47 f Labels That Stuck
Roots music record companies have been racking up the years. Sarah Coxson takes a look at some of the labels celebrating big anniversaries.
the folk revival years. Along with key fes- tivals waving birthday flags, several inde- pendent labels responsible for releasing much of the music cherished in these pages also celebrate significant anniver- saries: Topic (75), Nonesuch (50), Sain (45); Riverboat (25); World Music Network and Fledg’ling Records (20).
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Whilst obviously at the ‘business’ end of music making, it is heartening to feel that the people behind the scenes at these labels aren’t working for ‘the man’. They have in common that hardcore enthusi- asm, putting out music they’re excited about and keen to share with a wider pub- lic. As Amanda Jones of Real World Records puts it: “You would only really be in existence, 25 years on, dealing with music which is not considered mainstream if you were a complete enthusiast and driven by the creative endeavour of the artists, rather than by profit margin or commercial success!”
Record labels, along with the artists they sign, have had to adapt swiftly and creatively to a rapidly changing market. A ‘big seller’ these days can, according to Phil Stanton of World Music Network, be as much as 85 percent lower than when CD sales were at their peak. And that’s not the only change: the production, dissemination and opportunities to make money from sales of music are all in permanent flux.
Opportunities in the digital and online market are undoubtedly out there. A new democratisation is playing out before us in which artists potentially have
Topic long-term stalwart Martin Carthy
e find ourselves pausing for reflection at some milestone events being marked in 2014; many reaping what was sown in
far greater control and ownership over their own music making, whilst others endeavour to exploit them. In our already far-from-the-madding-mainstream mar- ket, specialist labels have to show an even greater resourcefulness and resilience, adapting to a digital and post-digital mar- ket, in order to survive. Whether going back to vinyl, or embracing brave new technological worlds, we salute those labels… and have a quick furtle through their back catalogues.
The “oldest truly independent record company in the world” is, of course, Topic: born out of the Workers Music Association back in 1939, who believed music should be used as a tool of revolution, in a cultur- al and educational sense, and that folk music gave ‘a voice to the people’.
From its first ever release, Paddy
Ryan’s The Man That Waters The Worker’s Beer, via the ground-breaking Radio Bal- lads series to its most recent Voice Of The People CDs and digital re-issues, the label has remained true to its original vision. Whether source singers, revivalists or origi- nal artists, the label acts as a grass roots champion for indigenous traditional British music. Current Topic MD David Suff states: “Since the label’s inception… not much has changed – that’s still our over- riding ambition.”
“That little red label”, as it was referred to by a major at the time, had become firmly established by the ’50s, perfectly placed to release some of the most influential recordings of the folk revival era in the ’60s – Louis Killen, Jean- nie Robertson, Anne Briggs, Shirley & Dolly Collins and the Watersons, as well as themed collections such as A L Lloyd’s The Iron Muse and The Bird In The Bush,
or Deep Lancashire featuring Harry Boardman et al.
Into the ’70s and ’80s the trend contin- ued under the tireless enthusiasm of man- aging director Tony Engle, with seminal releases from the likes of Nic Jones (Pen- guin Eggs), Dick Gaughan (Handful Of Earth), The Battlefield Band and national treasure Martin Carthy MBE.
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The extended Carthy and Waterson family have long been associated with the label in many and variant forms, and in the 1990s, in a lovely symmetry, both Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson were Mercury- award nominees with separate Topic releases. Late in the decade, the label also issued The Voice Of The People series, an anthology of traditional music from across the four nations. An epic twenty volumes were released all in one go, subsequently augmented to include 28 CDs and still more releases this year.
n the last decade, Martin Simpson’s Prodigal Son and June Tabor & Oys- terband’s Ragged Kingdom have proved great sales successes for the label. But Topic is also keen to keep pace with new trends, making many of its titles available again on vinyl, as well as a digital collection of the best of its deleted vinyl collection. David Suff explains: “As there are many more releases in the mar- ket all competing for media attention and the pocket money of our audience, Topic tries to release fewer records and to work harder / smarter to make them available. Last year we began releasing much of our back catalogue for digital download – The Great Big Topic Digital Archive Project. Each digital album comes with a digital booklet including all the original artwork, photographs and sleevenotes.”
Recorded for Topic, re-issued by Fledg’ling – Shirley & Dolly Collins
Photo: Keith Morris
Photo: Keith Morris
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