What do record labels exist for?

Any And All Records

Do we need record labels, if yes, then what do they exist for?

One common myth is they exist to filter out the rubbish. The same argument could be put forward for publishers.

We hear all the time of writers who were rejected by a hundred publishers before anyone would take them on.

I dare say musicians have similar stories to tell.

In which case, why is there so much rubbish on record labels? Why are so many bad writers being published?

In other words they are not acting as filters. Far from it. Often as not it is the good stuff that is rejected, it is rejected because it is different. That is why we hear of the writer who was rejected by one hundred publishers. We read their book and think, how could this have been rejected?

The rubbish is then hyped and the public brainwashed into buying.

What then of those creative artists we have never heard of? Who send off their demo disks, their manuscripts, only to get rejected.

The record labels, the publishers, are not acting as filters, they are acting as gatekeepers, deciding what will be read, what will be heard.

Anyone who has the money, can go into a recording studio and record good music. Many sadly go in and record poorly engineered crap, but that is another story.

On the other hand you can invest in your own recording equipment.

At the end of the day good music is good because it is good music, not because it has been hyped by a record label.

A twitter account is more important than a record label, but only if you use it effectively.

• Steve Lawson on books, music, communication and sharing
• Paulo Coelho: “Tweeting Is Art”
• “Twitter is art”
• A Conversation With Paulo Coelho
• Atwood leads the way in social media and new publishing

For those unsigned artists, Andrew Dubber and Steve Lawson have set up a record label, Any And All Records.

• Steve Lawson and Andrew Dubber discussing record labels
• We started a record label
• No More Unsigned Artists – A Solution To A Semantic Problem

Three people, eight hours, £17 and Any And All Records the world’s fastest growing record label was up and running.

Impromptu – Darin Wilson

Conversations – Steve Lawson and Jez Carr

It is also vital to be on bandcamp, people can then easily listen to, share and download your music.

WattPad has been set up to provide a platform for writers and poets.

• Margaret Atwood: why Wattpad works

About the only useful thing record labels ever did was put records into record shops. But could you listen?

When was the last time you saw a record shop?

Rounder Records in Brighton Record is to close at the end of July after 46 years trading.

• Rounder Records to close

Spillers Records in Cardiff which claims to be ‘The Oldest Record Shop In The World’ narrowly avoided closure and eventually had to move from its prime high street spot in 2010 after 60 years in the same location.

Record shops have gone the same was as bookshops. Record shops destroyed by the big record labels, bookshops destroyed by the big publishers.

• A quarter of independent bookshops lost in last five years
• What’s gone wrong with our bookshops?

Good record shops do still exist, Ben’s Records in Guildford, Resident in Brighton, but they are a rarity.

Music in the Digital Age

Music in the Digital Age

Everything you need to know about the music business but did not think to ask.

You can download Music in the Digital Age  for free. Though Andrew Dubber is quite happy for you to pay if you wish.

FREE! Yes free because the benefits flow from making it free.

Paulo Coelho caused a furore when he made his entire back catalogue available for download at 99 cents each e-book. His readers though were happy

• A book for the price of a song

Music in the Digital Age is a breath of fresh air compared with the garbage that emanates from the major record labels, who seek to criminalise people for their love of music.

Andrew Dubber is one of those rare individuals who sees the opportunities the internet has to offer. Who sees those who like what he is doing as friends to embrace, not enemies to criminalise.

I can count on one hand such people: Steve Lawson, Imogen Heap, Marian Call, Amanda Palmer.

If you are serious about a career in music then Music in the Digital Age is a MUST read.

If Music in the Digital Age is not a set book on your music course, ask why not.

Andrew Dubber is a co-founder of Any And All Records, the world’s fastest growing record label. It goes without saying that Music in the Digital Age is released on Any And All Records.

Music in the Digital Age is also available for download as an e-book in several formats, including pdf, Kindle and iPad.

Music in the Digital Age is also available in several languages other than English.

Any And All Records

Any And All Records

my latest ‘signing’ to Any And All Records

The idea of labelling ourselves (or other people) as ‘unsigned’ is about as useful as describing us as ‘untall’ . -– Steve Lawson

Dear music schools, my bio now includes ‘co-founder of the world’s fastest growing record label’. More reasons to book a guest lecture. — Steve Lawson

I signed two young lads to a music label this afternoon!

Last weekend Andrew Dubber and Steve Lawson had a brilliant idea: Why not create a record label for unsigned artists?

• No More Unsigned Artists – A Solution To A Semantic Problem

By the end of the weekend they had signed over a hundred artists.

 Any And All Records is the world’s fastest growing record label.

It gets around the paradox of those artists who recognise they do not need a record label of then being stuck in a ghetto with the label unsigned.

But does this not mean they are signing rubbish?

Far from it.

Live So Far – Steve Lawson

Put up or shut up – another cultural landslide

Motive and Opportunity – Eilis Phillips

More music can be found on the Any And All Records page on bandcamp.

Any And All Records is an excellent example of community supported music!

There are two places to be: twitter and bandcamp.

It is more important to be on twitter than a record label.

But it is equally important to make effective use of twitter and other social media.

• Steve Lawson on books, music, communication and sharing
• Paulo Coelho: “Tweeting Is Art”

If you are on bandcamp, people can easily share your music.

Hence my ‘signing’ to Any And All Records today.

And my advice to my new signings:

If you are playing in the High Street in Guildford, then tweet that you are there.

And that is where I found them. Playing in Guildford High Street. And why were they playing there? Because it was fun.

They were playing during the Craft Fair, part of the Guildford Summer Festival (1 June – 1 August 2012).

 Any And All Records is a New Music Strategies project.

Motive and Opportunity

Motive and Opportunity

Beautiful vocals from Eilis Phillips.

A native of Hong Kong, Eilis Phillips is signed to Any And All Records.