Net label

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Internet labels , Netlabels or network or woven labels are music labels , their music only or mainly on the Internet selling. It is often self-organized , non-commercial projects by musicians and music lovers who make music available on the Internet using a corporate identity .

Economically, there are different forms: Either the music is offered exclusively in this way, or physical sound carriers are also offered and then mostly also promoted via the Internet , or there are so-called digital labels , offshoots mostly of major labels that also get through want to see purely web-oriented departments represented.

Origin and history

The first attempts were made in 1991 by musicians who made their music available in the Mod format. Parts of the net label movement can be understood as successors to the cassette underground of the 1980s or the CDR label scene of the 1990s.

Around 2003, a few net labels began charging small sums of money for their music. In relation to the number of existing and still rapidly increasing number of non-commercial netlabels, the number of such micropayment netlabels is still negligible. Payment is currently mostly made via PayPal .

In 2007 net labels (contrary to earlier forecasts) had a negligibly small market share of the entire music market, probably well below one percent. However, the number of net labels continues to grow continuously. Despite reports in daily and weekly newspapers as well as interviews and reports in radio programs, it cannot be assumed that net labels outside of the niches mentioned above will be more popular (perhaps due to the extensive range on offer). The net label idea is slowly but continuously being carried on by fans. For example, the net label scene in South America has grown considerably since 2006.

In 2006 an international net label festival with a focus on electronic music took place in the Rote Fabrik in Zurich .

The Internet Archive has been supporting the Netlabel scene since 2004 by archiving Creative Commons -licensed music free of charge and in a user-friendly manner. Some labels do not have their own website, but only make their music accessible via the Internet archive.

Self-image of Netlabels

For musicians, net labels are so far not very profitable or the publications usually remain without hope of any financial gain. Net label operators often see their projects as a hobby or a marketing tool .

Netlabels mainly compete with the offers of music streaming services or blogs that make music available free of charge. A distinction can be made whether the music is streamed or offered for download .

The net label scene, whether consciously or unconsciously, forms a kind of counterculture to the music and culture industry . Associated with this are the well-known uncertainties in current copyright law .

Background copyright

Often the pieces of music are under one of the Creative Commons licenses, because GEMA- licensed music, even if distributed free of charge, still requires the labels to be supported by the collecting societies, as long as the musicians registered with GEMA have not integrated an exclusion clause for network sales in their contract.

Since around March 2005, when the first mix of the Berlin mix-netlabel Zerinnerung (today Mixotic ) was published, there are several netlabels that have specialized in the DJing of Netaudio files. The Creative Commons licenses, under which a large part of the Netlabel publications are published, permit further use in mixes and radio streams from a legal point of view. The mixing of audio files using special hardware and software - such as Final Scratch or DJ CD players - is now also known.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Netlabels often see themselves as counterculture due to the lack of legitimation of musical activities based on the sale of physical sound carriers or they actually associate it with protest against the commercialization of music and thus criticism of capitalism in search of individual freedom in society. In this case, they are often active elsewhere with this goal.

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