Over the past fourteen years, the Electric label has released records by artists as diverse as Dahlia Schweitzer and Angie Bowie, as well as being involved in licensing releases with third party labels such as EMI, Virgin, Polydor/Universal, Sony, WEA, One Little Indian, Sanctuary, Rhythm of Life, and many others.

The label has been through several manifestations in this time. It began life as the offshoot label of Subterraneans' production company Audio London Music. When ALM evolved into Chromotempera Music in the mid-1990s, the Electric Label became the imprint of Chromotempera's "parent"  record company, Osceola Records. Following the dissolution of Chromotempera in 2001, Osceola became the sole administrator of the Electric Label, and a programme of reorganisation was begun, starting with the signing of Angie Bowie's Moon Goddess album. Meanwhile, Subterraneans took a sabbatical from releasing their own records on the label, instead issuing their 2001 album Pandora's Box through Rhythm of Life, but returned to the fold in 2002 with the establishment of The Electric Label's online store. The release of Subterraneans' rarities collection Orly Flight marked the end of the Osceola "umbrella". In 2003 it was decided that The Electric Label had come of age, and it's transition from indie imprint to a fully fledged ethical media group was begun.

The Electric Label's spiritual and physical home has always been Camden Town in North London. The label's current base in Chalk Farm is less than ten minutes walk from it's original address in Camden High Street. Some things never change...

In addition to the record label itself, the Electric Label now encompasses a publishing house, Hampstead House, and a film production unit, Vivid Pictures. There are also now plans to develop an in-house booking agency through a client deal with TicketWeb.

Subterraneans

The Electric Label still releases the music of Subterraneans, and is the exclusive copyright controller of all Subterraneans recorded output since 1992. The Electric Label has recently licensed the band's latest album Soul Mass Transit to Cadiz Music. Subterraneans are our band, and we are their label. Whilst we are involved in many other activities, our primary concern remains the recorded work of Subterraneans.

Dahlia Schweitzer

Dahlia Schweitzer is signed to the Electric Label on a rolling licence from her own company Lovergirl Inc. Her copyright is controlled exclusively by Lovergirl Inc.

iTunes

The Electric Label catalogue available through iTunes is represented by Cadiz (Subterraneans) and Tunecore (all other digital licensing). Our arrangements with iTunes remains separate from our other digital music retail licences, which are represented by Resonance/Simbiotic/The Stableyard.


Important Notice

The Electric Label is not a major record company, nor is it a tin-pot multimedia "empire". We are in the business of music, not the music "business". As such we do not accept any unsolicited demos from new artists, however much we'd like to, we simply do not have the time, money and resources to devote to it. This is a strict policy. In short, we do not listen to demos so please don't send them. To solicit material to The Electric Label, please send an email to the A&R contact below, telling us who you are, what you have done in the past, and your future plans. If we think we can assist you in any way, we will contact you and invite you to submit your material to us.

A statement from The Electric Label regarding the MCPS AP2 mechanical licence policy

The Electric Label hereby gives notice that it will no longer find acceptable any UK CD manufacturer who adheres to the MCPS’s AP2 mechanical licence policy. In this day and age we consider it outrageous that a body such as MCPS sees fit to impede the creation and release of new music by imposing such a rule on independent labels, artists, distributors and manufacturers. Things in this business are hard enough for all of us without being required to find – in ADVANCE – the money to pay mechanical royalties upon the manufacture of unsold units. As such we will now enforce a strict policy of our own against using any UK manufacturer that requires an AP2 licence from MCPS, even in the event of a Notification of No Claim. We will, instead, be paying a MINIMUM artist royalty of 50% of the PPD to ALL of our artists on ALL units sold. Where the net remuneration per unit exceeds the PPD, such as online sales, The Electric Label will pay a minimum artist royalty of 50% of the total sale price. Where an Electric Label artist is under licence to a third party record company, the Electric Label’s share of the artist royalty will NEVER exceed 10% of the net artist royalty under the third party agreement.

We do this in the hope that other labels may follow our example. The relationship between independent labels and their artists is symbiotic, and it is not in the interests of either that labels be financially penalised for taking a chance on new talent. We will leave the money grabbing in the domain of the majors, where it belongs. May they choke on it.

Email Contacts

General Enquiries: info@electriclabel.net
Licensing and Administration: electriclabel@london.com