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In 1999, my friend Dan Zanes sent me a cassette of his string band called "Rocket Ship Beach". I listened to it my car while commuting from Cambridge to Salem, MA, where I was General Manager at Rykodisc. Impressed, I called him to let him know that Rykodisc would love to release it. In fact, I think we made him a fairly substantial offer, but Dan was adamant that he wanted to put it out himself. And so he did...
 | DAN & ANNA ZANES
photo by Anna Williams | Fast forward to the Fall of 2001. I was back in New York working at yet another record label when Dan called me and asked if I would like to help him with his fledgling record company Festival Five. We quickly figured out that the two key things Dan needed were distribution and a booking agent, both of which I helped him secure. Suddenly he had a real business with significant revenues. And, most importantly, the business was stamped with Dan's vision. I realized that I was having much more fun working with Dan than I was at my regular record business job.
I also realized that the model for Dan's business was a model for others. There are clearly many established artists out there who would like to set up their own label and release their own CDs, but just don't have the access to the tools they need. While the music business is certainly in crisis and the major label model is working for increasingly fewer artists, that doesn't mean that people have lost interest in listening to or buying music. In fact, it is clear that there is an increasingly diverse and exciting musical universe out there much of it underneath the radar of the major record companies.
So I started Virtual Label LLC.
Virtual Label LLC is not a record company, nor is it a management company. It is a service company for artists. We provide access to national retail distribution through Ryko Distribution, access to digital distribution through the key on-line services, and access to manufacturing through Dering Corporation as well as help with all other aspects of running a record label and building your own business.
My goal is to help those artists who want to create their own sustainable business while continuing to build their careers. My belief is that artists should own their own masters.
I have spent over twenty years working in the independent record business. In the course of my career I have worked in pretty much every aspect of that business from production to marketing, from business affairs to distribution. My hope is that with Virtual Label LLC I can give artists the benefit of this "big picture" experience while at the same time building a business for myself that allows me to have a good time too!
Peter J. Wright
Owner, Virtual Label LLC |
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