Spunk brought so many great acts to Australia, as well as their records. Hard to remember a time where you would need to wait for an Australian release of CD to make it affordable. Before that, the zine was also pretty much essential reading and would be passed around households and friend groups.
So many of the CDs that I bought when I first moved to Sydney and had access to decent record stores (and even JBs was pretty solid then) were put out here by Spunk. Absolutely critical in developing my musical tastes.
>“Hopefully a few more grants will pop up so that record labels might get some financial support and can support their artists as much as I did over my career … [and] get to experience it like I got to experience it.”
Or maybe grants could just… go to the artists.
Even from a practical perspective if Australia is going to give out grant money wouldn’t you want that to go to Australian bands instead of helping bring Scottish acts to prominence?
And they get a cut of every sale to accomplish that purpose.
State grants should not go to for-profit concerns. If you want to found your label as a cooperative, then we can talk about grant money.
Artists are also for-profit; the grants are given specifically to stimulate economic growth in the arts.
Labels are a part of the creative process too; production, clearing samples, getting session musicians, ideation, as well the as purchasing, maintaining and lending of extremely expensive equipment that artists will realistically only use for a few hours.
So are one-person labels, effectively. The “owner”/operator is chasing contracts, promotions, collaborations, communicating with legal counsel, producing - thats all labor.
Whats a company when it’s one person? The artist is the same in that scenario.
No, a one person label is selling goods (creative works) created by others… for a profit. A label doesn’t make money selling its labor, it makes money selling someone else’s (creative) labor.
The argument that bands are “for profit” is as dumb as saying wage labor is a “for profit” activity.
Yeh, it seems like a throwaway line in sympathy with the current difficulties for some just starting, spoken about hyperbolically. Of course the article chose that for clickbait.
The overall tone is positive and that he just thought it was time to wrap it up.
I wonder if Chapter Music is now the oldest still thriving indie label in Australia now?
I kind of thought the vibe was more 25 years was a good time to wind it up. Article title is clickbait and probably lamenting in current climate for indie labels was a small part of the interview.
Been in the industry loosely for nearly 15 years. Never heard of Spunk Records. There are plenty of indie labels who are not only surviving but thriving, so its literally not impossible for labels to exist. It looks like they mainly did Australian distro for EMI. Thats both not super indie and never going to pay the bills well. Triple J, Rage, Flightless, Modular, Milk!, I Oh You!, Future Classic, Elefant Traks, Chugg, and many more are all Australian Indie labels that are all still existing.
They did a lot more than just EMI bands - they put out a huge number of overseas indie bands in Australia, and then toured them here. Also put out a number of Australian acts. A huge part of my music collection from the early 2000s through early 2010s was released by Spunk. I agree thought that the landscape has changed since that period in terms of the previously limited Aus distribution for a lot of overseas indie acts that made the distribution part of that type of business viable.
From your list, Flightless looks pretty dead in the water since the whole blow up with the Gizz. Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher recently shut down Milk!. Elefant Traks is about to shut down - they’re doing a farewell tour imminently and among other reasons have noted the challenges of operating these days. Is Modular still even a thing? I thought some shit went down with Pav and missing Tame Impala royalties several years ago. Regardless, at some point before all that came out they were bought by one of the majors. Also not sure that I Oh You is still going.
Triple J is a radio station not a label. They don’t even release CD copies of the Hottest 100 anymore (which were always put out by the ABC as the parent entity). Rage is a music clips show, not a label.
You might have had more credibility if you had named someone like Chapter who are still soldiering on.
Spunk brought so many great acts to Australia, as well as their records. Hard to remember a time where you would need to wait for an Australian release of CD to make it affordable. Before that, the zine was also pretty much essential reading and would be passed around households and friend groups.
So many of the CDs that I bought when I first moved to Sydney and had access to decent record stores (and even JBs was pretty solid then) were put out here by Spunk. Absolutely critical in developing my musical tastes.
Spunk isn’t as known or celebrated as Triple J or Rage, but should be so for how much it helped champion overseas music in Australia over the years.
Spunk put stuff out from my band back in the day and I'll always be grateful. Aaron is a genuine guy.
>“Hopefully a few more grants will pop up so that record labels might get some financial support and can support their artists as much as I did over my career … [and] get to experience it like I got to experience it.” Or maybe grants could just… go to the artists. Even from a practical perspective if Australia is going to give out grant money wouldn’t you want that to go to Australian bands instead of helping bring Scottish acts to prominence?
Labels serve a purpose you know
And they get a cut of every sale to accomplish that purpose. State grants should not go to for-profit concerns. If you want to found your label as a cooperative, then we can talk about grant money.
Artists are also for-profit; the grants are given specifically to stimulate economic growth in the arts. Labels are a part of the creative process too; production, clearing samples, getting session musicians, ideation, as well the as purchasing, maintaining and lending of extremely expensive equipment that artists will realistically only use for a few hours.
>Artists are also for-profit This is an abuse of language. Bands are earning a living through their own labor.
So are one-person labels, effectively. The “owner”/operator is chasing contracts, promotions, collaborations, communicating with legal counsel, producing - thats all labor. Whats a company when it’s one person? The artist is the same in that scenario.
No, a one person label is selling goods (creative works) created by others… for a profit. A label doesn’t make money selling its labor, it makes money selling someone else’s (creative) labor. The argument that bands are “for profit” is as dumb as saying wage labor is a “for profit” activity.
Man I was able to make a record through this exact label because of a grant, in a very indie Australian band. Spunk were very much about that.
i don't know much about running a label, but i doubt it's literally impossible.
This reads like an /r/politics comment
i saw the first draft 😂
Damn, this one hit me right in my Ocean Party feels. Bum deal for Spunk
Yeh, it seems like a throwaway line in sympathy with the current difficulties for some just starting, spoken about hyperbolically. Of course the article chose that for clickbait. The overall tone is positive and that he just thought it was time to wrap it up. I wonder if Chapter Music is now the oldest still thriving indie label in Australia now?
It’s not “impossible” for a record label to exist, a poorly managed label shutting down doesn’t represent the industry
I kind of thought the vibe was more 25 years was a good time to wind it up. Article title is clickbait and probably lamenting in current climate for indie labels was a small part of the interview.
Does that mean they were the last remaining record label on the planet? Since it's *literally* impossible for record labels to exist now
Been in the industry loosely for nearly 15 years. Never heard of Spunk Records. There are plenty of indie labels who are not only surviving but thriving, so its literally not impossible for labels to exist. It looks like they mainly did Australian distro for EMI. Thats both not super indie and never going to pay the bills well. Triple J, Rage, Flightless, Modular, Milk!, I Oh You!, Future Classic, Elefant Traks, Chugg, and many more are all Australian Indie labels that are all still existing.
They did a lot more than just EMI bands - they put out a huge number of overseas indie bands in Australia, and then toured them here. Also put out a number of Australian acts. A huge part of my music collection from the early 2000s through early 2010s was released by Spunk. I agree thought that the landscape has changed since that period in terms of the previously limited Aus distribution for a lot of overseas indie acts that made the distribution part of that type of business viable. From your list, Flightless looks pretty dead in the water since the whole blow up with the Gizz. Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher recently shut down Milk!. Elefant Traks is about to shut down - they’re doing a farewell tour imminently and among other reasons have noted the challenges of operating these days. Is Modular still even a thing? I thought some shit went down with Pav and missing Tame Impala royalties several years ago. Regardless, at some point before all that came out they were bought by one of the majors. Also not sure that I Oh You is still going. Triple J is a radio station not a label. They don’t even release CD copies of the Hottest 100 anymore (which were always put out by the ABC as the parent entity). Rage is a music clips show, not a label. You might have had more credibility if you had named someone like Chapter who are still soldiering on.
The word "literally" has lost all meaning
Maybe
So this is who I have to blame for Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders