From: owner-krisgigs-digest@smoe.org (krisgigs-digest) To: krisgigs-digest@smoe.org Subject: krisgigs-digest V1 #3 Reply-To: owner-krisgigs@smoe.org Sender: owner-krisgigs-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-krisgigs-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk krisgigs-digest Wednesday, November 7 2001 Volume 01 : Number 003 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 18:06:16 -0500 From: "Lee Sonko" Subject: kris delmhorst news for the peeps... hello autumnites, i'm here to fill you in on some exciting developments that have been brewing over here. i'll cut to the chase for you practical types, and then flesh it out for those of you who are more...fleshy? anyway, (drum roll, trumpets) announcing the launch of a new artist-driven record label! Catalyst Disc will be distributing both my new album and Lori McKenna's new one, through a partnership with Signature Sounds. KD's Five Stories will arrive in stores Nov. 6 LM's Pieces of Me will arrive in stores Nov. 20 ...and we're excited about it! now here comes the flesh. As many of you know, i've been rolling along as an independent-by-choice artist for some time now and have always been quite happy with that. The one persistent downer to not signing one's soul away to a record label, however, is that it is a real uphill battle to get independent recordings distributed to stores, so the only way to get a hold of them is for people to physically come to a show & buy them, or to track them down online. The easier option B has become, the more nicely that has all worked out, but there are still those folks out there who would love to be able to stroll into their favorite store in meatspace (a term which, to me, has single-handedly made the whole internet revolution worthwhile) and pick up a disc with their very own hands. In fact, i'm still partial to this method myself, old-fashioned though it may be... Hence, my interest in this effort to create a new kind of partnership between artists & labels which can hopefully be profitable to both parties and exploitative of neither. That's the basic notion behind Catalyst Disc, a brand-new imprint of western Massachusetts-based label Signature Sounds. We're launching the label with two records, my Five Stories and my comerade Lori McKenna's Pieces of Me. This deal is basically a licensing agreement which enables Lori & me (and any future Catalystians) to maintain ownership of our copyrights & masters, even while the records are in the hands of the fine folks at Signature. Each of us conceived of, funded, and created our records independently, without the resources or supervision of the label. The discs are manufactured and marketed by Signature/Catalyst and promotion costs are divided between the artists and the label, so everyone's putting money in, and everyone's getting money back. The records will be distributed by Koch, a company which has a great track record working with independent labels. This means that Five Stories will be available in record stores nationwide, which has been impossible in past. Most importantly, we Artistes don't lose creative control over our work, which has always been one of the most troublesome features of the record industry's standard procedure. The Catalyst setup is about sharing resources. The artist brings what she has, which is A. the art! and B. a grassroots following that she's spent years & miles building. Signature brings their business experience, staff, and access to the distribution network. Signature has shown a lot of interest in finding creative solutions to the sticky issue of artist/label relations these days, and also gets major props for all of their tireless work on behalf of the Respond compilation, which they put out back in December of 1999. So i'm happy to be working with them and to be a part of the creation of Catalyst Disc, thrilled to be collaborating with Lori, and very excited to be able to give my new record another avenue out to the world! There may be some areas where the process happens a little slower than others, so if you go into your local record store and DON'T see Five Stories, feel free to pester them and speed things along. That's about it from here. As great as all this stuff is, there's still no substitute for me hauling myself around playing songs & selling cds in person; so keep an eye out for me in your neighborhood soon. Updated tour info is always available on the website. In the meantime I hope fall's going lovely, and that those of you that live somewhere crisp are grooving on the crispness, *kris p.s. here's an article about Signature Sounds' endeavors for anyone that's interested: http://www.masslive.com/business/unionnews/index.ssf?/business/pstories/biz2 8sou.html ------------------------------ End of krisgigs-digest V1 #3 ****************************