As Ken Dirtnap pointed out in yesterday's comments, the CMJ story was wrong about the death of Touch & Go. While they are planning on shutting down their distribution wing, downsizing and letting staff go, they will focus their efforts on just the label aspect of their business and continue to release albums.
Corey Rusk, founder of Touch & Go, explained in a press release yesterday, "Touch and Go will be returning to its roots and focusing solely on being an independent record label. We'll be busy for a few months working closely with the departing labels and scaling our company to an appropriate smaller size after their departure."
This will impact a few local labels like Kill Rock Stars and Suicide Squeeze, as well as local record stores in the short term that use them as a distributor. But in the long run, everyone is downsizing both because of the economy and the changeover from physical music to digital music, it's great to see labels rather than totally calling it quits, trying to adapt to the realities of today and still do what they do best.
Showing posts with label Touch and Go. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Touch and Go. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Touch & Go is calling it quits!
From CMJ today:
Touch & Gone
Feb 18, 2009
Story by: Lisa Hresko
Following online rumors, long-time indie mainstay Touch & Go has confirmed that it will cease releasing new albums and become a catalog only label. The Chicago label that that has produced seminal albums from Slint, the Jesus Lizard, Big Black, TV On The Radio, Shellac and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and later garnering fame for its losing copyright lawsuit over a "handshake" deal with the Butthole Surfers, has met its demise after nearly 30 years. The label, who's recent roster includes Ted Leo, the Uglysuit and All The Saints had seen financial trouble amidst a difficult economy and a decline in record sales.
Promotion for new acts such as Sholi and Mi Ami, who both released their debut albums today, will be kept up for a short time as not to leave the new bands without a paddle. The label is expected to go catalog-only, however, the distribution side has been shut down and the label will not produce new music. An unspecified number of layoffs will occur.
A press release confirming details is expected soon.
www.touchandgorecords.com
Touch & Gone
Feb 18, 2009
Story by: Lisa Hresko
Following online rumors, long-time indie mainstay Touch & Go has confirmed that it will cease releasing new albums and become a catalog only label. The Chicago label that that has produced seminal albums from Slint, the Jesus Lizard, Big Black, TV On The Radio, Shellac and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and later garnering fame for its losing copyright lawsuit over a "handshake" deal with the Butthole Surfers, has met its demise after nearly 30 years. The label, who's recent roster includes Ted Leo, the Uglysuit and All The Saints had seen financial trouble amidst a difficult economy and a decline in record sales.
Promotion for new acts such as Sholi and Mi Ami, who both released their debut albums today, will be kept up for a short time as not to leave the new bands without a paddle. The label is expected to go catalog-only, however, the distribution side has been shut down and the label will not produce new music. An unspecified number of layoffs will occur.
A press release confirming details is expected soon.
www.touchandgorecords.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)