Record sales can actually definitely turn a profit for these little labels. They've got nothing even close to the overhead that majors have to deal with, but they're still selling - XL has a bunch of gold records under their belt, Fat Possum moves a ton of records for an indie. Those are both definitely profitable enterprises.
Additionally: Everyone's just internet famous these days. National fame and internet fame overlap in the indie world - n.b. Pitchfork.
Asked by Anonymous
Yeah, I get that larger “indies” like XL, Fat Possum, Matador, Koch, Warp, etc. make a profit (to varying degrees)*. What they also have in common is that they were established well before the spread of P2P networks, and had decades to sell physical product and grow their balance sheets before music went digital.
So, I should have been more clear in questioning how a post-Napster boutique label operates in the black. And I think the answer is that they don’t.
I found this quote from Patrik North, a co-founder of Acéphale Records, in The Fader, that could easily apply to Tri Angle, as well:
Limited edition records don’t have the best profit margin right now…It’s more about exposing new artists I’m passionate about and helping them find opportunities beyond us.
Which sounds a lot more like that “patron of the arts” model I mentioned in the Clams post than what most would consider a “traditional” record label. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it’s also not a “business”.
And I keep coming back to this vinyl fetishization permeating independent music culture, and how some of these small boutique labels are clearly pandering to a sub-set of the music listening audience who own a computer and believe they have “good taste” in music. It just seems irredeemably trendy and desperate.
Here’s North on the future of his label and it’s flagship act, Salem:
I’m thinking the goth thing will fade out and be replaced by something entirely different…But when that happens the entire aesthetic [of the label] needs to change.
Innovation and evolution of a label’s “sound,” I think, is expected. But there’s an uncomfortable amount of egoism in starting a boutique label to throw away money by trying to release records that are deemed “cool” by a couple thousand people on the Internet because they got a favorable review from Pitchfork.
-SM
*And then there are the smaller labels that are “successful,” but whose owners have “day jobs”, like Kranky.
