[ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ]

Rise of the Independent labels
(challenge to RCA, Decca, & Columbia)

• open mind about material
• costs were low
• could concentrate on one small sector of the market
• when necessary, could "shop" a record to the Majors
  • hoping the tune would work for another artist

   

"Publish or Perish"

• to make money from a song, one must copyright & publish
  • profits comes in the form of royalties
• Music Business Reality:
  • PUBLISHING = $$$$
• indie label heads usually gave themselves songwriting credit (!!) to maximize profit
  • not only poor ignorant bluesmen got ripped off ... it was typical treatment

Indie Labels
(specialized in Hillbilly music, C&W, and R&B)

• Aladdin
• Atlantic
• Chess
• Imperial
• Savoy
• Specialty

A&R (artists & repertoire) representatives--job was to match talent w/material; today, the primary function of the A&R person is to select new artists based on their probability for success

"Obscene" Lyrics

1950-51--Congress was trying to ban "obscene" records

• almost exclusively represented by Indie labels
• primarily R&B recordings

The Dominoes - Sixty Minute Man
[also a cover version by Jerry Lee Lewis]

Dawson & Propes on "Sixty Minute Man"

[ Previous | Table of Contents | Next ]