“When all music is digital, all independence ceases.” I suppose, what I’m trying to say is that whoever controls the digital platform controls the market. Whether it’s Google, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or Amazon, if all music is digital then at some point you will have to engage the digital platform for access. If you lose access to the platform, you lose access to the music. From an artists perspective, either you place your music where the people are, or you have to encourage people to find your music where you are. The first one is easy, the second is not so easy. But either way, the lack of scarcity in the…

Iron Man Records has had little choice, it has had to learn to adapt to digitalisation regardless. From 2004 until 2014 the label has seen a steady decline in physical sales both online and through physical outlets. From 2014 until 2017 this has continued at a faster rate and from 2017 to 2018 there has been a sharp drop, the decline has got much worse and deteriorated rapidly. This decline, which has accelerated in recent times, has effected not just Iron Man Records products, but all physical products the label makes available for sale. The physical distributors who take stock from Iron Man Records and distribute across the UK, Europe and…

“In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: Not necessarily to Win, but mainly to keep from Losing Completely.” Hunter S Thompson — Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time (1979) Hunter S. Thompson had many wise words that can be useful to anyone wanting to work in the music business. But I’ve always puzzled over a simple question “How did he know?” Independent can mean many different things. For Iron Man Records, an independent record label, it often means working hard and trying to turn available time and resources into…