For the love of music
Independent music labels like to differentiate themselves from their bigger corporate competition by emphasizing that it is a love of music, not profit, that motivates them. "The big labels have no feelings towards music, they treat it as a product," says Piotr Maślanka, the president of independent record label Karrot Kommando and a member of the band Paprika Korps.
Like Maślanka, many of those who have established their own labels are music lovers, whose interest in music often takes a more active form than simply listening. The founder and president of SP Records, Sławomir Pietrzak, was a guitarist for the legendary rock band Kult.
"At one point we realised that producing records is not profitable and we decided to take the matter into our own hands," Maślanka explains. He stresses that just making music, the playing and the friendship that music brings, are the most important things to him when recording. His label was created step by step. Without taking loans or borrowing money, the firm grew gradually and invited in new groups only after some time. Similarly, Asfalt Records' founder, Marcin "Tytus" Grabski, ran an internet site about hip-hop music and established the record company with the money he made in his copy shop.
Quality, not quantity
These small operations are fighting an uphill battle not only against the bigger labels, but also against internet piracy. To do this effectively, independent labels say they stress quality over quantity.
"You can sell something cheap for a high price or you can sell a good quality product, which doesn't necessarily have a nice cover," Pietrzak explains. But the lack of flashy packaging doesn't mean their products don't sell. SP Records has artists whose albums sell tens (and even hundreds) of thousands of copies, such as the rock band Kult, its vocalist and solo artist Kazik or hip-hop group Kaliber 44. Thanks to these flagship artists, the company has funds to invest in and promote promising young groups.
"Everything depends on the year," Pietrzak explains. "When we have two or three good-selling albums coming out, we can invest more." But even labels without household names can achieve decent sales. Asfalt's rapper O.S.T.R. sold 12,000 copies of his last two albums despite not being played on mainstream radio or TV stations, and Karrot Kommando's Vavamuffin sold a similar number of albums.
A cheap excuse
Bootlegging and illegal mp3 downloading from the internet hurts the independent labels, who, unlike the so-called majors do not have robust foreign markets to rely on. But the CDs produced by independent labels cost around zł.30, well below the cost of an album produced by one of the major labels. "Claiming that CDs are too expensive is a cheap excuse - I believe if someone respects his favorite group he will buy the original product," Maślanka claims.
"We treat buying an original CD as a fan's donation to the artist, so that he has the means to develop himself and pursue his career," Grabski says, adding: "Claiming to be a fan and not paying for his music is moral degradation."
Pietrzak points to another serious problem - the sale of polyphonic sounds to mobile phones. "The mobile operators and media publishers are robbing the artists," he claims. The ring tones are sold under the artist's name, and operators as well as those who sell them, such as newspaper and magazine publishers, pocket the profits. "We record albums, we make videos, which all costs money and then we are simply getting robbed," Pietrzak fumes.
New reality
However, Grabski doesn't complain about falling CD sales, and is instead adjusting to the new market reality. "Me fighting the piracy industry is like an average farmer from Łomża battling the World Bank," he says.
"The CD will no longer be the main source of income for the record company, but rather a means of promoting the artist," claims Grabski. He believes that record companies need to find other sources of income, such as selling songs to commercials, selling music over the internet, or selling licences abroad. In his case, it is the concerts that bring in the dough, as Grabski also has an agency which organizes concerts for Asfalt's artists.
Maślanka also underlines the importance of concerts. "If it wasn't for them, life would not be easy. You can't live off record sales alone," claims Karrot Kommando's president. The costs of putting out an album vary from artist to artist, but they are never low. SP Records' Pietrzak points out that it took eight months to record Kult's last album, with each hour in the studio costing zł.100 and an additional zł.40 for a producer. The video for Kaliber 44's Abradab cost around zł.20,000.
Positive aspects
One of the consequences of widespread piracy could be the increased importance of concerts and tours. "I think we could reach a situation where artists will only play new songs at concerts," Pietrzak claims. He also realizes that the CD is becoming a format of the past. SP Records offers its music in downloadable formats on the internet.
But while the industry condemns illegal downloading, Maślanka does see positive aspects to it. "In the case of Paprika Korps, it really helped to promote our music abroad, and thanks to this we played concerts outside of Poland," he claims. The group regularly tours Europe and, as Maślanka adds, people outside Poland buy the group's original CDs.
But high costs make independent labels team up with large record companies to distribute their products. "To be present in large record-shop networks you have to use the logistics and financial help of the major labels," Grabski explains. Of course, a commission has to be paid, which, according to Grabski, "could be lower." Karrot Kommando lets its artists decide whether to be distributed by a major label or not. "But the fact that they help us with distribution has absolutely no impact on the artistic side of the project," Maślanka stresses.
Side job
As for the future, Pietrzak hopes that the improving economic situation will have a positive impact on music sales. He complains that it's very hard to promote a new young band: "The profits are not very high." He claims that more and more musicians can't make a living off music alone, so they have to find a regular job and treat music as a hobby or part-time profession. Still, they are not discouraged by the difficulties.
"I am doing what I love - I am working with music, with fantastic people and with the finest artists in this country," Pietrzak says.
"I don't see any alternative to what I'm doing - I'm supporting myself plus doing something which accords with my aesthetic taste," Grabski concludes.
