The Independent Label Market is an open market founded by Joe Daniel and Katie Riding that provides a venue for the proprietors of over 160 [1] independent record labels to sell their products to the public. [2] [3] The market also provides an opportunity for listeners to meet the founders of record labels and some of the artists. [4] [5]
The Independent Label Market was first set up in May 2011 on Berwick Street, London, United Kingdom, [6] and has since returned twice a year to Old Spitalfields Market. The market is held in conjunction with the London Brewers Market. [7]
The market also launched in Brooklyn, New york in October 2011, Silverlake, Los Angeles in November 2012, Toronto in June 2013. [8] [9] [10] [11] and Glasgow in October 2013. [12]
Some of the labels that take part in the market include Rough Trade, Mute, XL, Domino, Fabric, 4AD, DFA Records, Angular Records, R&S, Infectious, Bella Union and Fool's Gold. Notable appearances at the market's stalls include Diplo, Gilles Peterson, Coldcut, Daniel Miller, Simon Raymonde, Erol Alkan, Tim Burgess and Edwyn Collins. [13]
Many recordings on vinyl are to be found at the market stalls. [14] As well, some artists have made special releases available exclusively at the various markets. Some examples of these have been: 200 signed copies of Portishead’s ‘Chase the Tear’ 12” where all profits from the sales went to Amnesty International, Young Turks auction of the only copy of a Jamie xx remix of Radiohead’s ‘Bloom’, Richard Russell’s 20 hand-made rave/grime/garage/jungle/dubstep mixtapes for the XL stall, and the only signed copy of Elton John’s “Are You Ready For Love” on pink, half speed cut 220gsm vinyl.
The labels that have taken part in the markets are:
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Warp Records is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon. It is currently based in London.
Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England. It was founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and his business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairman, while Rob Collins is managing director.
Beggars Group is a British record company, founded by Martin Mills, that owns or holds stakes in various record labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings, and Young.
Independent music is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by independent record labels. Indie music describes a number of related styles, but generally describes guitar-oriented music straying away from mainstream conventions. There are a number of subgenres of independent music which combine its characteristics with other genres, such as indie pop, indie rock, indie folk, and indie electronic.
Postcard Records is a British, Glasgow-based independent record label founded by Alan Horne in 1979, as a vehicle for releases by Orange Juice and Josef K. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown motto; its logo featured a cartoon cat beating a drum. Although short-lived, Postcard was a key influence on the C81 and the later C86 indie-pop movements.
Paper Bag Records is a Canadian independent record label, artist management company, and music publishing company founded in 2002 and based in Toronto.
Rough Trade is a retail chain of record shops in the United Kingdom and the United States with headquarters in London.
Vampire Weekend is an American rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, and bassist Chris Baio. Batmanglij departed the group in early 2016 but has continued to occasionally contribute to subsequent albums as a songwriter, producer, and musician.
An indie video game or indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. Because of their independence and freedom to develop, indie games often focus on innovation, experimental gameplay, and taking risks not usually afforded in AAA games. Indie games tend to be sold through digital distribution channels rather than at retail due to a lack of publisher support. The term is analogous to independent music or independent film in those respective mediums.
The Features are an American indie rock band from Sparta, Tennessee, United States of America. The original lineup consisted of Matt Pelham, Roger Dabbs, and Don Sergio. The most recent iteration consists of Pelham, Dabbs, Rollum Haas, and Mark Bond. They have released five full-length albums and three EPs. The band has appeared twice as musical guests on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Integrity Records is an English independent record label based in Bedford, England. The label was founded in the early 1990s and specialises in discovering new bands in the rock/indie/punk genres.
The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx, and formerly Baria Qureshi. They are known for their distinctive minimalist sound blending indie rock, indie electronic, indie pop, dream pop and electro-rock and the dual-vocalist set-up of Madley Croft and Sim. Their music employs soft echoed guitar, prominent bass, light electronic beats and ambient soundscape backgrounds.
Christopher William Tomson, commonly known by his initials "CT", is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the drummer for New York–based indie rock band Vampire Weekend. He is also the lead vocalist and guitarist for a side project called Dams of the West, for which he writes and records the entirety of its music.
Best Art Vinyl is an annual award that began in 2005. It celebrates artists and designers of vinyl record cover art. The nomination process begins in November and the winners are announced in January, and are exhibited at venues across the United Kingdom and Europe. The favourites are voted for by the public from a selection of nominations by judges within the world of art and music and are displayed using Art Vinyl's unique Play & Display Flip Frame.
RVNG Intl. is an independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2003 by Matt Werth, the label is run by Werth and focuses on experimental dance and electronic music, often incorporating avant-garde genres. Release formats include vinyl, CDs, and digital downloads. In 2011, they were named one of the top 50 indie labels in America by Billboard.
Martin Goldschmidt is a British music executive. He's the co-founder and chairman of UK independent record label Cooking Vinyl and co-founder of Essential Music & Marketing.
An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented by trade associations in their country or region, which in turn are represented by the international trade body, the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN).
C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music genre characterized by jangling guitars and melodic power pop song structures, although other musical styles were represented on the tape. In its time, it became a pejorative term for its associations with so-called "shambling" and underachievement. The C86 scene is now recognized as a pivotal moment for independent music in the UK, as was recognized in the subtitle of the compilation's 2006 CD issue: CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop. In 2014, the original compilation was reissued in a 3CD expanded edition from Cherry Red Records; the 2014 box-set came with an 11,500-word book of sleevenotes by one of the tape's original curators, former NME journalist Neil Taylor.
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The Libera Awards are an annual awards ceremony organized by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). First hosted in 2012, the awards celebrate the independent music community. The capstone of A2IM's Indie Week, an annual music business conference, the ceremony has been able to be viewed by the public since 2020.