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Indie Label Meet Market – Young Turks Vs. True Panther Vs. Terrible Records

We went to the Indie Label Meet Market to talk to three of the labels' head guys about whether it's disgusting to see who buys their music.

So this thing has been happening in the UK now for several years where the heads of independent music labels cluster up in one spot and hock their wares to the common folk. Last Saturday the market came to the States for the first time, so we met up with three of the labels’ head guys—Caius Pawson (The Young Turks), Dean Bein (True Panther), and Ethan Silverman (Terrible Records)—at some random pool hall/table tennis place in Greenpoint to talk about whether or not it’s disgusting to see who actually buys their music. They say no.

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VICE: So this is the first time this shindig has gone down in the good ol’ US of A. How were you chosen to be a part of it? 
Caius Pawson: The market sent out emails to a bunch of independent labels and we said yes, and some others said no. I thought it would be an enjoyable way to sell our records. Also, lots of our friends were there.
Ethan Silverman: I said yes right away, too. The only problem was there was a show in LA that I wanted to go to, but I flipped a coin and went with the label market.
CP: What show was it? Les Misérables?
ES: Yeah. I go to LA for musicals a lot.

Here is the main question I would like to get on the table: How annoying is it to deal with the public? I imagine this thing is similar to a comic con, where an endless stream of people come up to your table and question you about things and take ownership in what you make in this spazzy way. Was it like that?
ES: No one came up to me at the booth and said “you should have signed this” or “you should have put out this,” but if they had I think I would have been really interested in what they were saying. I probably would have been thankful and hired them.
CP: Everyone was very nice. I mean, if you don’t like a particular record label, you just don’t go up to their booth. Just like if you don’t like chicken, you don’t go to a chicken restaurant. No jerks.

People seem to get really attached to record labels, especially smaller ones, and consistently buy whatever they put out just because it’s on their label. Do you guys see that sort of loyalty?
CP: Not particularly. You want to back the artists and hope that an album is selling based on the strength of that artist, which is what seems to happen the most, I think.
ES: There are definitely artists I’ve checked out just because they were on certain labels. We don’t have as many releases as some others, but hopefully just seeing the name of the label would make you wanna check it out. If the name has a little bit of credibility, then that’s a good thing.

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Everyone is always bitching and moaning about “the state of the music industry.” Can you guys chime in on how things have or haven’t been changing in the world of music production and consumption? 
CP: When I started doing this six years ago people were saying that the music industry was fucked, so I don’t really know anything different.
ES: Anyone who’s ever told me that the music industry is fucked has been much older than me. That’s like something my aunt would say.
CP: It’s definitely one of the things that everyone wants to have an opinion on. Like you never really hear anyone saying “Oooh, the glue industry has really suffered.” Or like, “Ooooh, this paper manufacturer should really sort his game out, he’s really wasting money.”

Was it surprising at all to see the people coming up to your booths? Was there a disconnect between how you pictured the people who buy your records to look, and how they actually looked?
CP: It’s weird, because normally you make a record, and then you give it to the distributor to sell, and then it’s just out there. So meeting people is nice. And there’s a certain kind of person who goes to record fairs and stuff like that, so there was a broad range of people there. But not really.
ES: Yeah, and we’re based in Brooklyn. If we had done this in Texas we may have met some unknown people, but a lot of the people I saw I already sort of knew from shows and stuff.

Dean Bein from True Panther came in at this point. He was sweaty from eating chicken wings and riding his bicycle.

OK, so maybe you guys should ask Dean all of the questions I asked you, and I’ll just hold the tape recorder.
CP: Dean, who do you find to be annoying?
DB: Managers.
ES: Dean, did anyone who came up to you at the Independent Label Market chastise you about anything?
DB: The sense I got was that people didn’t really believe the people who ran the record labels were there. People were like, “So how long have you been working for True Panther?” And I was like, “Oh, well, since the beginning, I guess.”
ES: I did get a few people ask me when the next Grizzly Bear record was coming out, and that they loved me on the last tour. I was like “Oh, that’s the other leader of the label.”
CP: Dean, what’s an album that you really wish you could have released?
DB: Can it be before the creation of recorded music? Maybe something like Napoleon Raps.

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