Pulling back from the raging debate about whether or not to stream, we’re actually sitting around the office today talking about…music! OK, so this blog is always about music, because it’s a record label blog and that’s an obvious subject. However, we’ve spent so much time in here lately talking about promo; publicity; the differences between one and the other; vinyl production methods and whether it’s better to cut records from acetates or directly from digital; postage charges for cds in jiffybags; the merits of EPs over LPs; digital distributors’ rates; social media networking; the list is endless. Today we’re actually sitting around the office, listening to music, saying what we think of it, what to do with it. Such a relief.

The streaming decision is becoming a bit ironic. Funny that telling people that we’re not on streaming sites has elicited more response from the public at large than any amount of telling people that we were. It’s a bit like the bit in Brassed Off where Pete Postlethwaite’s character refuses to accept the trophy his brass band have won. To paraphrase the script: ‘Right, now I’ve got your attention’. The other irony of the situation is that in the case of BudNubac, I’m not even sure we’ll be able to get the first album off Last.fm. Turns out that it wasn’t our digital distributors who put it up there in the first place! Seemingly Last.fm works on a similar premise to YouTube, in that the music is sent to them by bands and fans, not by labels or distributors. I’ve sent them an email, acting on behalf of the rightsholders, but they’re being less than prompt in getting the job done. Hey, they’re just there ‘for the fans, man. People have a right to hear this shit, man’, or something like that. Yeah, and I’ve got the right to come and eat the food out of your fridge, Mr Last.fm….

Anyway, I’m not getting back into this, I’m sure that the two or three times I’ve covered this subject on this blog have outlined almost everything I want to say about it. I’m just going to kick back now and listen to some music. Hope you have a chance to do the same today.