Some musicians have become so annoyed with record companies that they have started their own record label. So who are these pioneers of independent music companies?
Joan Jett
Joan Jett and her partner Kenny Laguna, started their own independent record label, Blackheart Records, that represents Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Endless Bummer, Girl in a Coma, The Cute Lepers, The Dollyrots, The Eyeliners and The Vacancies.
G.E. Smith
Remember guitarist G.E. Smith who used to head up the Saturday Night Live Band? Smith and his partner Taylor Barton started their own independent record label Green Mirror in 1995. Smith and Barton have several of their own solo CDs for sale they also offer soundtrack writing and promotional services.
Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco began Righteous Babe Records in the early ‘90s and currently represents musicians such as Erin McKeown, Utah Phillips, Hamell on Trial, Anais Mitchell, Buddy Wakefield, Toshi Reagon, Drums and Tuba, Andrew Bird, Botch and Animal, That 1 Guy, Arto Lindsay, Kurt Swinghammer, Sara Lee, Sekou Sundiata and Michael Meldrum.
Jonatha Brooke
Jonatha Brooke, formerly of the band The Story, started Bad Dog Records to publish her own music. Brooke’s CDs include The Works, Careful What You Wish For, Live in New York, Back in the Circus and Steady Pull.
Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann Started SuperEgo Records and United Musicians with Til Tuesday bandmate Michael Hausman and Mann’s husband Michael Penn. Other United Musicians include Pete Droge, Acoustic Vaudville, The Honeydogs, Julian Coryell and Patton Oswald. From their website, “United Musicians is founded on the principle that every artist should be able to retain copyright ownership of the work he or she has created and that this ownership is the basis for artistic strength and true independence.”
Sun Kil Moon
Caldo Verde Records was founded in 2005 by Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon frontman Mark Kozelek. This San Francisco based indie label represents Mark Kozelek, Sun Kil Moon, Corrina Repp, Retribution Gospel Choir, Jesu and Kath Bloom.
