Back to Basics

If you've been reading my blog posts you will have noticed that Off with their Records has gone through a a bit of existential uncertainty over the last year or two. The record label started with a very specific purpose which was to promote the practice of downloading music. The reasons for this were twofold (skip the next paragraph if you're already familiar with my schtick):

Firstly, paid downloads are the way the Digital Revolution benefits independent labels and artists. The practice of streaming was backed by the big 3 record labels in response to the Digital Revolution because it benefited them, with their monolithic back catalogues and bespoke deals with Spotify, at the expense of us small, up-and-coming artists. You know independent artists get paid about £0.0024 per stream on Spotify, so if you're only listening to new music, where does the rest of your subscription fee go? It goes to the big 3 to pay for having their back catalogues. I repeat: direct paid downloads are the way independent labels and artists benefit most from the Digital Revolution ('subscription' models, such as Patreon, are also a promising development). Secondly, the practice of streaming breaks up and decontextualises music. The 'LP-era' was the era when the music industry became bigger than Hollywood, because music became so much more than 3-minute pop ephemera with interchangeable artists. The LP allowed popular music to become something deeper and more meaningful than it had been before. The practice of streaming throws us backwards, stripping music of what once elevated it. Digital downloads, or 'digibundles' as I call them, not only allow artists to release substantial, cogent works of art, they exponentially increase the possibilities for supporting artwork and artistic expression.

And so, when Off with their Records launched in 2017, it was meant to be entirely digital. In practice, however, I started making CDs and merch. Partly so that I had a physical token to sell at gigs that I could attach a download to, partly because people still wanted physical media at that time. Then, as the years marched on, things invariably sprawled. I found myself becoming embroiled in producing more and more physical media while physical media itself was becoming less and less popular. For example, in 2024 I produced about 200 CDs even though most people these days don't have a CD player, they don't even put CD drives into computers anymore. That's something which has changed markedly in the 8 years that the label has been operating. There has been a little surge in vinyl but these are expensive to produce and not in keeping with the label structure and ethos. Furthermore, the technology that tech companies produce has made streaming more and more convenient and downloads more and more inconvenient. I know my Marxist theory and this is dialectical materialism in action. The big 3 have undercut the Digital Revolution for their own gain. And so this left me in a real fluffery buffery as, over the last couple of years, I have questioned what I'm really doing with this label. Readers of this blog will see I've flip-flopped on various restructuring initiatives such as changing my website, moving to Bandcamp, developing an app and I've even considered backing off the label altogether. But, as I was thinking about my next release and as I start re-uploading my back catalogue due to my online sales platform shutting down, the clouds dispersed and it all became clear once again.

Off with their Records is going back to its roots. We are doubling down big time, baby. We are focusing once again on downloads, downloads, downloads. In practice, not a lot will apparently change, but in emphasis and intent we're back on brand. The website is being restructured to put emphasis on downloads. All our downloads will be presented on the front page. We are also improving all the downloads to make sure they are as good as they can be, truly fulfilling the label's vision of substantial 'digibundles' as a superior medium for experiencing music and artists. To facilitate this, we're moving to the sales platform, Shopify, which provides a better service for the purchase of paid downloads. Where we produce and sell merch it will be done in partnership with artists and investors, and a lot of our old merch will now be available only from gigs. And again we are re-emphasising that dialogue with you, the fans, is crucial. Downloads are better than streaming but the industry and the resultant technology is against us, we need feedback from you to make sure we're doing everything we can to make downloads viable and desirable. So please browse our downloads, buy something, let us know what you think, follow us on our socials and bookmark this website, come to our gigs and support our artists. Your enthusiasm fuels the art which feeds your soul.

Ryan Williamson - 14/03/2025 ideolog@hotmail.co.uk