Minimal Wave Records

Hi All -
Does any one on this forum who was in a band , form that band to become some kind of Useless Popstar ? To make a bag load of money , snort it all and be forgotten about in a Month? Or did they form a band to make some unusual noise that is unique to their own vision ?  As an Ex member of ATMM - we never made a cent when we were functional , we will get royalties from the sale of the Lp , but that figure is the business of Stephen , Mike & Myself . The point being - when we formed the band , we didn’t have a business plan ! We just wanted to piss Hippies off , and get a John Peel session (we succeded with the former)!
Regards All !  :wink:

[quote author=“Nogah”]I think Obscure was right when he pointed at ANNA Marc about him also making profit on substantual scale.
You can see how many people in this forum congratulate Marc with the Transparent Illusion release while no one seems to talk about the music or the artist.

first of all, welcome on board Nogah

what hasn’t been said about Transparent Illusion yet? it’s one of the most sought after records in the genre so i guess it wouldn’t be a problem if there’s no comments about the music, it has been discussed 10000 times before… i think you miss the point a bit…

also i’ve noticed there is some sort of competition between Anna/Transparent Illusion and obscure/Aspect Ratio, so let’s just make things clear!

1. Transparent Illusion. in conjunction with the foregoing, Marc & co did a great job of re-issuing the album. there is and always was a huge demand for that very special record and now you can buy it and have it on your shelves for the same price as any other one, not for $500 or something. no surprise it’s sold out in a month. and again, congratulations to Marc & co (and of course Roy), Anna really deserved the praise.

2. Aspect Ratio. there is zero to less than zero demand in this tape, we have to admit it. some bloke just recorded himself in the kitchen and called it “EXCELLENT U.S. MINIMAL SYNTH”. the tape sells the way it sells and the starting bid is $29.99. it’s kinda weird. so there’s nothing left for us besides taking the piss out of the bloke.

it’s as simple as that.

[quote author=“Nogah”]

However, I find it a little bit arrogant to claim that it is just Obscure doing this doubtful business.
Lets put it this way:
Real music lovers would nowadays benefit the most from cheap and widely available digital downloads.
What we see in this small market is mostly collectable items.
Lets get real: 500 copies worlwide for the most releases in this genre is done to make it more exclusive.
Vinyl is clearly an old fashioned medium which also claims unnessecary resources and energy.
Most musicians I know are also completely uninterested in vinyl and cassettes.
So who’s market is this ?
The musicians or the labels ?
I think Obscure was right when he pointed at ANNA Marc about him also making profit on substantual scale.
You can see how many people in this forum congratulate Marc with the Transparent Illusion release while no one seems to talk about the music or the artist.

Bloggers, label managers, illegal downloaders and distributors:
I’ve heard them all say they work for the benefit of the artists but is this realy the case ?
I personally doubt that.

Now I said time to pull the curtain on this thread if it is just about Young Stephen posting his weekly one digit record sales figures, but here’s a new angle.  :wink:

Well let’s get a bit philosophical: I say nobody is ever doing anything for others without wanting to get something in return. This needn’t be cars, yachts or tons of money of course. In Mother Theresa’s case e.g. it might have been the hope of a place in Heaven and the recognition of her fellow human beings.

So like most of us, a label owner might not be completely unhappy about getting a “well done” pad on their back. And there might even be some who occasionally make money in this scene where “It was a complete success. We only lost a tiny bit of money this time round.” is a rather common statement.

And without the bloggers and the labels most bands that got released of late probably would still be completely unknown and unable to shift more than 3 or 4 copies.

Nogah, when you say 500 copies is about exclusiveness then you might not be aware of the reality of this market. Mostly 500 is not about artificial shortage but a rather ambitious sales target instead.

In this scene, people are rather prepared to spend € 15 on a vinyl release with some cover art than less than that on a couple of mp3s because that way they feel they are purchasing something of a higher value. Now if artists feel this is the wrong way for them, they’re free to open up an mp3 store anywhere on the internet and see if it works out for them. Amen.  8)

If anyone wants to support bands monetarily then you can put your money where your mouths are this weekend. 

100% of this weeks All the Madmen purchase will go directly to the band as I said yesterday. 

And since I posted that no one has bid, and as always there are a ton of people watching the auction.

When it ends we will see how much the people who say they care about supporting bands actually care. 

And both the band members are on here so they can confirm the receipt of the money.

And duetschmark how do you explain all the copies of the Aspect Ratio tape that I have sold and

mailed to European minimal synth collectors in the last few weeks.

Also also how do you explain all the people with the Aspect Ratio tape on their favourite search every week?

You call that zero to less than zero demand ?! 

When Roy Young made the Transparent Illusion LP he quit making music due to lack of sales.

Deutschmark, the reason that there are no Transparent Illusion Chagrin Receiver LP, and Guilty Rich Man 7” is because of haters like you.
I plan on doing the opposite.  So here is another artist you can support. 

As I said in the auction all the money made from selling the tape is going to put out the LP.
Then after that I will use all the money made selling the LP to buy a good synth.

And then I will record another LP.

Stephen
obscure identities

In fact, people, if you really want to support the artists involved in All the Madmen, I’m sure you can pm them and ask for their account numbers… releasing music has never been about charity and artists generally don’t do it in order to fund their next pint or whatever. If Stephen wants his label to generate income he’s hardly the first person in the industry so inclined.

Correct, but hardly the point.

Point is other labels seem to care about the artists at least to some extend (fans gone label owners) but don’t say so on a permanent basis while Young Stephen doesn’t but is the first and foremost person to pretend he does saying he’s only doing it for the bands.

Hey, is it only me or weren’t you a tad more hostile towards that greedy Bunny?  8)

Whether Stephen’s label is less concerned with the well-being of the artists than is the case with other labels is a) a side issue to the discussion about the business model b) hard to tell based on the current facts… Given that the artists seemed happy the record was coming out after 30 years, and it now has, perhaps they do not share your disappointment on their behalf? I didn’t see them openly confront Stephen in this thread at least.

I don’t remember being hostile towards Astralbunny, but I’ve already opened one can of worms…

Now watcha mean, disappointment?

An artist always has the choice what to do with their art, they can burn it, they can open an mp3 store, they can have it released on Megalomania is Us Records…

...it’s just that in some cases they will have one customer less, that’s all.  8)

And what “can of worms”? I hear the entertainment channel has gone back up on MW Networks…  :D

Yeah, sorry bout the worms bit. Slight case of heartburn (well, also this thread had branches in all directions as it was without us starting a lengthy debate about what went on in another thread)...

So. Anyway. Where was I? Oh yeah. Peace out.

MadMan2 wrote:

“As an Ex member of ATMM - we never made a cent when we were functional ,”

“never made a cent”, ermm… shouldn’t that be “never earned a penny”? I thought you, All The Mad Men, were English?  :?

Never made a cent ,centime ,zloty, penny,pfennig, whatever the smaller denomination of a Gilder was , Martian zaxloid , not a bean . :cry:
I am still English , though! :D

Yes ATM were English, and indeed still are. With a touch of Irish heritage thrown in of course. Never made a cent, or a penny, or a sheckel, or any other coin you care to mention. :x

hi Neale!

Shalom ! MIchael !! 

I love Neale, what a guy.

Don’t care for the drama surrounding this release/label/guy. Really lame in fact. A lot of you take this whole thing way too fucking seriously.

Aspect Ratio is straight up garbage. I’m not missing the point or failing to appreciate the value of DIY minimal synth or whatever misplaced label you’d want to apply to it. It’s silly garbage and that’s not up for debate.

Hat’s off to the invisible man for managing to sell it though.

I’m tempted to make a recording of my balls bouncing around on a keyboard while I utter the first lyrics that come to my mind, in my best ‘cold, emotion-free’ voice. There’s money to be made and I want in.