Elektronauts (Forum Members) Record Label

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

I found a couple of threads on the forum from back in 2015 about the Elektronauts label but they were short lived so here we go…

Here is my bright idea :wink:

Elektronauts Record Label Brief.

  • All profits go to a music charity.

  • Format will be V/A LP digital releases + Original Artwork.

  • Number of tracks TBC.

  • Occasional limited Vinyl releases.

  • Quarterly or Bimonthly release schedule.

  • Open to all Elektronauts Forum members.

  • Music and Artwork will be created and voted by the forum, most votes make the cut.

  • Submission and voting schedules will follow release schedule with 1 month / 6 week submission window followed by a two week / 1 month voting round. Allowing a two week window to prepare the release.

A quick search on Bandcamp for “Elektronauts” bought me to this release page:
https://elektronauts.bandcamp.com/releases only 1 release in 2015.

Not sure if this is an official Elektron profile or not. If so maybe we could revive it.

Anyway, what do you guys think, doable?

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#2

What an awesome idea!

I can also offer to volunteer my time to add cassette releases if the community sees fit. @LyingDalai can vouch for the quality here :wink:

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#3

Brilliant idea. And @HisMostDarxxxellent’s cassette idea is also fantastic. Is there an email or contact listed on the Bandcamp profile?

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#4

It’s doable if someone is going to be perseverant in making it work. Collecting music will be the easy part. Organizing mastering, artwork, promotion etc is the hard part in the long run.

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#5

Yes that could be great

There’s links to elektron website and social media links and a contact form that I can see

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#6

Where are you based? US?

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#7

For sure, but maybe we can gather a good team and make it a cool project. I’m sure there’s plenty of capable people in this community.

Yes, Mastering will be a challenge I think, Artwork we will have plenty of submissions.

Not sure we need to worry too much, forum members will no doubt be more than happy to spread the word :slight_smile:

#8

Spain, Barcelona

#9

Ah. I’m states. Here, to do it right, would require forming a special non profit corp with a board and what not. I could help on the governance side if this path is desirable. (Or other ways if not)

#10

Yes, I’m assuming because of the charity part?
Not sure what laws are like here, but maybe a basic agreement with all artists and anonymous or unofficial (struggling for terms here) donations could suffice?

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#11

Correct. To avoid tax risk for whoever ends up collecting money. To give governance to money in and out (let’s say we have to pay for raw cassette tapes if not donated). Etc.

(Sidebar I just realized how silly my US question was given it’s 6:30am on the east coast, I’m probably the only ‘naut in this country awake)

#12

I’d be really happy to help out with this too.

I work as an English Teacher but went part time recently to allow myself to explore other interests. So I have time and - hopefully - language skills.

I’m really interested to see how this would work.

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#13

Thats awesome :slight_smile:

Indeed, curious to see too if this gets any traction, I think it could be a cool project

#14

Should also mention that I am based in the UK. I guess that global working is possible these days.

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#15

If we get enough interest and enough volunteers we could maybe look to connect and discuss it further, see if we could actually make it work

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#16

Yeah, sure.

I’m really eager and intrigued by this whole project? I think exploring it may answer many questions I have about the whole area of record labels and promotion. :thinking:

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#17

Assuming there’s enough interest to even get it going in the first place, Music, Artwork and Time will need to all be donated.
For promotion I think we can rely on organic traffic, we certainly don’t need to worry about running ads or anything of the like.
We will of course need key people in charge of various aspects, but none of it is “hard”, just needs to be organised.

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#18

I run a design agency, and would be happy to put some time into creating artwork and brand identity.

I remember seeing someone on this forum offering free mastering at one point. they were starting out, but it might be in the community spririt.

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#19

It sounds like you’ve to a good overview of the complexities and responsibilities involved. I’m happy to play a part that would be beneficial to its success.

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#20

Also something to think about is a creative direction . - manifesto of sorts. I’ve seen a lot of community projects go astray because of subjectivity.

Creating an objective framework for deciding

  • what direction releases take
  • what gets released / who makes the cut
  • authorial policy for artwork and brand

There will need to be some sort of accepted authorial voice. Whether that is a person or a set of guidelines, a voting mechanism - it needs to have a pre-agreed structure or things can turn sour, even with only good intentions.

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