Is This the Beginning of the End of Indie Labels?
There was a time when an unknown band could turn to an indie label to get their music out there. Nowadays, this seems harder and harder to do.
Most of us keeping an eye on the music industry have been closely watching it’s demise, and now it’s getting worse. Instead of a major label self-destructing, there has been the news that the UK indie scene is going to go through some tough times with the bankruptcy of Pinnacle Entertainment.
So how exactly does this hurt indie labels?
Well, Pinnacle Entertainment is a huge distributor of cd’s for more than 400 indie labels. Pinnacle is able to then get these albums out to chains like HMV, and were negotiating a deal with iTunes. And, if you think that this is some distributor for UK bands that you’ve never heard, you should know that Pinnacle has has distributed albums for acts like Morrissey and The Strokes as well. Pinnacle was also responsible for shipping out Nine Inch Nails The Slip earlier this year.
The bankruptcy of Pinnacle is a big enough problem for indie labels, but two weeks another distributor, Amato Distribution, also folded. However, the Association of Independent Music called an emergency meeting on December 4 to discuss this crisis. Maybe all is not lost, but we’ll have to wait and see.
This changes a lot of things for indie bands across the globe. Indie bands have to reach deals with different labels across the world to distribute their music, and obviously without a distributor, this isn’t possible. The UK market can make or break a up and coming band. If it wasn’t for the UK music scene I highly doubt that bands like the Killers and Kings of Leon would have found success.
So, without going on any further rants, I guess this shows us all that bands have to rely on themselves to get their music out there. Eric has been saying this for years, but now his advice should be taken way more seriously. It looks like there could be no other option.
