Friday, January 30, 2009

major labels and indie labels and why they're the same fucking thing

want to see something funny? read this.

it's a badass article about how badass the fleet foxes guy is because he's squashing a rumor that his stupid crappy band is signing with virgin. he says, "Fleet Foxes will never, ever, under no circumstances, from now until the world chokes on gas fumes, sign to a major label. This includes all subsidiaries or permutations thereunder. Till we die." pretty bold.

why not major labels? "I just don't see the point. Most major labels seem anti-music." pretty firm. it lacks an attention to detail that many arguments possess, but who am i to pick nits?

at the beginning of the article, pitchfork newsman Tom Breihan talks about how many records they've sold. 180,000 by early january, 211,000 to date. these are pretty impressive figures for an "indie" record, especially one put out by a guy who so vehemently opposes the chokehold that major record labels have on the music business.

trouble is... subpop, the "indie" label to which fleet foxes are signed, is owned (49%) by warner music. if you'll recall my previous post whining about fleet foxes, you'll recall that warner music is a subsidiary of raytheon industries, one of the largest weapons manufacturers we've got.

so an indie band, signed to an indie label, owned my a major label, owned by a weapons manufacturer, won't sign to a major label "until the world chokes on gas fumes." this fucking country.

incidentally, why is it ok to go on saturday night live but not ok to sign to a major label? could it be because robin pecknold is an idiot?

3 comments:

Evan said...

It's hilarious how delusional this guy is. I do, though, find it weird to see that that kind of naivete still exists in the industry. For some reason I thought we lived in the Age of INFORMATION, and that artists would be a little be more knowledgeable about what they do for a living.... Also, seeing a statement like that doesn't give me any hope about them ever releasing A Magnificent Wonderful Album. Brains like that can only produce Nice, Little Products. And yet here I am, only having heard: "White Winter Hymnal."

*scurries off to experience pfork's album of the year.*

Evan said...

oops: "...this guy..." = Robin Pecknold. Shoulda been clearer.

J. Temperance said...

Fleet Foxes are big soggy balls.