Audiolith

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Audiolith Records
Logo of the label
Logo of the label
Active years since 2003
founder Lars Lewerenz
Seat Hamburg
Website http://www.audiolith.net/
Label code LC 03266
distribution BROKEN SILENCE Independent Distribution GmbH, Hamburg
Genre (s) Electropunk, indie rock, hip hop

Audiolith Records is an independent label from Hamburg-Bahrenfeld . Audiolith primarily publishes electronic music and indie rock . The musical style of the publications varies, Audiolith is influential in the area of ​​German-speaking Electropunk, for example .

history

Founder Lars Lewerenz (2009)

The label was founded in 2003 by Lars Lewerenz , who previously worked for the US label Dim Mak and was active in the band Dos Stilettos . The label's first release was the 7 "Single Both Sides Of The Ocean by The Dance Inc. Later there were releases by artists such as Der Tante Renate , Egotronic , Frittenbude , Plemo and Saalschutz . Most of the artists come from Germany, especially Berlin and Hamburg , but with Innaway , a Californian band is also represented at Audiolith.

In 2007, Lewerenz stated that he was now almost exclusively selling music, but no longer appeared as a musician himself. He decided to start a business and has been earning his living with the label ever since.

In August 2009, Audiolith released the Doin 'Our Thing sampler, the label's fiftieth release. In addition to a CD with 18 tracks from several different Audiolith bands, the sampler also includes a DVD with 27 music videos.

In 2010 Audiolith organized a tour through four small villages ( Döbeln , Oelde , Tannheim-Egelsee and Höhr-Grenzhausen ) under the name “Dorfdisko Geiselfahrt” , where Bratze , Egotronic and Frittenbude each presented their new album. Media representatives were invited to accompany the bands on the tour bus. As part of this campaign, there was extensive reporting in various national newspapers and on television.

In July 2011, Audiolith and the Berlin label Staatsakt announced the merger of the two labels. Initially, only individual releases were to appear on the joint Audioakt label and both labels were to continue to exist in parallel. So far, only the album The Elite of Charity by the Telekommander media group has been released on Audioakt.

Structure and financial situation

Audiolith does not only act as a record label , but is also economically active as a publisher , merchandise dealer and concert agency. According to the founder, this diversification in the monetization of the contractually tied bands enables the company to remain profitable, as profits in individual divisions can offset the losses in other business areas. Audiolith makes the greatest profit by selling t-shirts .

Lewerenz, who in his role as “ A&R , promoter [and] product manager ”, himself stated in an interview that he regularly works for the label seven days a week, employs a freelancer and an intern . In an article for Spiegel Online , he put the personnel costs at 2100 euros, and Audiolith would have to earn 2500 to 3000 euros per month in order to work profitably.

In contrast to many major labels , which suffered great losses due to illegal music downloads and the slump in CD sales in the 2000s, Audiolith benefits from the possibilities of the Internet, according to Lewerenz. The label communicates with its fans via the Audiolith Street Team blog and presents the new releases of its artists there. The margin for MP3 sales is also significantly larger than that for CDs or records , so that Audiolith only produces these in smaller quantities, especially since there is also the risk of not being able to sell larger quantities and thus generating dead capital .

Self-image and target group

According to Lars Lewerenz, the published music “should help to cope with everyday life.” Nothing could be further from the label “than just delivering the party song to go crazy on at the weekend.” According to his observations, the concerts mainly include those “young people [ ], who don't get along with society here. "They would of course also celebrate there, but Lewerenz sees in it" always a balance to the everyday pressure to perform or competition and the dreary fun program of this society. "The label is not about that To "squeeze the money [from the fans]."

According to Lewerenz, the label's task with regard to its artists is to “bring good people to the start” and “keep their backs free”.

Prizes and awards

In 2010 the label won the “Goldenen Bauzaun 2010” visitor award , which was presented at the “Pop Up” trade fair in Leipzig .

In 2010 Audiolith won the “ HANS ” award from the Hamburg Music Industry Interest Group in the “Hamburg Label of the Year” category . Lewerenz accepted the award, but used his speaking time to sharply criticize the city of Hamburg and described Hans Albers , one of the namesake of the award, as a “shitty guy who humped the worst Nazi propaganda .” Then he helped smash the award an ax.

Artist

Former artist

  • Dos Stilettos (2003, no longer active)
  • Olli Schulz and the dog Marie (2008, now at Columbia Berlin)
  • The Dance Inc. (2003-2010, dissolved)
  • Räuberhöhle (now at megapeng records)
  • Yuri Gagarin (2011, dissolved)
  • Ira Atari & Rampue (2011, no longer active)
  • One Foot In Da Rave (no longer active)
  • Plemo & Rampue (2011, no longer active)
  • Plemo (2011, now on UAE! No Records)
  • Bratze (2007-2014, dissolved)
  • Supershirt (2007-2015, dissolved)

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Christian Bethge: Lars Lewerenz from Audiolith rec. Interview for regioactive.de . Published June 30, 2007, accessed May 30, 2010.
  2. a b c d e Konrad Lischka: You can't just download T-shirts Article for Spiegel Online , published on August 17, 2010. Accessed on September 11, 2010.
  3. AUDIOLITH - "DOIN´ OUR THING" on torsun.blogsport.de
  4. Audiolith-Dorfdisko-Kaffeefahrt ( Memento from May 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Article for tracks ( ARTE ). Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  5. Alexandra Eul: Making small towns unsafe. Published in the daily newspaper , April 7, 2010.
  6. Tino Lange: The rollercoaster ride of insomnia Published in the Hamburger Abendblatt , March 27, 2010.
  7. Laura Ewert: We brought you something: Bass, Bass, Bass Published in Die Welt , April 8, 2010.
  8. Andreas Kohn: 3 nights in the tour bus - canned beer, sleep deprivation ... Published in Express , April 6, 2010.
  9. Philip Fassing: Label merger. State Act and Audiolith become Audio Act ( Memento from November 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) . On intro.de , July 8, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  10. a b Tino Lange: Lars Lewerenz: The man behind the chip shop Interview with the Hamburger Abendblatt , published on August 13, 2010. Accessed on September 11, 2010.
  11. Audiolith Records receives “Goldenen Bauzaun”. Accessed on May 29, 2010.
  12. Hans Music Awards for Tocotronic, Fettes Brot, Audiolith, Reeperbahn Festival . Mediabiz.de. November 17, 2010. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
  13. ^ Peter Maxwill: Scandal at Nobel Prize Awards? - Nope, thanks! Spiegel Online , October 22, 2014, accessed October 22, 2014 .
  14. laut.de - In black