Trendy labels feel the pinch

Walking the tightrope

Paris 

26/02/2007 - 

Although only a select few know who they are, they have been pretty successful overseas. They have names like Kitsuné, Diamond, Traxx and Versatile. But these small-scale French electro record labels are walking a financial tightrope.

Given that CDs are selling less and less, you might think that the smallest labels would be the first to get hit. In reality, it is the tough-as-nails multinationals that are merging and firing. France has a large number of small record labels, particularly in electronic music. One reason for this might the success of so many French disks at the end of the 1990s, a phenomenon known as the “French Touch”.

Some record houses profited directly, like Diamond Traxx, set up by Benjamin Diamond. Everyone remembers Music Sounds Better With You, the massive hit of 1998 by Stardust. "After Stardust’s success, I found myself pretty much on my own,” he says. “Out of sheer passion and necessity, I invested the money that I’d made in creating a label. It seemed right that money made by music should go back to music.”

The Daft Punk galaxy

Another label emerging from the “French Touch”, Versatile, was set up and funded by DJ Gilb’R. Its first maxi release in 1996, Disco Cubizm by I:Cube, did well, largely due to the remixing by two promising young producers called Daft Punk. The same Daft Punk, following their success on the multinational label, Virgin, each went on to create his own outfit: Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo set up Crydamoure, a house-style label (disbanded in 2006), and Thomas Bangalter set up Roulé, which leaned more towards techno.

Music Sounds Better With You was released on the Roulé label, co-authored under the Stardust name. Roulé’s manager, Gildas Loaëc, also took advantage of the hit’s success on this label, and went on to create his own in 2002, Kitsuné. The duo’s manager, Pedro Winter, followed suit the year after and set up Ed Banger. The hardest thing in the music industry is not making the jump, but staying the course. Paradoxically, Kitsuné initially made its name through compilations. Gildas Loaëc claims: “What takes time is searching and selecting. Not everyone has the time to go and rummage through specialised record shops or look up MySpace. The way people define what’s good about current production tends to be pretty arbitrary.” The Kitsuné compilations, a cocktail of rock and electro, led to the discovery of Hot Chip, The Klaxons and Digitalism, the latter being the first band to sign with the label.

Fragile finances

Other sought-after compilations come in the shape of the three D.I.R.T.Y. Diamond volumes, published by Diamond Traxx. Even if they brought recognition to the label, with some rare tracks from Nino Rota and Grace Jones, they weren’t a great commercial success – the first album sold 12000 and the other two 6000 copies each. If Diamond Traxx has managed to keep its head above water, it is thanks to artists like the Hushpuppies (20000 sales), which helped launch the pop group, Nelson. The record label secures two-thirds of its turnover overseas. For Ed Banger, 80% of sales are made abroad, thanks to musicians like DJ Mehdi and Justice. Financial grants from organisations like the French Music Export Office are their lifeblood.

“We only stopped losing money two years ago,” admits Benjamin Diamond, who doesn’t receive a salary from his own label. “I live off the remixes that I do and copyright fees, because I created my own music publishing business, Left Music.” These labels, which often employ less than five people, have made acting fast their trump card: they are capable of signing up an artist swiftly, pressing disks in line with demand, and sending records to the DJs that matter. 

Each label has its own musical identity, which leads to its own faithful following. Some of the companies were set up by musicians, like Record Makers by Air and Yellow by Bob Sinclar; others were created by record shops, like Karat. Fashions come and go in music, making these small record companies all the more reliant on an artist’s success, or lack of it. An example is the separation of The Eternals and the promising Octet from Diamond Traxx after just one album, putting the fragile finances of the label into turmoil. Others have called it a day after a few years, like Prozak Trax in 2004; or have been obliged to make cut backs, like F Communications in 2006.

They say you should never put all your eggs in one basket. Benjamin Diamond is developing his publishing activities, as is Pedro Winter, moving from music to image. Kitsuné has gone one step further. Since its creation in 2002, the brand name has concentrated not only on discography, but has also created a clothes line designed by Gildas Loaëc’s partner, Masaya Kuroki. The records sell, especially in the UK, but in Japan it is the clothes that go like hot cakes. You can listen to Kitsuné, dress in Kitsuné and some time soon you may buy Kitsuné cosmetics or even drink a glass of Kitsuné mineral water.

Nicolas  Dambre

Translation : Anne-Marie  Harper