The Cartel was a co-operative record distribution organisation in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, set up by a number of small

independent record labels An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

to handle their distribution to record shops. Pooling their resources in this way allowed them to compete with the larger distribution operations of the major record labels, and also to gain access to the larger shop chains. The association of regional distributors included some of the most notable labels of the 1980s UK

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

and

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

scene: Rough Trade, Backs, Fast Forward, Nine Mile, Probe, Revolver and

Red Rhino Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

Indie labels and distribution

The 1980s music scene in the UK saw a growth in small independent record labels or "indies", often formed by bands themselves, or by local record shops. The cost of technology and studio time was falling, making it possible to produce an album for a budget that didn't need the backing of an established label. Recording, publishing and pressing a record was now accessible to small labels, but distributing them into the shops was still difficult. The market at this time was based on vinyl, both albums and singles being important. Most record shops were still independent, i.e. local, rather than national chains. This required a wholesale distribution network that had national reach to these individual shops. Regional distributors appeared, offering pressing and distribution deals to the small labels that would reach all of the shops in a region. Shops preferred to deal with only a handful of distributors and so the small distributors agreed to also distribute each other's stock, segregating the market by the geography of the shops, rather than by the content or particular labels. This was the beginning of the idea behind the Cartel.

Richard Scott and Tony K

The architect of the Cartel was Richard Scott of London's Rough Trade. Tony Kostrzewa (always known as "Tony K") of York's

label. Tony K, who had a long career in music retail and publishing had started Red Rhino as a record shop in 1977, then made its first release as a label in 1979. By this time Rough Trade were already operating as a distributor which included supplying Red Rhino's shop. The Cartel regional distribution structure included Backs (Norwich), Fast Forward (Edinburgh), Nine Mile (Leamington Spa), Probe (Liverpool), Revolver (Bristol),

(York) and Rough Trade (London), together with

Jungle Records Jungle Records is a British independent record label formed in 1982, specialising in punk rock, post punk, gothic and alternative releases. From 1982 to 1986 they were also active as a record distributor and were associate members of the C ...

(London) who supplied the nationwide Our Price Records chain until 1986. By 1984 the Cartel had enough success with bands like

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

, Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins,

Pigbag Pigbag were a British post-punk band, best known for their instrumentals, active between 1980 and 1983. Origin and formation Pigbag were formed in Cheltenham in late 1980 by Chris Hamlin, a fashion student at Cheltenham Art College. Hamlin ...

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

Vice Squad A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tr ...

and many others to move to a large warehouse in

Kings Cross, London Kings Cross is a district on either side of Euston Road, in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Barnsbury to the north, Clerkenwell and Islington to the east, Holborn to the south and Euston to the west. It is ser ...

. This was the peak of the Cartel's influence. Not only were they an effective distributor, but they were having an influence on the music itself, and the rise of "indie". As more of the mainstream retailers began to take product from the Cartel, this gave more exposure to independent labels' releases through these high-street shops. As many of them were the same shops who returned sales figures to the chart pollsters, indie releases featured more highly in the charts.

Demise of the Cartel

Bill Drummond William Ernest Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was a co-founder of the late-1980s avant-garde pop group the KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with wh ...

and Jimmy Cauty of

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...

described the Cartel thus, "The Cartel is, as the name implies, a group of independent distributors across the country who work in conjunction with each other providing a solid network of distribution without stepping on each other's toes. We are distributed by the Cartel." By the time this was published though, the Cartel had already collapsed. At the end of 1988, Red Rhino Distribution Ltd. folded, going into voluntary liquidation in 1989, followed by Fast Forward in early 1990 and Rough Trade in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartel Indie rock record labels