David Emery Online

Brands Versus Bands

13 September 2007

Tomorrow is the launch of the Too Pure Singles Club at the Buffalo Bar in Islington, London and I would very much encourage everyone to come (more info on Upcoming). It should be a fun night, especially as the wonderful Future Of The Left are headlining.

I also think the Singles Club itself is worthy of a bit of discussion; while it’s nothing revolutionary I think it in essence both charts the strengths of a record label and also the direction the industry as a whole needs to go in the future. The concept is quite simple – every month Too Pure releases a single on limited vinyl and download (the download being via Rough Trade) and you pay £30 for a years worth, getting one in the post for 12 months.

This concept really plays into what the primary strength of a label is: a filter for music. Their has been much talk – both recently and stretching back since digital music really took off – about how record labels are “doomed” as technology and distribution have got to a point where artists can release records without label backing. This has got to the point where it’s actually happened – to a certain extent – with Enter Shikari who self released their debut album which went into the charts at number 2. I say “to a certain extent” as they did have a substantial publishing deal (rumoured to be in excess of £1million) which they used to set up their own label to release with.

While there has been a significant lowering in the barriers to entry of releasing records, what there hasn’t been is a increase in the amount of outlets for selling records – the market has stayed roughly the same size, but the amount of people trying to compete is getting larger and larger. This is where the label becomes relevant: if you have a label that you trust – that you think has a similar music taste to you – then you instantly have a very effective filter on all that music. You can get them to do all the hard work – sifting through demos, scouting at gigs and wading through MySpace profiles – and sit back and reap the rewards.

Once you’ve got to a point where you’ve found a label that you trust then it’s all fairly easy, and subscription models like the singles club make a huge amount of sense. However, getting to that point is really pretty difficult for one big reason: people don’t know anything about record labels. Off the top of your head, how many labels can you name? Do you know what labels your top 10 favourite bands are on (I certainly don’t)?

Traditionally the focus has quite obviously (and rightly) been on the artists, but I think labels really need to step up now and turn themselves into much more recognisable brands. They have a wealth of assets, content and interest but currently most seem to do little more then sticking their logo on the back of records.

To survive (or at least flourish in the ever-crowded market) I think record labels need to start doing some marketing of themselves. It’s not to say that some don’t get it (witness all the ones that have blogs, for example) but I think the mentality is still that promoting the label is only done to help promote the bands on the label; they need to be a brand, and think like a brand as well.