It's touch and go (and closer to go) for today's indie labels

JIM CARROLLon music.

Last week Corey Rusk gave a preview of his own obituary. Rusk, the boss of Touch & Go, a longstanding and well-regarded Chicago indie label, made an announcement of changes in how his business would operate.

What Rusk said was that Touch & Go would stop providing manufacturing and distribution services to 23 other labels. What people thoughtthey heard was that Touch & Go was closing down, and the headstaggers kicked in.

The laments for the label, which had released records by The Jesus Lizard, Calixico, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Butthole Surfers, Slint and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, were a tad misguided. Touch Go will continue to operate as a label, with new albums from Crystal Antlers and Sholi on the way.

Yet there are a couple of points to be extrapolated from this saga, which show just how dismal the picture is for all sides of the record business.

We hear constantly from the big four major labels about their woes and watch as they continue to pick the wrong battles to fight. In contrast, many have assumed that the indie labels are in fine fettle because of lower overheads, frugal business practices and an ability to adjust quickly to change when it comes.

I wonder if many of the 23 labels now looking for a new distribution partner to replace Touch & Go would agree with that view. Even if they do find a surrogate partner, they’re unlikely to receive the same favourable terms that Touch & Go provided (in many cases, no upfront fees for manufacturing) and will be forced to cut back and make do with less.

To survive, indie labels have always needed to hustle to sell their wares. Yet the channels through which they can do this are becoming more restricted due to the economic shifts.

For example, Touch & Go and its peers depend on indie record stores to get the music out, and we all know that this sector is an endangered species. For instance, a quarter of UK indie shops went under in 2008.

Some argue that online stores or services such as Spotify can replace the traditional shop. But these innovations are unlikely (in the short to medium term) to match the revenue labels received from bricks-and-mortar set-ups. Cue more cutbacks at the labels to keep the show on the road, but there comes a time when you can’t cut back any more.

There’s also the fact that consumers themselves refuse to fess up to their own complicity in all of this.

Go read any online discussion about the troubles faced by Dublin’s Road Records and you’ll see many heartfelt tributes to the shop and its staff. Yet, on that same online site, those very same posters lamenting the passing of Road are looking for Rapidshare links to the new Animal Collective or Antony album. You can’t have your cake and eat it.

If music fans really want an indie sector and value what that’s all about, they have to support it and not cry crocodile tears when it disintegrates and vanishes. The alternatives aren’t there – try getting Tesco to stock low-volume Irish indie releases and see where it gets you.

• Jim Carroll is Revolver guest columnist. Brian Boyd returns next week