Support the Campaign
SHED Records
SHED Records 2011
‘As a small label, it is a simple question of how long we can continue to release new exciting music if widespread illegal downloading continues.’
SHED Records
SHED Records is a small independent label. The majority of their releases to date have been digital but they are now moving on to physical album releases. They invest between £3500- £4500 per single release which pays for production, mastering, radio plugging, TV plugging, promotion to UK DJs, online PR, and much more.
The Head of Label at SHED Records explained the difficulties independent labels face in recouping this investment:
“A good example would be the Kev Willow Dub Step remix of Natisse’s single 'Follow Me'. It achieved nearly 400,000 hits on just one YouTube Channel and the feedback from the listeners has been very positive. Yet in the first six months after release, we have earned $32.70 - equivalent to approximately 58 sales/downloads. This particular remix is also on numerous other sites. So based on these poor sales figure, we can only conclude that the single is being downloaded in vast numbers illegally.
“As a small label it is a simple question of how long we can continue to release new exciting music if this continues. We will not be the only label in this position and ultimately the music lover will suffer if we go under.”
SHED Records has been taking this issue into schools by running 'Support The Music' workshops that explain to students the people and processes involved in taking a simple song idea, through to record release and beyond. For further details, you can watch a recent BBC Newsround report which followed one of the workshops. Many of the 14 year olds openly admit that they had no idea how much effort goes into the process of releasing new music.
More than 300,000 people work in the music, visual and performing arts in the UK photo imaging industry, 135,000 of whom are self-employed. In total, the industry is worth more than £3 billion to the UK economy (DCMS). According to the BPI (the British Recorded Music Company) the UK suffers badly from online piracy as its recording industry is the second biggest in global terms. Online copyright infringement was estimated to have cost the UK music sector an estimated £200m in 2009, with some 7.3 million people engaged in unlawful file sharing. Between the years 2007 and 2012 the cumulative cost to artists and music companies will be £1.2bn.