Two or three times now I've started this post, and deleted what I've written. Inaugural moments will do that to you. I am aware that from the moment this text goes onto the webpage, Blanco Music has started. That's my take, of course, as a cog in a machine that is greater than the sum of it's parts, but I don't claim to speak for more than myself here. Blanco Music has, in some shape or form, been in existence for quite some time now. But just like there's a difference between a house and a home, there is a difference between a domain name and a living record label.
I'm not even sure what a record label is any more, and I'm nominally the managing director of this one. There's not really a traditional model to follow, even if we wanted to follow one. That's not quasi-anarchic posturing on our part - the industry equivalent of a stroppy kid not wanting to be like his parents - but the truth is that the music industry has shot itself in the foot of late, and we'd be fools to follow its lead too closely. Nobody trusts record companies any more, if they ever did. If you grew up listening to vinyl records, you'll remember when the CD came out. You'll remember the hype about the supposedly indestructible new disc that you could drive a truck over and still play. Or how it was read by laser, so you'd never need to buy a new stylus again. You'll also remember that they cost a quarter of the money to produce that vinyl did, but mysteriously cost double the price to buy. And that the price never really went down after the initial research and design costs were met. Artists didn't do any better out of it either, they all have their stories to tell about the ways they've been ripped off. The moment the public got their hands on the technology to get their music for free there was a deluge, far beyond normal avarice and into the realms of revenge-driven payback. Face it, people are essentially decent. If you realised that you'd walked out of a restaurant without paying, you'd most likely go back and settle up. The music industry got absolutely screwed by the technology that allowed people to take music for free, which has hurt it badly. I don't really believe that happened because people just saw an opportunity to get something for free, I really think the public wanted to hit back at the music industry. We've heard all the excuses - 'I'm only downloading stuff I used to have on vinyl, hey, I didn't ask for a new format'; 'look, I've paid for enough music over the years, it's time I got some kickback'; 'I use it to figure out if I want to buy the album or not, I've just bought too many bad albums to take the risk'. Anyway, there's a lot of anger there, not helped by the fact that the industry is playing safe and cutting back on anything that's not likely to turn a big profit for a relatively small investment. You'll be seeing a lot of re-issues and re-masters for the next few years and a lot of inoffensive, catchy rock bands with photogenic lead singers.
So, the question remains unanswered. What is a record label, specifically Blanco Music, and what do we do differently? It used to be that a label would see an act and would offer them a deal. Some of the deals were good, some were bad, but essentially the bargaining chip was the same. The label had access to funds, to equipment, to a recording studio and a producer, to distributors and publicists and promoters. You made a record, the label put it out, they got a percentage of the sales, the band got theirs. How much each got depended on their negotiating skill. We're not much different in that respect, although we're a bit more transparent than most in regard to who gets what. It's not charity on our part, or naive hero-worship of our acts, but an acknowledgement that creative people produce better results when they're not brooding over whether they can trust the people they're working with. Plus, the CEO of Blanco Music is involved on all the projects in an artistic capacity, so he makes sure everything stays fair.
Two or three times now I've started this post, and deleted what I've written. Inaugural moments will do that to you. I am aware that from the moment this text goes onto the webpage, Blanco Music has started. That's my take, of course, as a cog in a machine that is greater than the sum of it's parts, but I don't claim to speak for more than myself here...