World Serpent Distribution was a
British record label and music distribution house formed in the 1990s by David Gibson, Alan Trench and Alison Webster.
Douglas Pearce of
Death In June coined the company name in 1991,
''World Serpent'' being another name for
Jörmungandr.
Founding
World Serpent was well known for distributing music by many
post-industrial
In sociology, the post-industrial society is the stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy.
The term was originated by Alain Touraine and is closely related to s ...
,
apocalyptic folk,
neofolk
Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumenta ...
,
avant-garde and otherwise esoteric or experimental artists, such as
Death In June through
NER,
Current 93 through
Durtro,
Sol Invictus through Tursa,
Coil through
Threshold House,
Nurse With Wound through
United Dairies,
Zone through
Potentia
Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italy, Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania).
Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital an ...
,
Elijah's Mantle through
De Nova Da Capo,
Orchis through
Cryptanthus
''Cryptanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae. The genus name is from the Greek ''cryptos'' (hidden) and ''anthos'' (flower). The genus formerly had two recognized subgenera: the type subgenus ...
,
Ozymandias through
Ramses Records
Ramesses may refer to:
Ancient Egypt Pharaohs of the nineteenth dynasty
* Ramesses I, founder of the 19th Dynasty
* Ramesses II, also called "Ramesses the Great"
** Prince Ramesses (prince), second son of Ramesses II
** Prince Ramesses-Merya ...
and many others. Many of these artists also ended up collaborating with or being influenced by one another, causing the ''World Serpent'' name to become synonymous with many of the artists and labels distributed through the company during the early 1990s.
Bankruptcy
Following a long period of rumours,
Boyd Rice left World Serpent Distribution. He was followed shortly thereafter by
Douglas Pearce, Richard Leviathan and Albin Martinek. Subsequently, fewer and fewer releases began to be distributed by World Serpent, leading to much fan speculation. In October 2002, a claim filed by Pearce in 2000 was successfully settled out of court, resulting in Pearce receiving unpaid royalties from the Court Funds Office. Pearce also gave back his shares in the company he had helped form, but was no longer interested in or affiliated to. Founder Alan Trench left World Serpent Distribution at the end of 2003. It was confirmed in August 2004 that World Serpent Distribution was no longer operating and had gone bankrupt.
Many artists distributed through World Serpent, such as
Chris and Cosey
Chris & Cosey, sometimes known as Carter Tutti, are a musical duo formed in 1981, consisting of couple Chris Carter (electronics) and Cosey Fanni Tutti (electronics, guitar, cornet), both previously (and currently the sole surviving) members o ...
, had not been informed by the company and may still be owed past dues.
See also
*
List of record labels
References
{{Authority control
British record labels
Record labels disestablished in 2004
Industrial record labels
Experimental music record labels