have made it past the first couple of years as a startup business. Two exist here in the U.S. and one in Canada. The Blocks Recording Club is based in Toronto, Canada since their founding in 2003 and became a Co-Op in 2005. They host a variety of indie artists; one nice feature is that they use another Co-Op or collective to help with merchandising and sales called The Blue House. For the U.S. there is Black Cactus Records (BCR) in Phoenix, Arizona and Revolutionary Productions Artists and Musicians Cooperative (RPAMC) or Revolutionary Records in Seattle, Washington. BCR presents itself very professionally and give a good account of being a Co-Op and how the logic of combining resources and creating less duplication of effort goes a long way to freeing up individual time to focus on the art of making music. RPAMC appears much smaller in scope but highlights the purpose of passing knowledge from one generation of musicians to the next. This aspect of education to create skilled workers through community effort is the key purpose of creating Asura Records as well as the founding of systems like the Mondragon Co-Ops of Basque, Spain. Follow on articles for Co-Op record labels will explore how these organizations formed and their own business structures, which require outreach and interviews to come.

Distro.fm is a new startup non-profit company that will host artist-to-fan subscription services like you would find on Spotify.com, but the bulk of the money generated from the subscription goes directly to the artist not a tech company. This is a great concept which I will watch as they move towards their launch date. This idea combines the streaming radio trend with content that the artist can release directly to their fan base outside of traditional releases. Content can include jam sessions, concerts, art and interviews. Really it is up to the artist to devise what their fans want and make the content have value to keep them subscribed year after year. A great steady revenue stream potential in this concept especially if Distro.fm delivers on a percentage of profit sharing that beats out the competition.

Please comment to this article if you would like to share any other Co-Op record labels for my research.

5 comments:

  1. First, I must thank you for providing this information. I have heard about it before, but I was still unaware of exactly how distro.fm would benefit artists. If more Co-op record labels come into existence, what do you think that will mean for the rest of the record labels? Do you have a desire to start a Co-op record label yourself, or are you just into seeing how well distro.fm does? I may not follow how well they do, but I would like to know how their success comes along when it does come about. Do you think you will keep your readers up to date on their progress?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In my opinion the whole concept of a record label needs to change. Beyond the big five media corporations, indie labels offer very little to an artist. Co-op labels increase the power of the artist in that they would expand reach, reduce duplication of effort, pool resources and create a local hub for artists to work. This removes a middle person and allows the artist to have greater control and higher revenue then with a standard label. I did start an artist owned label in 2005 which is Asura Records. Over the next year it is my goal to incorporate as a Cooperative and expand the membership.
      Distro.fm is really in the beginning phase of operations. I have approached them to setup a artist distribution channel for Asura Records. They have replied and will be reaching out later as their business progresses. Yes I will post updates on how the program works and any benefits I see.
      Thank you for your comments!

      Delete
  2. Your article is extraordinarily smart.I love to browse your diary's posts everyday and that i got vast facilitate from your blog and developed a replacement app spotify premium free apk
    you'll check.Thanks for wonderful diary.

    ReplyDelete