Part I<\/a>, I asked Nic, Robert and Kunal about their respective backgrounds, what led them to found their labels and what they hoped to achieve when they started out. We also talked about what they look for in bands they sign and what sort of working relationship they look to build with those bands. Narcissistically, I also wanted to hear about how amazing they think AMG is and what sort of impact we, and other review sites have on labels and bands (if any!).<\/p>\nIn this second part, we talked about everything from the (apparent) obsession with vinyl and merch in a digital age to what each of the label bosses have seen change in recent years and what challenges they anticipate down the line. I also asked whether they saw a risk of labels becoming obsolete and the challenges they all face now, with the Coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
As I did in Part I, I would urge everyone who is able, to continue to support the labels and bands that are the lifeblood of our scene and to check out the offers they are making available at this time.<\/p>\n
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Let them eat cake \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cWhen I first started releasing music, I typically stuck to releasing albums on CD and leaving it at that,\u201d says Nic of the early days of Hypnotic Dirge. Now, of course, the world has wholeheartedly embraced digital technology \u2013 everyone has the option to access numerous streaming platforms or carry a digital library of music around on their phone, which, in physical form, would take a small van to shift. Yet, if one believes everything one reads \u2013 and you certainly shouldn\u2019t do that here at AMG, children \u2013 physical formats like vinyl, CD and even bloody cassettes are making a return. Why? \u201cI started up right when digital came in and pushed CD sales down, and digital was new, and practical,\u201d says Robert but \u201cit\u2019s different to own something physical, collect it and browse through it. And people (also younger ones) probably recognize more and more that something is missing when you only have digital music.\u201d Hence the vinyl hype? Well, to a degree, although Kunal is a bit more cautious. \u201cPeople think whatever you press will get sold out overnight but that’s not true, at least not in my experience.\u201d He suggests it may be more of a \u201cperceived notion than anything,\u201d which makes it \u201cvery easy for a band to demand vinyl but it’s ridiculously expensive and I don’t think most bands have the kind of loyal following to even justify that move.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trend \u2013 perceived or not \u2013 for physical items to supplement the digital goes beyond vinyl, to include merch. As Nic points out, Hypnotic Dirge has found itself releasing more and more merch and bundle options \u2013 patches, stickers, signed cards, shirts \u2013 because \u201cas everyone has music accessible to them at all times from the internet, I think people have generally become more interested in merch as a way to support bands and labels.\u201d He adds that he\u2019s really pushed the digital format, alongside the merch, making all the records in Hypnotic Dirge\u2019s catalog available \u201cfor no minimum price and completely donation-based. On the one hand, this gets the music out to people much quicker and, since they are digital-only files \u2026 I have no issue offering them for free and accepting donations from people who choose to donate. I think people understand that small labels operate on very tight margins so there are many people who are willing to help support us by donating a few bucks. This enables me to fund future releases and produce physical merch for those who prefer something more tangible.\u201d<\/p>\n
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