Newspaper Page Text
December 4, 1991
Flagpole Magazine
Page 19
A Book Review
Record Release Reading
Releasing an Independent Record
How to succesfully start and run your
own record label in the 1990’s
by Gary Hustwitt
$26.95 from Rockpress International
Let’s get something straight; this book is of no value to you if
“you’re looking for MTV corporate mega-stardom...” or if you want
“to form a huge record label with global distribution. ” Those are just
two of the overblown claims made in the first paragraph on page
1 of this treatise. Gary Hustwitt, who used to work at SST Records,
comes back to earth in the second paragraph stating “This book
is designed to give you step-by-step information on how to release
an album, cassette, or compact disc on a nation-wide level.”
The theory behind the book is right on the mark. A band has a
much better chance of being succesful by releasing their own rec
ord than by sending out demo tapes and hoping somebody at a
label will want to sign them. By releasing your own record/tape/CD,
you can kill two birds with one stone: get a fan
base and do A&R work at the same time This
book is designed so that your average Ort
Sixpackcan go down to the courthouse, get
a business license (an idea that never oc
curred to me... seriously), and record, manu
facture, and sell records/tapes/CDs like
nobody’s business. To this end, Mr. Hustwitt
offers advice on recording, manufacturing,
publicity, distribution, sales, and touring.
Some of the information is very helpful; a
constant problem throughout the book,
however, is that most subjects are explained
briefly and the instructions given often raise
more questions than they answer.
The section on starting a label is a good example. It tells how
to get a business license, file a fictitious name statement, and get
a bank account for your label all in the space of a paragraph. There
is no discussion of the advantages/disadvantages of not getting a
business license. Does a band that is oniy manufacturing cas
settes to sell at shows want a record label with a business license 9
If you are manufacturing 750 7” records, do you want a business
license? What about tax liability?
There is virtually no helpful information on recording or manu
facturing. Mr Hustwitt advises that a band should release vinyl,
cassette, and CDs “If you can afford it....’ Following this advice
could put a band and record label undet a mountain of debt that
could doom them from the start Bands need to take into consid
eration popularity, touring, and the kind of music they play when
deciding format and amount of manufacturing A band that never
plays out of town shouldn’t manufacture 1000LPs, 1000 cassettes,
and 1000 CDs. A band that sounds like the Grateful Dead shouldn’t
release a 7”.
The section on college radio has a list of over 500 stations and
their addresses. Unfortunately, and this is a big unfortunately, the
list is in numerical zip code order Maybe this is the only way Gary
could get his computer to print them out, but it renders the list almost
totally impractical (except for Ort). In adition there are no phone
numbers. Consequently, if you follow all the advice and stations
around the country start playing your record, you might spend all
your hard earned profits on long distance information.
There is a list of addresses of 132 magazines and fanzines that
is pretty helpful. What it is missing, however, and what would
probably be most helpful, is a list of local music weeklies, like
Flagpole, and college newspapers that touring bands could send
releases and help promote shows. For instance, if an Athens band
got a show in Tuscaloosa, or Chapel Hill, or Jacksonville, it would
be nice to have the addresses of those type of publications at their
fingertips.
The section on dis'nbution is well done. It explains billing and
returns and has a gooo list of distributors. Most importantly, Mr
Hustwitt imparts the golden rule of dealing
with distributors: "only give them as mary
records as you can afford to lose. Distributors
are notorious for: not paying, losing your
invoice, going out of business, etc...." That is
information that can save tsome money.
Also included is a list of independent
record stores, a list of "every independent
and major label in the U.S. [not]," and a
sample record contract, a sample foreign
record licensing agreement, and a sample
artist/producer development agreement.
While some knowledge can be gleaned from
these samples and simply seeing actual
contracts is helpful, a thorough discussion of
the points in these contracts would be invaluable.
Many big claims are made by this book. And while there is
helpful information, it is a pretty sloppy effort. Either Gary Hustwitt
doesn't know any more than is in this book or he isn’t telling This
may be the only book directly aimed at releasing an independent
record, but there are several books out that explain in excrutiating
detail subjects such as royalties, copyrights, and licensing: sub
jects that are only given cursory treatment in Releasing an Inde
pendent Record. In addition, radio, press, and retail lists are not that
difficult to obtain and the lists included herein aren't that impressive.
Still, if you are just off the turnip truck and would like some introduc
tory information on releasing a record, you can send $26 95 + $2
postage to Rockpress Publishing, P O Box 99090. San Diego,
California 92169 It may seem like a lot of money, but it is only a
fraction of what you will lose if you are stupid enough to try to release
an independent record by yourself. Q _
It may seem
like a lot of money,
but it is only a fraction
of what you will lose
if you are stupid
enough to try to release
an independent record
by yourself.
’s Monument
Raymond Andrews is dead. Later we may
know more about his apparent suicide, but we will
never know any more of the vivid world of
Muskogean County, Georgia which he offered us
in installments every few years. The loss is great
for Ray’s family and friends: Ray was unsentimen-
tally loving, kind but uncompromisingly honest,
spectacularly funny in the way that only the most
deadly serious of people can be The loss is also
great for those who knew Raymond Andrews only
through his books and for those who will never
have any other way of knowing him: A unique
voice sounding out a very specific part of South
ern history and culture, a light carefully candling
human hearts, has given out.
I met Ray nearly ten years ago when I walked
into the kitchen at someone’s party and heard a mellifluous but
authoritative whose slight stammer only reinforced its musicality
and its authority This voice was in the middle of a story that didn t
end for ten minutes and had a roomful of strangers alternately
stone-silent and screaming with laughter. I last spoke with him
about two months ago one afternoon down at the end of the bar at
the Globe on one of his rare visits into town His voice and his hold
on his audience were just as strong as they had ever been
Ray Andrews was my teacher, the person who finally got to me
with the fact that it is a disgrace for a writer not to write He was
generous with his time and helpful with his criti
cism, but he had little patience with talk of writer's
block, lack of material, and circumstances uncon
genial to writing. Ray was also my teacher in the
matter of race He was a black man whose pride in
his blackness didn’t keep him from accepting the
Creek and white strands in his cultural and ances
tral makeup. One minute his voice would seem to
be that of a mid-6Cs East Village African-Amencar
hipster and the next minute that of a Scotch-lrish
middle Georgia farmer. But the voice never
changed and Ray never changed — he was a tan
talizing glimpse of a far-off world where heritage
will be cherished but color will be as trivial as shoe
size He was good at catching this leftist white
Georgian with the occasional Jim Crow crumbs on
my face. I owe him much more than I ever thanked him for.
Ray is gone. There’s little doubt that in death he will get the
recognition that was so slow coming in life. Go out and buy his books
and read them. If you write, stop wanting to be a writer and start
writing If you're a white Southerner stop thinking about how differ
ent your black brothers and sisters are and start looking for what we
have in common — in down-and-dirty common, not in some gauzy
transcendental all-oneness If you've got some friends go out today
and tell them you love them and tell them why. That will be Ray’s
monument. John Seawright
Globe
corner of clayton and lumpkin
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