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| Growing Pains: A Tale of Two Labels Taking its lead from its first signing, Matador has also landed several internationally revered bands, including Bettie Serveert, Cornelius, and Guitar Wolf. But eyebrows were raised by Matador's recent signing of two hip-hop bands from Brooklyn, the Arsonists and Non-Phixion, the first patently rap artists to ink with the label known for its patently indie, guitar rock groups. "What most people miss about Matador signing the Arsonists is that it's really not much of a stretch of what we've always done," explained label spokesperson Deborah Orr. "Some have wanted to make a big deal about the fact that they're hip-hop, but that doesn't mean we have any plans n becoming a full-scaled rap label.""But when you take into account all the factors," she continued, "it's actually quite a natural fit for Matador. The Arsonists have built up a reputation in what would be considered our back yard, developed tons of word-of-mouth buzz, and the bottom line is that, amazingly enough, they were unsigned. It was just the same kind of opportunity that led us to sign someone like Pavement back in the early '90s." | | The Arsonists | |
Last year, Matador Records decided to negotiate a split from Capitol Records after a multi-year distribution agreement that began in 1994 fizzled out. In a move that evoked some of the best NFL draft day trades, Matador agreed to cede Liz Phair's contract over to Capitol in exchange for the rights to all the other records released under the pre-existing Matador-Capitol umbrella.Matador's decision to split from Capitol marked a deliberate departure from the '90s trend of indie labels deriving their success from their major label distributor. The collaboration had left Matador cold, failing to help bolster sales of such high-profile misses from Phair ("Whitechocolatespaceegg") or the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion ("Acme")."The corporate structure at Capitol has changed significantly since our deal began in 1996," Orr said. "And they're now focusing on a direction very different from Matador's. They're signing more artists from a pure pop background. Basically, you can say we grew apart."This form of business and artist consolidation has also become a priority for Seattle-based Sub Pop Records, a label that grew out of a column that Bruce Pavitt wrote for the local weekly, "The Rocket," from 1983 until 1988. Sub Pop became a label home of such seminal "grunge" acts as Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and Nirvana -- although current Sub Pop CEO Jonathan Poneman believes that serving as a springboard for that movement eventually came back to haunt the label."I don't have any real regrets about any of the records we've put out," Poneman said, "but I do think that we spent too much time in the mid-'90s reacting to that 'grunge' niche that we had almost cornered ourselves into. As a business model, I think we estranged some artists that maybe we should have paid more attention to." | | Damien Jurado | |
As grunge became less and less of a viable musical commodity, Sub Pop branched out beyond its regional barriers of the Northeast to land such acts as Red Red Meat, Chixdiggit, and the Supersuckers. Those records didn't come within shouting distance of the sales of Nirvana's "Bleach," but Poneman shrugs those figures off and leaves them to the bean-counters of the major labels."That turn helped the label's vision return to that of reclaiming Sub Pop's regional rock roots," Poneman explained, "and that's why our major pushes recently have become acts like the Murder City Devils and the reformed Sunny Day Real Estate. They're a little closer to what the label was like when it first started. We're back to focusing on specific artists and nurturing their creativity."But such an egalitarian indie stance won't keep Sub Pop from making the kind of music placement business decisions worthy of the majors, as indicated by the label's recent licensing of a Looper song, "Treehouse," for an ESPN X-Games ad."I remember the first time I heard a Beatles song being used in a commercial, and it seemed unreal," Poneman said. "Hearing the Rolling Stones, and it seemed terribly inappropriate. But crass commercialism is a part of rock and roll. Part of what made Elvis Presley great was Colonel Tom Parker. I am still in the pop star business, and we continue to work with those artists who have more immediate and modest needs. We're not about the mania of the industry. We care more about the expression and the moment." |
