Indie Label Roundtable (Table Not Included)

Portia Sabin: I think labels are caught in a cultural bind: No one really wants to know what a label does; it’s like the sausage factory. Even long-established bands have a hard time talking about what labels do.
…
Mac McCaughan: I don’t know. I think that bands are into labels because bands — at least most of the ones we all work with — are music fans. Music fans, like baseball fans, also have a sense of history and an interest in the trajectory of things, not just the current moment. So, when we toured in New Zealand for the first time, I was as excited about meeting the people at Flying Nun as anything.
Chris Swanson: I agree. Music fans want as much information no matter how esoteric it may seem to a casual fan.
Portia Sabin: I agree that bands are into labels; I’m talking about people understanding what labels do. I think there’s a semi-willful lack of understanding.
Chris Swanson: Now that labels don’t run studios as much as they used to, it definitely is more abstract what our role is.

A great roundtable discussion about the future of indie labels–featuring our friend Chris Swanson, as well as Jagjaguwar’s Darius Van Arman–over at Carrie Brownstein’s Monitor Mix blog.  There’s tons more great stuff–including lots more from Merge’s McCaughan and Matador’s Gerard Cosloy–where this brief bit came from.

Filed under: Carrie Brownstein  Chris Swanson  Darius Van Arman  fandom  Gerard Cosloy  labels  Mac McCaughan