"Indie rock, get to know capitalism. Or else."
DOWNLOAD: Six Organs of Admittance – Jade Like Wine (new MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Valerie Project – Introduction (new MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Major Stars – Portable Freak Factory (new MP3)
Is $7 an album enough to keep an indie label in the black? Not according to Rian Murphy, sales manager at Drag City Records. Murphy’s label decided to pull its catalog from digital subscription service eMusic because it had to sell three times the amount of songs to make the slim profit iTunes already provided. The service provides plans that can whittle the price of a song down to 27 cents — appetizing to consumers but nauseating for artists.
“Keep your eye on the bottom line, and if it doesn’t make sense, don’t do it,” Murphy said. “Things become known eventually. You don’t really have to force them down people’s throats.”
Murphy says it’s up to independent labels to resist slashing their own prices just to fit someone else’s corporate business model. Drag City albums sell for $9.99 on iTunes and $8.99 on Amazon, though Murphy says Amazon is swallowing the difference.
“There are too many people out there who don’t value their own exposure, who want (their music) to get to the maximum number of people and they don’t care what they have to do,” Murphy said. “This is the reason, as far as I’m concerned, that the industry is in trouble.” [The Seattle Times]
Six Organs of Admittance‘s new album Shelter From The Ash is out November 20th on Drag City ($15.98 at Amazon…or is it?). The Valerie Project and Major Stars also have new albums coming out on Drag City that day. Tour Dates, and more info, below…
Six Organs of Admittance – 2007 Tour Dates
Fri Nov 16 Los Angeles, CA Amoeba Hollywood, 6:30pm
Sat Nov 17 Sacramento, CA Time Tested Books7pm
Sun Nov 18 San Francisco, CA Aquarius Records, 4pm
Tue Nov 20 Portland, OR Jackpot, 6pm
Wed Nov 21 Seattle, WA Sonic Boom Capitol Hill, 7pm
Mon Nov 26 London, England 93 Feet East
Major Stars – 2007 Tour Dates
Nov 27 – Howler’s Coyote Cafe Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nov 28 – Small’s Hamtramck, Michigan
Nov 29 – Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois
Nov 30 – Beachland Tavern Cleveland, Ohio
Dec 1 – Khyber Pass Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 7 – AS220 Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 8 – Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Dec 15 – Record Release Show! Mid East Upstairs Cambridge, Massachusetts
The Valerie Project play Lakeshore Theater in Chicago tonight (Nov 8, 2007). They played The Museum of Modern Art in NYC on Sunday October 28th…
Philadelphia musicians bring new life to a forgotten classic of the Czech New Wave: Jaromil Jires’ Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970). The sound goes off and the amps get cranked (do harps need amps?) as a collective of Philadelphia’s finest underground musicians pay tribute to this seminal film of the new folk movement.
Spearheaded by Greg Weeks (Espers, Grass), Margie Wienk (Fern Knight) and Brooke Sietinsons (Espers, Grass), the ensemble includes harpist Mary Lattimore, cellist Helena Espvall (Espers), Vocalist Tara Burke (Fursaxa), bassist/percussionist Jesse Sparhawk (Fern Knight, Timesbold), flautist/keyboardist Jessica Weeks (Woodwose, Grass), enigmatic electronicist Charles Cohen and percussionist Jim Ayre (Fern Knight, Rake.).
Key to the concept is how reframing the film’s action with an alternate soundtrack draws new interpretations from a work of intricate depth and changeable meaning. Foremost in the musicians’ minds, however, is paying tribute to a timeless fantasy film of increasing relevance. The tone is lush, orchestral and acid-charged.
Previously
* more Six Organs of Admittance
