Center of the Indie Label Universe Blog

I am proud and excited to share with you the research of the students of the
Indie Labels class.

Their assignment was to research the history of a current indie label for a
group presentation of their choosing (with some prodding / advice from me).
In addition, they were to assess the business practices of these labels to
see what they do that made / makes them successful in these rapidly changing
but interesting and exciting time.

Rather than being the only one to see their excellent work, they were asked
to create a blog post complete with their research, photos, links and
embedded music and video from the artists on that label. The site is called
Center of The Indie Label Universe.

I plan to add content to the site every few days and welcome any of your our
your students work to increase the sites profile. I also added multiple
links to our program so those surfing onto the site can find out where
students do such interesting and dynamic research.

Labels that are currently on the blog are:

Gotee
Merge
Epitaph
SST
Domino
Vagrant
Stones Throw
Def Jam

If you see / know the students who did the research - let them know you read
their post and what you thought.

Charlie

Dala "Levi Blues"

I am very excited about our new client at The Roots Agency, Dala. We met and signed them at this years Folk Alliance.

I just got a copy of their upcoming release and I just love it - one track, "Levi Blues," is just one of the best songs I have heard in years - catchy, engaging, and if Levi's doesn't attempt to license it, they are crazy.

While I can't share the recording with you just yet, here is a performance of the song form Massey Hall.

Michael Masnick Digital Summit Presentation

Michael Masnick had an extra ten minutes to his MIDEMnet presentation and provided other examples of artists who are doing it on their own, connecting with fans and making money, who I also have been lecturing about in my Marketing and Indie Labels classes:

Corey Smith
Jill Sobule
Josh Freese (My PowerPoint Presentation)
Jonathan Coulton

I would like to add Derek Webb to that list.

Trent Reznor also took a MAJOR stand on touring / ticketing - (My PowerPoint Presentation - Reznor post is at the end of my recent Ticket Master / Live Nation merger lecture) - here is the post

John Mellencamp

I became a Springsteen fan just recently and am starting to find the same appreciation for John Mellencamp (though he will always be John Cougar to me). His recent article in the Huffington Post certainly helped me in my respect for him, though I don't agree entirely with his opinions:

State Of The Music Business by John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp