Whither the Record Label?
John Schwenkler, who has glued on the sideburns at PoMoCon, links to Helen Rittelmeyer’s discussion of music and place, which excerpts this John Darnielle interview about Durham, NC. Darnielle mentions Merge as part of the Durham scene, reminding me of the curious ways labels, towns, and scenes have always overlapped.
Back when I actually followed music, the label was a meaningful signal of certain meta-musical characteristics. When someone mentioned that they were into a band on Touch and Go or Homestead or Sub Pop or whatever, you didn’t necessarily know what the band sounded like, but you knew that they somehow fit into a particular matrix of other, more familiar, artists. You had some context in which to guess how accessible or “challenging” they may be, or how deeply steeped in some regional scene. Each label was a portfolio that represented someone’s idea of the right balance between diversification and coherence.
This may still be the case, but on the rare occasions that I read album reviews, it seems like the label’s seldom cited as a unit of artistic aggregation. There are collectives and scenes and festivals that bind musicians into communities, but the label appears to do less of this work than it did, say, fifteen years ago. Is this actually the case, or do I just not get out much?
Since I don’t really have a point of reference (I was too young to appreciate the scene’s first flowering in the early to mid ’90s), my observations could be wildly off base, but I think there are still readily identifiable characteristics associated with bands from certain regions on certain record labels. Sub Pop, for example, is still associated with a particular brand of distortion-heavy Northwest indie rock. In Canada, the Arts & Crafts umbrella is home to several different indie pop groups that share certain musical touchstones.
Maybe it’s the type of reviews you’re reading. In my experience, mainstream outlets like Rolling Stone and NME no longer devote a lot of coverage to regional scenes.
— Will · Jun 1, 06:59 PM · #
You are pretty much on the mark. My musical tastes were formed not just by artists, but in part by the labels themselves. Indie labels like Twin Tone, SST, Dischord, and Homestead could always be counted on to produce a product of high quality and a sound that was more or less consistent with expectations. Back before we could download music and sample 30-second clips, music buying was much more precarious. For me, it was often the label that sealed the deal and led me to some my favorite bands.
— Terry · Jun 1, 07:58 PM · #
Your post’s title should have been, “WITHER the record label.” That would have been witty (sort of).
— cw · Jun 2, 04:13 AM · #