A netlabel (also online label, web label, digi label, MP3 label or download label) is a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

that distributes its music through

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...

formats (such as MP3, Ogg Vorbis,

FLAC FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference software p ...

, or

WAV Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced "wave") is an audio file format standard, developed by IBM and Microsoft, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Microsoft Win ...

) over the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. While similar to traditional record labels in many respects, netlabels typically emphasize free distribution online, often under licenses that encourage works to be shared (e.g.,

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

licenses), and artists often retain

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

. Netlabels may have a considerably lower staff count than traditional record labels, in some instances being only a single individual in control of their music, maintaining sole ownership. Physical LPs, for example, are rarely produced by a netlabel, relying entirely on digital distribution and means of the

to provide the product. Having no physical product makes the running costs of a netlabel considerably less than a traditional record label and some netlabels have abandoned any financial model altogether and instead, running the netlabel as a hobby. Some employ guerrilla marketing to promote their work.

History

Online music groups date back almost as far as the history of personal computers, and share close ties with

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s and the demoscene. Early music groups released music in

MOD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

formats, typically as part of a

music disk Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

, which often included a MOD player, visual effects, and textual information. Netlabels began to branch out from the tracker scene when the lossy MP3 file format became popular in the late 1990s. Some are still dedicated to

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

and related genres, though this is rapidly changing and the quality of downloads are getting higher with the use of FLAC downloads offering CD quality uncompressed music. Most of the original netlabels have now ceased operations. Only a few of the originators of the movements are still currently active, and releasing in the same format, like Eerik Inpuj Sound, Upitup Records, 50/50innertainment Records, Kahvi Collective, Bedroom Research, Acroplane and Phonocake.

References

External links

How to Start a Netlabel
Wikihow article
Soundshiva.net
Opensource catalogue of netlabels and releases
Netlabels and democratization of the recording industry
Academic article on netlabels
clongclongmoo Netlabel List
overview of active and archived labels
Netlabel #hot100 Charts

Netlabels.org
Resource for netlabel and netaudio culture with screenshots, reviews and releases
NetlabelArchive.org
A archive site that hosts inactive netlabels
Limited edition release 2007/2017
quantum-bit.it {{Independent production Record labels Music industry Open content

History

See also

References

External links