Russian music labels. Artists who worked with the label

Not just a record label that will release a large number of compacts for your money. Get ready for a new life! We know what to do! You need to print a small edition of discs, make a lot of merch (T-shirts, drunk T-shirts, magnets and all sorts of other crap - fans love it), get on a tour bus and go conquer the cities of our vast homeland.

A label that supports and publishes old school metal music.

First of all, the label reissues old albums that have become cult and completely unknown.

However, Metal Race does not forget about young performers playing in the spirit of the old school,
Several modern albums have already been published, but plans to continue publishing not only cult,
but also talented youth.

Focused on music styles Thrash, Death h and Black Metal .

Net-label aimed at releasing music in styles Thrash / Death / Doom / Black Metal, recorded in Russia in the 90s of the last century outside of two capitals.

The musical picture of the day is a kaleidoscope that unites the best Western publishers of the heavy industry, a vector that determines the main influences in the trend and supports the fundamental foundations of leading trends!

We are one of the major Russian labels with interesting story– the first to unite previously unacceptable directions and possibilities.

We are here so that high-quality music has the opportunity to find its listener, so that your collections are replenished with interesting and limited editions that add color to your life.

An independent music label is able to offer musicianswhat musicians, not businessmen, need. This is an opportunitynon-commercial musicians and bands not only stay true to themselves, but alsoto be on par with those whose albums we see on store shelves. Allinformation of interest can be obtained at official website label

SoundAgeProductions- Russian independent underground label, producing products in various musical styles from punk to death/black metal.

"Sintez records" - record company, founded in 1987 by musician and composer Alexander Kutikov, one of the leaders of the Time Machine group.

FONO - Russian independent music label, founded in 2001. Its main direction is publishing a variety of rock and metal music in Russia. These are mainly foreign groups.

"Sublimity Records" was created on March 1, 2012. Specializes in the release of CDs in limited editions of 100 copies. The discs are factory produced with offset printing using silver pantone. Each copy has an individual number.

The discs are factory produced with offset printing using silver pantone. Each copy has an individual number.

ANTROP

« AnTrop" is a Russian music label, production center, created by the famous producer and publisher Andrei Tropillo (the name is made up of the first letters of his first and last name). Created unofficially in 1979 as a kind of art laboratory and recording studio. In Tropillo’s studio, with his participation, the first high-quality recordings of such masters of Russian rock as “Time Machine”, “Aquarium”, “Zoo”, “Kino”, “Alice”, “Zero” were created. They were later reprinted several times.

IROND RECORDS

More than ten years have passed since the first discs with the Irond logo appeared on our market of licensed music products. During this time we have established ourselves as a leading Russian label, working in the direction of “heavy” and gothic music. Today Irond Ltd. - this is about one and a half thousand albums in the catalog, many released CDs, audio cassettes and DVDs. Our products are known to the widest circle of true music lovers, among whom there are metalheads, lovers of classic rock and blues, fans of the synth pop and goth styles. We offer CDs from artists from the most different countries, representing almost the entire geography of extreme music, the entire spectrum of its styles and trends!

In 1986 Stas Namin creates the country's first private independent recording studio, which records young musicians for free without censorship. For this, Stas actually used the rehearsal space of his group, which consisted of two small rooms in the utility block of the Green Theater in Gorky Park. Since the beginning of 1986, one room housed the band’s equipment, and the other turned into a makeshift studio. Today the studio is equipped with analogue and digital equipment, and is especially famous for its unique sound of live sound recordings, so recordings are made here Moral code, Crossroads, Zemfira, Sunday and etc.

The record company was created Stas Namin in the spring of 1990. Experience in show business, Stas Namin's reputation and competent management allowed him to quickly conquer the Soviet market, becoming the largest recording company in the country. Its catalog contains recordings of almost all Soviet rock stars.

In fact, it was the first private independent recording company in the history of the USSR. With its appearance, it broke the long-term monopoly of the state company Melodiya and ushered in a new era of free competition in independent show business

Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized in 1989 on the basis of the All-Union Recording Studio created in 1957 under the Ministry of Culture of the USSR. In connection with the reformation of the USSR, the company continued its established traditions of attracting the best Russian and foreign performing musicians to recording.

(Russia, Pyatigorsk) is an independent label specializing in a wide range of styles of predominantly heavy music. Established as a studio in 2005, Darknagar Records expanded its operations in early 2010 to become a record label. Our goal is to develop metal culture, both in general and in our country and in the Caucasus in particular, through recording and/or publishing and promoting bands performing metal music or music of related genres.
The main priority for us is the quality of both ideas and recording and performance of material, as well as sincerity.Haarbn Productions (for music in styles Black, Ambient, Darkfolk, Pagan, Viking, Dark Metal), Thrash Massacre Records (Thrash, Speed ​​Metal), Whaler Records (Alternative, Metalcore, Modern Metal, Emo, Ska)

The figure shows all the main players in the Russian hip-hop market, the so-called music labels. I will tell in simple language about labels, without going into details of their structure, in order to give a general picture of the market, and you can decide for yourself whether you need to study this issue further or not. Below you can look at the extended table.

Labels in Russian hip-hop are different:

Majors are large organizations with large catalogs of artists, rights to most of the market's music content and maximum opportunities in the media. The opportunities of the majors, of which there are only a few on the Russian market (Warner music, Sony music, Universal), are due to close ties with radio and television; these structures pay the majors for the content they use. Majors are not interested in “non-commercial” music, I won’t even explain... Majors do not consider the Russian market as serious for their business and therefore their representative offices in Russia have limited budgets and powers. Majors do not work with artists directly, preferring professional managers as a layer. Last year, Warner music bet on Bianca and signed Guf, and this is only because the major lent his name to the company Gala rec., whose office is hidden under famous brand. The rest of the majors don’t even think about collaborating with rappers in Russia and you will waste your time knocking on the thresholds of these offices. When everything goes well with you, they will find you and offer you a contract, but you will no longer need this if you are a real rapper, of course).

Independent Label - This category features several companies involved in the music business, with structure, management and an artist catalog. Such labels are interested in recruiting promising artists and promoting them to increase digital sales and monetize concert activities. Such a label has diverse interests in the market and the music business very often diversifies into retail, etc. The main task of such a label is to accumulate the best music and video content in its catalog, create maximum distribution for it, identify a commercial product and efficiently promote it in sales markets. The most effective monetization of artists in its catalog over the past year was shown by the Black Star Inc. label, which increased the liquidity of almost all of its artists. The label does not miss the opportunity of loyalty from the audience of its “locomotive” - Timati for the development of new projects. The departure of leading artists at the beginning of the year did not affect the effectiveness of the organization, but demonstrated the internal contradictions and problems of the label. The project for the development of retail stores deserves special attention, which could eventually make the label a leading musical structure in Russia if the current financial difficulties of the chain’s growth are resolved. The label has the resources and experience to support aspiring musicians. The current trend of label development threatens to develop into a rap factory, hurry before this happens and the market is flooded with rap factories.

Another example of an independent label would be a company without hip-hop credits, but with a large number of signed rap artists, such a campaign was once Monolit, and now it is SoyuzMadstyle. I can’t say that these labels are bad and do not work effectively, but the fact is that hip-hop artists do not develop there. By the way, the Monolit company has learned from its past mistakes in working with rappers and is successfully developing projects at the intersection of genres.

The Universam Kultury label did very well while it was a one-artist label; under the influence of the trend, the producer signed two new members (ST and Johnyboy), who soon left the label. Currently, the label has stagnated its activities a little, but remains very influential, and the success of Noize MC has forever enriched the karma of the label's producer.

A hip-hop label is a category of organizations with its own legal entity and a simplified management structure. Such labels include a group/performer - a locomotive and several more extras - artists of the hip-hop genre or so, who do not have serious popularity. However, the fact of one strong brand on a label does not worsen its position, and over time such structures have the potential for another star to join. A striking example of such a label is Respect Production and its latest acquisition, Max Korzh. The artist received an invitation from the label at the height of his career and benefited from such cooperation. The label's producer and concert manager justified their work by increasing the artist's fees for the year by 10 times. Typically, hip-hop labels have a PR manager, SMM employee, concert director, and the main responsibility of management is maintaining communications with the audience. The artist is left to his own devices and the success of the project depends only on his tracks.

A creative association of artists is a kind of gathering of rappers around a celebrity, which creates a single information field for all its participants, which allows the use of fans of one artist to promote all participants. There is an example of an ideal union - Gazgolder, where Basta and K created an organic musical world in which everyone gets the laurels of a participant and some monetization. In such a union, the role of the leader is so high and unattainable that very famous artists can be among the rank and file members. There is also an example of an unsuccessful association - ZM nation, which was formed around Guf and has no significance due to the phlegmatic attitude of the leader and any lack of management.

Hip-hop labels do not produce artists as such, preferring to take on artists who have already proven successful in the market and are gaining popularity and concert activity. Most labels do not invest significant money in artists, but don’t let this bother you, because the time of real specialists, their creative capabilities and connections in the market are worth more expensive than money. All that remains is to find out whether there are real professionals on the label who can solve the problems of your positioning, distribution and sales? Find out the names of label managers/producers and see what they have done in the past, only checking with action will guarantee results. In Russia, according to my estimates, there are six working hip-hop labels that have experience in developing hip-hop projects and have the resources for new work.

It remains to consider the work of PR specialists in the music market. Beginning artists have an illusion about the all-powerful PR managers of the music market who can make the artist famous (I didn’t write popular!). Artists begin to look for such managers and find... girls of pleasant appearance with experience supporting artists and a price tag of 30 thousand rubles per month. These girls are everywhere in the market, in PR agencies and in freelancing, they have a standard form of plan for working with the artist and a desire to accompany the artist everywhere. Do not fall for simple forms; take the trouble to check the quality of work of the selected manager by consulting with his employers and market functionaries. Pay attention to your manager’s type of thinking, whether he is able to adjust plans according to the situation, find breakthrough solutions and achieve results. Keep in mind that a PR manager does not develop anything; he usually implements a positioning concept that was invented and approved by you in accordance with your image. You won’t find another PR manager for that kind of money, but you will be able to achieve effective work if you start planning, developing promotions and monitoring the work of the PR yourself.

The Top Labels list is our favorite part of recapping the year because every time there are record labels that leave an indelible mark on the world. dance music. It's always amazing to see and then capture the different sounds, ideas and aesthetics coming from so many amazing record labels.

Because the selection seems so wide, we try not to include labels that have previously appeared on our lists. Many of the labels that we wrote about earlier continue to release armor-piercing music today, but if we put them on every year, it’s unlikely that anyone would be interested in such lists.

And here are the labels that defined 2017. Some of them are completely new, they are barely a year old, but there are also already well-known companies that, after many years, are still in perfect shape. We hope you'll want to listen with us to what they've been up to over the past 12 months.

20. Circadian Rhythms

The label's executives avoid publicity, even though they have their own radio show on NTS. But, as far as we know, behind the label is a group of musicians, artists and fashion designers, their names are Last Japan, Blackwax, William Francis Green, Jace Koop and Dylan Tushar. This is not even really a label, but rather a kind of cooperative that is engaged in tailoring in London.

In March of this year, the label released a record from dubstep hero Toasty, and in support of this release there was a collection of streetwear, a video clip and was supported by an avant-garde street collection, clips and a stream, which featured K9, Killa P, Prince Mini and Slow Thai. In November of this year, Last Japan and Killa P released their record here, along with it the team released two T-shirts, a respirator and threw a party. Therefore, the label’s “discography” turns out to be meager, but there are not many labels in the world that work at the crossroads of music, fashion, art, and at the same time achieve such interesting (and deep) results.

19. On Loop

For the last five years, Moxie, so to speak, has acted as a curator. Her programs aired on Radio One and NTS have always amazed us with her deep knowledge of music and her desire to look into the future. And, in fact, her label and party series "On Loop" have become an additional expansion of her taste preferences. For the label, it all started in 2016, and this year everything has only gone from strength to strength.

The year kicked off with the release of Fold's "Mills Theme," which featured the hit "Bend Sinister," among others, and in November of this year the label released a two-part compilation featuring six tracks from six different artists. Shanti Celeste, Sandboards, Throwing Snow, Traxxploitation and Addison Groove contributed their work to the label. Either way, On Loop is just getting started and it will be interesting to see what Moxie has in store for us in the near future.

18. Cazeria Cazador

Cazeria Cazador is a label born in Chile. The musicians behind him set out to combat artistic stagnation with a conservative approach to culture and music that was dominant in their homeland. They do this by throwing underground parties in various unfinished buildings in Santiago and releasing cutting-edge music.

Having earned the status of local heroes, in 2017 the Cazeria Cazador team entered the international arena and attracted the closest attention. The five-track collection Virus Artists, released in August, showcased their vibrant approach to music. “Randex” is a rocking techno track, Mucho Sueño uses traditional dembow rhythms to create a real rave, “Nimda” from Aurelius98 is a dizzying whirlwind that completely captures the listener’s attention with its pulsating bass and percussion.

The label also released records from New York producer Color Plus, and you can’t ignore the work from sound designer Mas569. It’s also worth adding that in 2016, this label released a release by Russian producer Nikita Villeneuve.

17. Coastal Haze

Coastal Haze's growing success has been fueled by a plethora of fresh faces who specialize in smooth, jazzy electronica. Jamison Isaac took the pseudonym Pacific Coliseum and recorded a beautiful debut album. The same can be said about newcomer Buddy Love, whose album, also released this year, received good reviews from critics. We can't forget to mention Manuel Darkwart, whose collaboration with Sean Whitaker and Louis Anderson-Rich produced the excellent debut Drippin & Trippin. It should be noted that Coastal Haze has excellent helmsmen - Seb Wildblood and Jake Hollick, the latter also helms the No Bad Days label.

16. Valby Rotary

Three best friends, a carefully chosen aesthetic and a sound that combines best examples from labels such as Smallville, Workshop and: Valby Rotary surprised many this year. The Leeds-based label, run by Louis, Tom and Benito (or so their SoundCloud description says), has sprung up like a jack-in-the-box, releasing three superb EPs from Louf and Tom VR.

This label was born out of their shared love of searching new music, the trio came up with Valby Rotary as an outlet, simply to publish what they liked. They maintain the closest and warmest relations with Lobster Theremin (who are responsible for distribution). Quality is the main word for them, which means that in 2018 we will have a whole series of releases that are oriented towards the dance floor, but so soft that they simultaneously affect both body and soul. It's always nice to see a label take its first steps with such grace!

15. Afterlife

The Afterlife label was launched by the duo in 2016. Carmine Conte and Mateo Milleri managed to quickly create a record company that became known for its dramatic, dark and sophisticated techno soundscapes.

In 2017, the label grew with amazing speed, it all started with the mix “Afterlife Voyage 002” from VAAL, continued with the debut work from Matteo and Carmine themselves, and then Stéphane Bodzin, Patrice Baumel, Barnt, Mind Against and Adriatique took up the cause.

As for the “Afterlife” branded parties, they also thundered in the past year, settling in Ibiza at the Priviledge club for 14 weeks, and among their residents were people of the level of Dixon, Nina Kravitz, Maceo Plex, Recondite, Jamie Jones and others.

14. HNYTRX

The label does not release releases as often as we would like (quality wins over quantity again!), but everything that comes out under HNYTRX is done extremely skillfully and can work on the dance floor in a way that is unlikely to be possible for anyone else. Simply put, this is where music comes out that makes you feel good.
Jackie House, Bézier and Jason Kendig, who are collectively known as Honey Soundsystem, are responsible for the label's music policy.

And we should be grateful to them for the curious album “Where Are We Going?” from the growing Octo Octa project, plus a couple of singles with remixes from Dorisburg and Avalon Emerson. Add to this the cosmic number “Moonchild”, which was released in October and is still heard on club dance floors. And, of course, the re-release of Patrick Cowley’s cult album “Afternooners”. I really want the label to continue to move at this pace.

13.Moveltraxx

The label continues to guard the interests of those people who like to dig into the jungle of footwork, juke and ghetto house, who want to go even deeper than Cajmere’s “Perculator” or DJ Deeon’s “Let Me Bang”. This year, artists like TT The Artist, D Double E and R3LL were responsible for maintaining the right mood. DJs such as Nighwave, Lockah and Sega Bodega also played at regular parties in London. And the label itself continues to delight lovers of vulgar, expressive and silly music. New club genres, the beginnings of which can easily be overlooked, are clearly starting life on this label.

12. Running Back

Launched in 2002 by Thorsten Shaw and the “DJ of DJs” Gerd Janson, Running Back has a refined musical engine, having already released over 140 releases, earning itself a cult status and a large number of recognized and respected artists. The label released an avalanche of excellent releases in 2017, including Phillip Loyer's Philipper EP, four gorgeous tracks from Fort Romeau, and Tornado Wallace's brooding debut album. Lonely Planet", and a whole scattering of divine remixes from Justin van der Wolge, DJ Oyster, Call Super, DJ Fett Burger and personally from the head of the label, Gerd Janson.

That year, the label's position was clearly strengthened after KiNK released the popular single "Perth" and, shortly after, a full-length second album, "Playground" - a work that can best be described as "a demonstration of the creative capabilities of the artist in his prime " And after a decade and a half of successful existence, Running Back continues to embody the true spirit of dance music.

11. Fractal Fantasy

Not a penny and suddenly Altyn. This is roughly how you can describe what happened this year with Fractal Fantasy. After long calm you suddenly receive a double reward. The label of Zora Jones and Sinjin Hawk released the latter's debut album, plus a powerful compilation, which included collaborations with like-minded artists like Jlin, DJ Rashad, DJ Sliink and Murlo. The end result was more than interesting, and the label proved with just two releases that they are head and shoulders above the vast majority of their competitors.

10. Houndstooth

Making the right dance music album is quite a challenge. The artist must maintain a certain level of club atmosphere, while trying to make sure that during the listener’s home listening the picture comes together as a single whole. In 2017, Houndstooth released not one, not two, but five records at once, which can become an example of this format. Behind long years Since its inception, Houndstooth has built a surprisingly wide range of talented artists, giving their artists the space and freedom to explore the full range of their craft, and this approach has paid off many times over.

An example of this approach is the album “Belief System” by Paul Woolford, recorded under the pseudonym Special Request. There are not many labels in the world that would dare to release an album with 23 tracks, and even on four records. But Houndstooth took a risk and ended up with one of the strongest albums of the year, which is full of old-school bass, ambient, twisted IDM and much more. In the same year, the label released wonderful techno work from Call Super, emotional sound experiments from Second Storey, powerful and uncompromising electronics from Throwing Snow, and the dark, captivating atmosphere of Guy Andrews.

You shouldn't ignore the singles either - this year Houndstooth released remixes for 18+, and Akkord released their next mutations on the theme of British sound. And even if we don’t touch on the music, there is an element of romance in this story. The future of Houndstooth was in doubt this year, as was the future of the fabric club - but as we know, all's well that ends well!

9. Halcyon Veil

In a scene that is full of strange sounds and abstract artists, it has now become difficult to separate the pioneers from the followers. But Halcyon Veil—the brainchild of Houston producer Eric Burton (Rabit)—is a leading force in the world of unpredictable and emotional club work. Since 2015, the label has been a champion of radicalism and nonconformity, releasing works by Why B, ANGEL-HO and Chino Amobi and thereby taking an active part in promoting this twisted movement on a global scale.

Over the past 12 months, Halcyon Veil has released material from Rabit himself, plus IVVVO, NAKED, City, Dale Cornish, Fawkes and Mhysa, whose "fantasy" project can be considered a clear example sound mood of the label. But to label the label as “just another club imprint” would be to severely limit its scope of interests. Throughout this year, Halcyon Veil's activities have emphasized the need for creative opposition to the system in times of social struggle and cultural instability.

8. Hemlock

We skipped Hemlock last year. The label had a long quiet period of 21 months between HEK026 (Brood Ma's P O P U L O U S) and its 27th release in February of this year, Bruce's Before You Sleep. And if the label owner, producer Untold, needed time to gather his strength, it was worth it. Having released the album Bruce, the label masterfully announced the resumption of activity, filling the twisted arrangements with painful emotions.

Having woken up from hibernation, Hemlock has not slowed down since then. Five more dancefloor thrillers have been released from some of the most innovative-minded producers who know how to work with bass, melodies and understand the value of silence and the dynamism of open space. The producers themselves share common ideals, from the near-rave feel of Airhead's "Shaded" to the low-key but chaotic experimentation of Parris. The dance floors this year were a little more trippy and a little more interesting - in some places thanks to Hemlock. Let's hope that in the near future they will continue to move further at the given pace and direction.

7. Toy Tonics

Toy Tonics records never leave DJ bags. They're waiting in the wings perfect moment in a DJ set when the crowd wants something a little harder but with a soul feel... BANG! They shoot, adrenaline jumps in the chest, and the groove falls as it should. Soft. Oh, how we love these moments, and the music for these moments is always provided by Toy Tonics.

We at Mixmag have been following the label from the very beginning, from Kapote's "The Body Move", a sophisticated yet rocking track, or Jad & The "Strings That Never Win", a disco hit that literally everyone loves. first audition. Add in releases from COEO, Black Loops, and Rhode & Brown, and the label has had a great year. Don't lose sight of this office.

6. Trip

All the listed labels on this list have never appeared on it before. Only one label came back after being crowned label of the year in 2015. Nina Kravitz's Trip is perhaps one of the strongest new labels of the last five years. His consistently experimental releases always keep listeners on their toes, and the list of artists associated with the label is impressive with a large number of new artists, each with their own personality.

This year, the label has focused more on releasing individual artist releases rather than compilations. Thus, Deniro’s album “Mendoza” consists of 7 new tracks, each of which reflects a certain facet of techno, Biogen released a double album, Roma Tsukerman made an unrealistically strong debut, and PTU returned with another killer record. As for Nina, “Pochuvstvui” has become one of the biggest tracks of the year and perfectly reflects her ever-evolving sound. The parties that took place under the label's banner were also some of the most exciting, whether they took place on a 150-meter water tower in Helsinki or in the Rush Hour Records store in Amsterdam. The party then turned the record store into a kind of sauna, which, as Antal described, was “shaking.” Trip artists are definitely part of something very unique.

5. PAN

We don't remember PAN ever having a bad year. But having released six excellent albums, the label has never explored the possibilities of electronic music so widely. Do you want to pass the test with all kinds of hums, squeaks, and blows?

Then look no further than the experimental techno of Pan Daijing, M.E.S.H.'s reinterpretation of club music, the rapturous rhythms of Errorsmith, the futuristic-sounding soundsystems of STILL, the triumph of Conrad Sprenger's algorithms and "Mono No Aware", an incredible exploration of the ambient underground. In short, Bill Kuligas's label has outdone itself this year.

4. Athens Of The North

Imagine that you were at the last party of the Plastic People club in London in 2015. Floating Points concludes their long set with Spirit Of Love's gospel anthem "The Power Of Your Love" before closing the club for good. That moment went down in dance music history. Six months later, Edinburgh reissue label Athens Of The North reissues the record and establishes itself as an important player, a democratic force at the epicenter of a revitalized disco scene.

Now rewind to 2017 and Ewan Fryer's label has delivered on its promise, giving new life to the rarest of rarities and music lovers' treasures. Taking on one of Edinburgh's nicknames as its name, the label went full force, releasing around 20 releases this year in its signature 7-inch format. This pace can be considered a real feat in a world full of all sorts of licensing traps, fraudulent vinyl factories and Discogs snobs. But Athens Of The North handled it with ease.

From Frazelle's boogie to Willie Dale's soul to bona fide disco rarities like BAB's 'Party & Get On Down', it's easy to see why tracks from the label have been regularly featured on Mixmag's internal playlists all year. And this label is famous not only for re-releases of singles - in 2017 it released the excellent jazz album Hampshire and Foat, plus the debut album from Grupo Magnético on the Atenas Del Norte sublabel. And although the label still specializes more in retelling history, this approach will never become outdated.

3. Peach Discs

Shanti Celeste's label ended its first year with a bang. This is Celeste's second label, after BRSTL, to feature new Bristol talent. Peach Discs is very similar to BRSTL in this regard - here Shanti tries to give young artists the opportunity to express themselves while simultaneously indulging own love to painting, which is embodied in the design of releases.

The ethos of the label is in the DiY philosophy and rests on Celeste's dedication to creating a platform for "a lot of my friends who are doing very good music, but it hasn’t been released yet.” This is what makes Peach Discs extra attractive. The label released four EPs this year: Celeste’s own breakbeat debut, “Untitled”; a vibrant house release from new Bristol duo Fred; bassy techno from Leeds producer Checov; and a spirited release from Ciel, one of the key figures in Toronto's underground scene.

2. Don't Be Afraid

Looking through what's been released over the past 12 months on Don't Be Afraid, it's safe to say the label is one of our favorites. The label, launched by producer Semtek, has been in excellent shape all this year, almost doubling the number of releases, continuing to skillfully adhere to the golden mean between quality and quantity. This year the label released three albums: inventive and; DJ Bone's Detroit electro-techno, the boldly titled "It's Good To Be Differ-Ent" and Achim Maerz's deep jams "Experiments."

Here's the widest selection of records from some of the biggest names in dance music, including rRpxymore with his woozy, complex rhythms; Ikonika with its glossy synths, and Semtek, which returned powerfully to active work. DBA also supported new artists with all their might, including debuts from Tyler Dancer and Jason Winters. Bristol has always been famous for its contribution to music, and in 2017 the DBA once again confirmed this.

1. Ninja Tune

Lights auditorium turned off, the stage flashes with bright light, bodies move; I remember closing my eyes and starting to move to the sounds of a then unknown track playing from the speakers during Bicep’s performance. The kind of track that knocks you out in the middle of a party. This track completely captured my attention, I was delighted with its chic bass lines and mesmerizing melody. Back then, back in 2016, I didn’t even know that this thing was called “Aura”, and what exactly it would become main composition, defining 2017.

The heroes ruled this year with their self-titled debut album, and it was hardly possible to hide from them in 2017. "Bicep" was the type of album that brought in new blood mythical world'90s rave while pushing the sound of primetime club music into the future.

Ninja Tune deservedly tops this year's list. It all started for the label in February, when Bonobo released the complex and emotional album “Migration”, then continued with Actress and its difficult and disorienting album “AZD”, then there was the super-album Bicep and the single “Glue”, and the duo’s second album from Seattle ODESZA “A Moment Apart” (released in collaboration with Counter Records), powerful singles from Machinedrum and Helena Gauff. If we do not take into account all these illustrious names, then even less famous musicians on Ninja Tune we were surprised: Jordan Rakei’s cool mix of soul, jazz and electronics on “Wallflower”, O’Flynn’s piercing work “Pluto’s Beating Heart”, Giraffe’s experimental debut album “Too Real”, Nabih Iqubal’s wonderful album “Weighing Of” The Heart" and Iglooghost's geeky "Neō Wax Bloom."

An online label is the online equivalent of an offline music publishing house. If initially traditional record labels are engaged in the distribution of musical content, promotion of groups and performers in real world, then Internet labels do the same work online. Due to the difficult situation of traditional music industry, when even the titans of the music business are forced to take big risks when releasing new releases, record labels have recently been trying to work with groups that are sure to earn their money's worth. In cultural terms, this situation is quite deplorable - after all, now even not entirely underground groups cannot hope to be published, and only 100% successful commercial projects are released.

As you know, the reason for this is the Internet - and it also offers new ways to distribute music. Since the beginning of the 2000s, new schemes have been appearing in America and Europe - when releases are not released on CD, but are published only virtually, and groups and performers are promoted via the Internet. Having copied the approach of traditional record labels and transferred it to the network, so-called net-labels or, in Russian, Internet labels, or network labels, or mp3 labels appeared.

What is a record label anyway? Firstly, this is an organization that distributes not just any music, but a certain format or even a narrow specific direction. There is a producer, or several, who select the music, and a good label necessarily has its own identity and sound. Some releases are listened to only because they were published by the 4AD label, for example. Secondly, the label is involved in copyright protection. In the case of online labels, copyright protection is limited to publishing content under a free license, but the selection of music can be quite serious. It is beneficial for the label that people listen to its music; it does promotion - it can organize concerts, distribute information about releases online, and so on and so forth.

However, there are more differences between online labels and traditional ones - as a rule, these are non-commercial labels, as a rule, releases are distributed under free licenses and mainly under Creative Commons. Internet labels rarely promote the band and organize concerts; their main business is simply distributing music on the Internet. Since it is easier to manage the affairs of an online label, several people or even one person often handles them.

The difference between an online label and music distribution platforms such as soundkey.ru or kroogi.ru is more obvious. Such portals simply invite anyone to post music with them and receive a reward for it. They are not involved in selection, protection of rights, or promotion. Simply put, a label is a publishing house, and soundkey.ru and kroogi.ru are stores.

Historically, the first Internet labels were engaged in publishing electronic music (since the amount of self-produced electronic music is extremely large), and even now the vast majority of Internet labels release electronic music. Over time, labels appeared that published indie, alternative music - that is, mainly music based on the Do It Yourself principle (in fact, Internet labels themselves follow this principle). Abroad, the number of Internet labels has long been innumerable, and we have enough of them. Usually the technical component of an unpretentious online label is also unpretentious - often it is a standalone blog on Wordpress, or even just an account on blogspot. But in this article I would like to talk about several domestic Internet labels that are musically interesting, have their own personality, stand out from the general background and set trends.

The oldest operating Russian Internet label, or rather, now there are two - Otium releases ambient, idm, downtempo, Sonux - techno. There is no pre-listening, but there is RSS and separate pages for authors. Content is distributed under a Creative Commons license.

The largest Russian online label releasing live music. Preferred styles: indie, post rock, indietronica. There is a music preview, rss, the content is distributed under a Creative Commons license.

Produces music in indie, rock, ethno styles. A young and small online label, however, it stands out with its informative reviews of each release, detailed pages about the authors, which include photos and videos. The site has rss and a pseudo-Internet radio - a flash player that plays tracks from releases in random order. The most important difference of this label is that, along with free download, it allows you to pay for releases - this money goes to the authors. The license is not specified, but it is written that “all releases are free for downloading, listening and further distribution, if you do not intend to make money from them.”

Preferred styles are IDM, ambient, minimal, easy jazz. Each release is accompanied by a detailed review. The site has a “pulsation video” section, where it is planned to release music video, but now there is only one video release. Content is distributed under a Creative Commons license.

Unique Musical direction- the label publishes academic music, works under the auspices of the Moscow Conservatory, and publishes music by composers of this conservatory. Directions - modern classics, academic electronics and avant-garde. All releases are reviewed and additional materials may include a concert video and even sheet music and source material. There is a preview, all content is distributed under a Creative Commons license unless otherwise noted.

Labels are part creative association UnderGroundWiggaz and do hip-hop, RAP-A-NET - true Russian-language rap, A-HU-LI rec. - instrumental hip-hop. The license is not specified, there is no pre-listening either, but the collection is very rich.

Musical styles - alternative, post-punk, avant-garde, psychedelic, free jazz. The famous label is organized on the Blogspot platform. The music is distributed under a Creative Commons license, there is no preview, there is rss, music can be downloaded both track by track and as an album, there is access to additional materials.

If you want to become a musician, then sooner or later the question of distributing and selling your work will arise one way or another. Even if you are an enthusiast and do not plan to make money from selling your tracks, but simply dream of full halls filled with crowds of fans, you still cannot ignore the issue of commercial distribution of songs, if only because this is a great way to index the name of your group and brand on the Internet.

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What is needed for successful placement of your releases (singles, albums, EPs)?

1) High-quality material, i.e. your track/song must meet certain technical and time characteristics. If you decide to seriously study music, sooner or later you will come to the realization that a high-quality track recorded in a good studio by a professional is a level higher in sound processing than what you record at home.

2) Any release must have a high-quality cover. Very often among beginning Russian musicians I encounter complete disregard for this point. Beginning musicians simply don’t want to bother and think about what cover the release will have - but in vain. Any content that you plan to post on sales platforms must be thought out to the smallest detail, including the cover.

Remember yourself when you come to the supermarket and see an unfamiliar product - you are somehow primarily attracted by the label, picture (cover, wrapper, call it what you want), and only then do you pay attention to the product or product itself. Everything is the same in music, the more attractive the cover of your release, the greater the likelihood of attracting a new listener to your track. I believe that it is better for a musician to entrust the creation of a cover to a professional or designer. Ordering and making one cover from an artist-designer is a less expensive undertaking than studio recording of one song.

3) Once the release is prepared for release (i.e. you have the songs and cover), the musician should decide how it will be distributed. Of course, you can go 100% the right way and show your music to a publishing house. And it will really be a very useful experience if the publishing house is interested. But this does not always happen, and you risk losing a lot of time, or even not achieving the desired result. It is also possible that the publisher’s proposed conditions for the release and distribution of your release will not be acceptable to a particular musician. For example, popular Russian publishing houses practice purchasing exclusive rights from authors and copyright holders for 5 years at a “tariff” of 50% to 50% (at best), or buying each song conditionally for some money, for example, paying you 1000 rubles at a time , and you forget about your tracks for 5 years - in general, there are a lot of all kinds of tricks that are inconvenient for the artist to maneuver in favor of the publishing house.

Producer and founder of a Russian-language label in Chicago, Vladimir Gershanov (VG MUSIC LABEL), with 20 years of experience in show business, shared some details of the business in the field of electronic distribution:

“After technological progress associated with the emergence of the Internet and the development of digital services, which became available to almost the entire population of our planet, “digital” rapidly began to displace analog video and audio media. Musicians, as well as record and film companies, started talking seriously about new remote forms of selling video and audio information to the public. The so-called electronic distribution of audio and video content through online stores has emerged.

More recently, in the late nineties and early 2000s, the largest record labels very carefully selected musical material for publication, since the costs of producing analog media were relatively high. It is for this reason that many musicians and groups who did not have a lot of money for production remained “behind” sales and, as a result, show business in general. They simply did not have the opportunity to express themselves, since, bypassing their opinions, the music editor made a decision about the commercial success or failure of the project.

Now, with the advent of the Internet and electronic distribution, a significant reduction in the costs of the production process, as well as stores and labels that are aggregators of these same stores, conveying information to the viewer has become significantly cheaper. But even under these conditions, it is extremely unprofitable for an artist to cooperate directly with online stores. Simple arithmetic. The cost of placing one song in almost any online store is 9 dollars 99 cents. The standard placement package reaches 200 online stores. Let’s assume that if an artist has created not even a standard hour-long album, but only 7 songs, then placing them in only one store will cost 69 dollars 93 cents. And this is just one store. Now let’s calculate how much it will be in two hundred stores. These are costs only for a year. I know only one performer who managed to sell well on iTunes with Russian-language content. And then she had to buy the songs from herself. In other words, it is not realistic to recoup investments with sales in online stores if the artist sings in Russian and does not have, say, American, English or German promotion before placing his compositions in online stores. It is still quite possible to make money if the musical material is truly original and in demand. At the same time, if it is not in pirate distributions, concert and touring activities, along with radio and television rotations, plus the Internet and newspaper PR work clearly and harmoniously. But not all artists have such resources. Therefore, he needs an aggregator.”

In any case, the musician always has a choice: give the release to a publishing house for distribution, or distribute it independently through an aggregator.
In order to independently distribute own songs on the online platforms ITunes, Google Play, Yandex.Music, Zvooq, Amazon, the musician will one way or another need basic knowledge and information on this issue.

What do you need to consider?

1) The musician needs to choose a reliable intermediary (aggregator) who will accept the release from him and post it on various platforms. Of course, you can take the most tedious path and directly (bypassing the aggregator) place your content in stores yourself, this can be done, but there are a number of nuances: Apple, Yandex. Music, for example, is not profitable to work directly with artists, but Google and Amazon provide a similar opportunity to musicians, but for an additional fee. As a recommendation to save effort, nerves and money, use aggregator sites.

“An aggregator is a company or label that has entered into a permanent contract for the distribution of video and audio content with online stores. Typically, such aggregators themselves take on payments for at least 200 online stores per year. Of course, they do not pay the entire amount at once, since, for example, in the USA, they work under preferential internal agreements with online stores. At the same time, in collaboration with a distribution label, the risks of the artist himself are significantly reduced. This is the main thing for him. There is one more unpleasant moment. Let’s say YouTube pays an artist only after collecting $30 for his songs. And for CD Baby (a music aggregator) this bar is ten times higher - $300. They give the labels interest immediately after receiving any amount.”

In Russia, the most common services in the music environment are Tunecore, CD Baby, Believe Digital and Ditto Music.

Dima DOGMA, artist, music producer in Pr Stark:

I used tunecore and central ocean.

Everything is transparent in tunecore - there is an invoice that records every purchase of your content. Russian aggregators are significantly lame in such options.

In Russia, perhaps, distributors and well-known artists make good money from this. For everyone else, the main income still comes from performances.

Russian distributors take a large percentage of revenue for content, although they do this through the same aggregators, according to the same principles, whereas if you do it yourself, you see every penny. You just need basic knowledge of English to understand all the intricacies of foreign distributors.

Oddly enough, both popular and little-known artists prefer to use the functionality of the Tunecore platform. For example, the Lena Katina project distributes its last 2 albums through this platform, or Sergei Lazarev’s armor-piercing hit “You Are the Only One" is also present in the Tunecore database. Moreover, the artist himself or even his management may not be aware of such placement, because he is probably under contract with a Russian publishing house, which, depending on the content of the concluded agreements, may not inform the artist about its methods and ways of distributing content.

According to sites emusic.com And believedigital.ru Russian publishing houses and labels, such as Nikitin Music Group, First Music Publishing House, Gazgolder, Black Star, Studio Monolit LLC They also take advantage of the distribution capabilities of the foreign aggregator Believe Digital (by the way, this company owns the Tunecore service) and publish music content on foreign online platforms for selling music through this aggregator. Believe Digital, in turn, does not work with individual artists, only with labels and with more than 500 tracks in the audio library. Therefore, in principle, there is no difference in Russia through which publishing house or aggregator you will distribute your songs.
Vladimir Gershanov (VG MUSIC LABEL):

“But not every label leads fair play. This also needs to be taken into account. I am an experienced director and founder of a Russian-language label in the USA, and I quite responsibly state that 85% of Moscow labels are pirates. This is quite easy to determine. Firstly, if a label representative says that he places music material everywhere for free, and even gives 80-95% to the artist, you know - these are pirates. Miracles certainly happen, but very rarely. I started my own label 11 years ago because European labels didn't want to work with Russian-language material, and those who wanted to were just scammers. It is important to have good insurance value, issue your own shares and place on world trade exchanges. Reputable labels help artists earn money from their video content by having a direct agreement with YouTube and are not only its premium partner, but also its shareholder. This significantly expands the possibilities.

Monetization of Content-Id is possible not only from your own YouTube page, but also from any other page on which you are located this moment musical material. It is almost impossible for small labels, especially the artist himself, to do this without being a premium YouTube partner. Another one commercial form- release of collections containing songs by several artists, depending on the genre. Sending out new information is very effective musical material according to a database of hundreds of radio stations “from Malta to Ichkeria”. Radio rotation produces very strong financial statements at the end of each quarter. By the way, every self-respecting label is obliged to provide a financial report on sales to the artist upon his first request. This is usually done every three months.”