music

Whilst conventional record labels play catch-up on the mp3 download phenomenon, Sebastian Redenz is something of an old hand at the digital distribution game, with over 60 releases on his Thinner netlabel under his belt.

One of a growing army of internet-only record labels, “netlabels” like Thinner are in some ways the natural evolution of peer to peer filesharing, offering free downloads of mp3s of high-quality release standard music to literally thousands of users worldwide.

“People are just excited when they find something such as netlabels – free music that is legal to download,” says Redenz of the huge reach that his label has achieved in just three years.

Individually designed graphics and a strict A&R filtering policy help Thinner’s music stand out from sites like Soundclick, which offer free demo mp3 downloads from such a huge catalogue that separating the wheat from the chaff would test the patience of even the most dedicated music consumer.

And with a four track EP release via Thinner receiving around 4,000 downloads, a figure which puts the sales of many a conventional vinyl label to shame, artists who make it through the Thinner selection process are assured that their music will reach a far bigger audience than most vinyl releases today could ever dream of.

Such is the kudos attached to a Thinner release that established producers from the vinyl world are more than happy to let Redenz give their music away for free, from Holger Flinsch to Mateo Murphy to Jeff Bennett.

“Times have changed dramatically for artists in general, for those specialized genres we operate in,” explains Redenz.

“Today, a label must be very sure about the predicted sales for a release, if they want to break even.

“But that doesn’t correspond with the amount of good music available, so netlabels are a good forum to do uncomplicated and quick releases, as our distribution is the strongest in terms of listener potentials.”

A netlabel offers a more direct route from artist to audience, bypassing the long chain of labels, manufacturers, distributors and shops who would otherwise take a slice of the pie, bumping up the end price of the music.

“Vinyl is nothing more than an expensive business card - the production is simply too expensive, the medium too inflexible,” says Redenz.

But although Redenz can certainly offer some lessons to the industry old guard on the benefits of mp3 distribution, the free downloads model is only viable for netlabels thanks to the benevolence of not only the artists who donate their music, but also whichever organisation pays for their bandwidth and hosting costs - often an educational or cultural institution, or the Internet Archive digital library project.

And whilst a proportion of Thinner’s users may well subscribe to the notion underlying the culture of peer to peer software, that music should be free, others are so eager to contribute some sort of monetary thanks for the music they enjoy courtesy of Thinner that the label recently introduced a micropayment system allowing users to donate directly to the artist.

“We believe the digital format is unstoppable, and the whole idea of consuming music is changing,” says digital evangelist Redenz.

“You don’t even need to leave your house and go to a record shop to obtain the music.

“If you have WLAN you can download it lying in your bed. Its all about accessibility – that’s the future.

“Of course its nice to watch when a DJ plays records, but he will appreciate the idea of having his whole record collection on a single hard disc, instead of carrying these heavy vinyl bags.”

And the digital distribution model is certainly much more compatible with today’s iPod culture than clunky old vinyl which you can only listen to at home on your decks.

“Enjoy our music in a park, below a tree, or on a slim-fashioned digital player,” invites Redenz.

Thinner
Internet Archive Digital Library
Soundclick

gemma sheppard, 14th Oct 2004 01:18:57
 

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