Will Sonic Youth bother to sign a new label?
 

n/a

they have their own labels they can use, Ecstatic Peace, Smells Like Records, but what is neede for a band as big as sonic youth is distribution. That distribution deal is the crucial one.

DON'T GO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WUV YOUUUU!!!!!!!!!!

I got the impression that Radiohead's "new trend" is simply an anti-leaking thing. Chasing Rainbows, or whatever it's called, is going to get a record company release some time in early 2008, isn't it?

Ecstatic Peace has a sweet distribution deal... you can buy Awesome Color CDs in HMV.

don't shop in HMV, unless you absolutely have to. Its the devil.

I know. I was just saying, thats how good the deal is.

From what I remember from a feature heard on NPR the "new Radiohead idea" is indeed an attempt to stop anti-leaking and free file sharing that is on the internet for their album. but to me is only a temporary solution and certainly not long term.

No, they will put out records through Starbucks. How cool is that? And it's a trend too, so it's cool and trendy to match. Caramel-flavoured noise 7'' singles are on the way.

Why is HMV the devil, s/skull? Explain yourself.

I beg your pardon???? What's that all about?

the radiohead album is being sold without any copy protection, so ayone can download it for a buck and make a million copies and sell them if they so wish.

any large music store chain is the devil. i only shop in little independent places now.

And with shots of mp3's

Doesn't sound like something Sonic Youth would do, their love of physical releases is well known. Nine Inch Nails, however, just fulfilled their contract obligations and seem exactly like the band to follow Radiohead's example but with probably more fanfare on their side as opposed to Radiohead's "oh, we finished it, here yah go."

(to s/skull)
I'm not sure that there are any record shops that I would really think of as warm and fuzzy. The ones run by musicians (Boa Melody Bar and Mimaroglu, for instance), come fairly close, but, at the end of the day, no matter how good the intentions at the start, all record stores are there so that someone can make a living.

Yes agreed sonicl, I have no qualms at shopping at a regular store than an independent one. I usually go to the independent to find something I am looking for.

its just the independent places are cheaper, and they almost always have what you want. I'd rather keep them in business. i hate for them to close down.

I agree with you on the point about not wanting small businesses to close down, but not the one about price. There's a lot of stuff that you still have to pay silly prices for at the independents.

Anyway, I'm off now. I'm going to see Cowboy Junkies play this evening - a band that has a remarkably good business model, selling it's "major" releases though "The Man", but also selling other releases exclusively through its own website at very reasonable prices.

One name: Rough Trade. Not exactly a cheap record shop.

we don't have a rough trade in Birmingham. We have a Tempest and a Swordfish. Tempest is fucking wonderful.

sy will release on ecstatic peace. ep have a deal with universal for distro so people like me who live in a small town in ireland can go down to their local independent record shop and buy ep releases on day of release and not wait up to 28 days for delivery via amazon or the like..... we dont have a chain store but aint the point that more people will get to hear great music?

Try Mimaroglu. Seriously. That site is yet another reason why Keith Fullerton Whitman should have a religion built around him.

importing music is a B-eye-itch

I don't see the point of this "label" thing. I rather buy SY records from McDonalds than being a cool indie kid. WTF, as long as they have 100% creativity, i don't think the label matters. For those in USA, i know it's easy to speak, cause you're paying 10 bucks on a CD and besides you can find it anywhere, but in other countries that same CD is double priced just because of the cool indie label.

dude, here in the good ol US of A compact discs START at $16.99
they are NOT cheap.
most new vinyl I get starts at $10.99

I always want to read your name as RASPAS MALDITAS!

I found a fantastic refresqueria that sells the most delicious raspas and elotes, CHEAP!

????
http://www.ecstaticpeace.com/
9$ man :D

I meant at actual stores
not online

oh! they sell "trees.." and other EP releases for 16+ dollars in stores :( ?

Yeah, before the intarwebs, some ppl i knew around here had to order through catalogs and/or record stores direct from USA, which is not cheap and entails a long waiting period... I definitely think there must be some kind of better distribution deal. Hell, if Starbucks can sell them cheaper, why the hell not? I'm not going to be an elitist snob and say; no way, I'm not going to buy at Starbucks. Also, CDs here start at around $16, as well; and for imports and less popular bands, can go up to $40... So, I definitely would welcome a better distribution method, especially since the bulk of the money goes to the record store and the label. I believe the artist gets only about 15 cents or somewhere around there for each CD sold.

I know you're not from US, so tell how much does it costs you to to buy a SYR album? Some time ago i bought all SYR 5 on vinyl thru a record store, here is my country, on "special order" and i payed for it 38 bucks (when his price is 15 on all major record stores) just because was a "rare" (which is not rare at all) import thing. If i would but it from any major music Website, the price would be around 40 bucks, and the shipping time between 20-30 days. So why would i like to see Sonic Youth on a tiny Indie label? I bought Rather Ripped from a local store for 16 bucks, which i found extremely a reasonable price, since on interent it's sold at 12-13.
Thurstons Trees on Ecstatic Peace is not to be found here, so i might make another "special fuckin' order" and pay fot it triple, just because it's on an Indie label.
I have nothing against indie record labels, and i love to see them growing and putting out great bands, but for a band like SY i don't think it's an option. SY has done great with DGC, and i think they should continue with a major label.

And do you find 16.99 and 10.99 not a reasonable price?
Besides, you can order it form the labels, and the shipping is not to much and you'll dont have to wait 1 mounth and see that you're awaited CD is broken or has noticeable damages.
And if you find it expensive, i'll let you know that in many European/East-European countries, the salary for a young guy it's not exceding 200$ in all/most of the domains you're working, and this in terms that you have academic degrees in the domain.

Hell, yeah! Those were the days. I don't know how I managed to come by a Focred Exposure catalogue in those day, but somehow I did. At that time I only used them for buying stuff that I couldn't get in the UK, but I used to run up stupidly large phone bills ringing the States to see if they had stuff in stock before then sending them a money order. It wasn't a cheap way of shopping in those days!


KFW only has stuff listed on the site that he has in stock, so when anyone places an order all he has to do is find the record/CD in his house, box it and post it. AND he's a very lovely chap, and a pleasure to do business with.

Yeah definitely; they'd use to order one cd per month and salivate ceaselessly to wait to order the next cd next month. It was slow, tedious and expensive. Thank God now, there's heaps of speciality stores that cater to non-mainstream tastes...

Are we still talking about music here, or is this a hijack?

Ouh definitely music.. I live in South East Asia, you won't find anything like that here...

Aww, shame... :p

I find CD prices unreasonable. I find vinyl prices much much better here in texas.
CD's that are brand new and cost $18.99 are becoming very commonplace. I hate spending that much on a piece of flimsy plastic in a flimsy plastic box with tiny liner notes and indistinct cover art

That is about Universal Music Group Romania, a subsidiary of UMG who puts out shity Romanian pop bans on CD and has nothing to do with CD distribution in the country.