New Album News - Back in Studio Jan 2010

[Preferred B]

New Scranton interview with John here:

 

http://www.theweekender.com/cover/Wilco__the_interview__03-23-2010.html

 

They're back in the studio this summer, which I think we knew, but the plans to leave Nonesuch are news to me:

 

Stirratt said Wilco will begin work on its next studio album this summer. And it will again represent a transition for the band: Wilco, whose contract is up, will not return to its label, he said.

 

“I don’t think we’re going to make a record for Nonesuch again,” said Stirratt. “I think that’s big news for our band. … We’ll figure out if we’ll self-release or go somewhere else. So label-wise, that’s really exciting. There’s kind of a lot happening, even though we won’t have a record out (this year).”

[Rusty Shackleford]

That's sort of surprising about Nonesuch. I'd never heard that they were dissatisfied with them.

 

Then again, maybe they're just dissatisfied with the whole process of dealing with a label at all. They're at a point where they don't really need the headache. They know how to make records, and their fans know how to find them.

[SarahC]

That's sort of surprising about Nonesuch. I'd never heard that they were dissatisfied with them.

 

Then again, maybe they're just dissatisfied with the whole process of dealing with a label at all. They're at a point where they don't really need the headache. They know how to make records, and their fans know how to find them.

 

I think not being tied to a label might help new material come out faster. It might also allow for more experimental music.

 

Very exciting!!

[Beltmann]

Definitely surprising news about leaving Nonesuch... could be exciting.

[Central Scrutinizer]

They could also be shopping for a more mainstream label, figuring the fan base is reaching critical mass for a major release.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Or not even mainstream, but just a better fit. Nonesuch is primarily classical, jazz, world music and older artists; they might want a label that is a bit more familiar with their market.

[mpolak21]

Interesting news. I guess record labels are almost completely irrelevant now, particularly with a band the size of Wilco's profile, but I thought Wilco was a great fit with Nonesuch. A label that specializes in album releases, that has Warner distribution, and can get their records to people.

 

They could also be shopping for a more mainstream label, figuring the fan base is reaching critical mass for a major release.

 

Didn't Wilco The Album open at like number four in the charts? All of their Nonesuch albums opened in the top twenty, it's not like they were toiling away on Drag City or something. I am not sure how much more mainstream they can get unless they want Taylor Hicks on their next album.

[aricandover]

Wilco (the Label)

[Taylor Hicks]

I am not sure how much more mainstream they can get unless they want Taylor Hicks on their next album.

[rockinrob]

I dont really think wilco's recent success has much to do with the label. It is them consistently playing killer shows and winning over fans one at a time on the road, who come back and bring more fans.

 

The standard contract with a record label is a 90%/10% split in favor of the label. All expenses must be paid out of the band's ten (recording costs, etc.) before the band makes any of the 10%. I dont know if Wilco's is like this, but the vast majority of contracts are. The main benefit of having a label is for physical distribution, marketing and as something like a bank. Since wilco to me seems like they have never been really marketed too much (I dont know how they get songs in movies and commercials, but I believe it has to do more with the fact that it seems like every real music fan is a wilco fan and the music directors for movies and commercials are probably music fans so they like wilco) they only really benefit from a label's distribution. They could start releasing their own records for the band and all of their projects themselves. This would mean they wouldnt be able to get any money to make a record or pay their bills, but since they own their own studio and it seems like they arent probably borrowing against future revenues to fund things, they probably dont need it. If they released their own stuff, they would get a MUCH larger cut, and they could work out a distribution only deal with a larger label like most indie record labels have and their records could make it to stores.

 

If I was a betting man, I would bet that is what they are going to do. I think it would be a good thing. They have developed a rabid fan base through decades of hard work. Music magazines and reviewers pay attention to every move they make, so they dont need a team of people to get the word out about their new records, WE do that for them. A record label really doesnt offer any of services that wilco needs and could net get elswhere.

[Terrapin Ben]

with the advent of the acoustic set in last nights concert, think we might get a stripped down, country influenced album? i think it'd be lovely.

[Central Scrutinizer]

I dont really think wilco's recent success has much to do with the label. It is them consistently playing killer shows and winning over fans one at a time on the road, who come back and bring more fans.

 

The standard contract with a record label is a 90%/10% split in favor of the label. All expenses must be paid out of the band's ten (recording costs, etc.) before the band makes any of the 10%. I dont know if Wilco's is like this, but the vast majority of contracts are. The main benefit of having a label is for physical distribution, marketing and as something like a bank. Since wilco to me seems like they have never been really marketed too much (I dont know how they get songs in movies and commercials, but I believe it has to do more with the fact that it seems like every real music fan is a wilco fan and the music directors for movies and commercials are probably music fans so they like wilco) they only really benefit from a label's distribution. They could start releasing their own records for the band and all of their projects themselves. This would mean they wouldnt be able to get any money to make a record or pay their bills, but since they own their own studio and it seems like they arent probably borrowing against future revenues to fund things, they probably dont need it. If they released their own stuff, they would get a MUCH larger cut, and they could work out a distribution only deal with a larger label like most indie record labels have and their records could make it to stores.

 

If I was a betting man, I would bet that is what they are going to do. I think it would be a good thing. They have developed a rabid fan base through decades of hard work. Music magazines and reviewers pay attention to every move they make, so they dont need a team of people to get the word out about their new records, WE do that for them. A record label really doesnt offer any of services that wilco needs and could net get elsewhere.

 

There is a tier of marketing and distribution that all but the largest labels can't touch. There comes a time when an artist is approached as commodity as opposed to performer, however talented or essential the artist may be. Nonsuch couldn't handle that. It could be Tweedy and the band expected more out of W(TA), and it didn't come.

 

A DIY approach makes sense, but not from a distribution standpoint. There's not much to be gained moving from Nonsuch to this, because a label would probably demand more of a cut of distribution because they're not getting a taste of the other aspects. IMHO

[mpolak21]

There is a tier of marketing and distribution that all but the largest labels can't touch. There comes a time when an artist is approached as commodity as opposed to performer, however talented or essential the artist may be. Nonsuch couldn't handle that. It could be Tweedy and the band expected more out of W(TA), and it didn't come.

 

Where's your source on this?

[willywoody]

I bet they end up with Dave Matthews' label, at least in a distribution move.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Yeah, with a major label they might finally make the cover of Spin, have their own episode of ACL, or a profile on CBS Sunday Morning!

[mpolak21]

Yeah, with a major label they might finally make the cover of Spin, have their own episode of ACL, or a profile on CBS Sunday Morning!

 

Their last album only sold 99,000 copies in its first week, opened up at a career best number four...

Wilco The Album beats Off The Wall

 

Reminds me of an old Weird Al interview: "''My seventh album went gold instead of platinum. I had to get the medium-sized Jacuzzi!''

[Dude]

Is Nonesuch not a major? It's under the Warner umbrella. It's hard to imagine them having better distribution than that.

[willywoody]

Their last album only sold 990,000 copies in its first week, opened up at a career best number four...

Wilco The Album beats Off The Wall

 

Reminds me of an old Weird Al interview: "''My seventh album went gold instead of platinum. I had to get the medium-sized Jacuzzi!''

 

that's 99,000.

[mpolak21]

that's 99,000.

 

Sure is.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Just so we're clear, the guy who wrote this:

 

I don't mean this as a criticism of his review -- or of other reviews -- but it begins to grate that 20% of any review or story on this band requires a retelling of Wilco's most common, obtuse history. "from alt-country ashes" art rock, "genre-defying," "record-label-fighting" yada yada yada . If the reader doesn't know any of this, why on earth would they be reading? Anyone with the musical basis to consider listening to Wilco would know this already.

 

Also wrote this:

 

There is a tier of marketing and distribution that all but the largest labels can't touch. There comes a time when an artist is approached as commodity as opposed to performer, however talented or essential the artist may be. Nonsuch couldn't handle that. It could be Tweedy and the band expected more out of W(TA), and it didn't come.

[rockinrob]

what I meant by my post is that wilco is at a point where a major label could invest a bunch of money in marketing and make them bigger. But a label takes a lot to all of the money from a band's record sales. And they have strong demands in terms of both artistic, production, and implementation. They aren't currently and have never seen a lot of hardcore marketing, but they have continuously built a fan base by their own hard touring work.

 

Not having a label will allow them to make more money from their releases, and will let them have the control they want. The marketing will continue because everyone in the music industry is interested in the band. Writers write about wilco because they like them, and they will be in music magazines. They would have to set up a side distribution deal to get their records out to the walmart in the middle of Alaska, etc (you get my drift) but the terms would be much more favorable. The label just has to use their contacts to deliver cds, so it is cheap for them.

 

The major major labels, warner group and sony, have the big distribution. Other labels basically rent this from them. Wilco is currently on Nonesuch, an arm of warners, but they are paying Nonesuch for all the services a record label provides. They could form their own label and ink a distribution only deal instead.

 

being independent would work well for them.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Just so we're clear, the guy who wrote this:

 

 

 

Also wrote this:

I am just musing, thinking out loud. Dismiss it.

 

Music is a business. Tweedy and the band have issues to debate as they continue to grow an audience. That's my point.

[Central Scrutinizer]

what I meant by my post is that wilco is at a point where a major label could invest a bunch of money in marketing and make them bigger. But a label takes a lot to all of the money from a band's record sales. And they have strong demands in terms of both artistic, production, and implementation. They aren't currently and have never seen a lot of hardcore marketing, but they have continuously built a fan base by their own hard touring work.

 

Not having a label will allow them to make more money from their releases, and will let them have the control they want. The marketing will continue because everyone in the music industry is interested in the band. Writers write about wilco because they like them, and they will be in music magazines. They would have to set up a side distribution deal to get their records out to the walmart in the middle of Alaska, etc (you get my drift) but the terms would be much more favorable. The label just has to use their contacts to deliver cds, so it is cheap for them.

 

The major major labels, warner group and sony, have the big distribution. Other labels basically rent this from them. Wilco is currently on Nonesuch, an arm of warners, but they are paying Nonesuch for all the services a record label provides. They could form their own label and ink a distribution only deal instead.

 

being independent would work well for them.

I understand what you're saying and thanks for being patient with me in your response.

 

From a business standpoint, when an artist reaches a critical mass, there are decisions he/she/they have to make that create a whole new set of decisions based on the one (like a "subset" of heavy metal contract negotiation). Big label takes big slice of pie. But a slice of a 500K pie is different than a smaller slice of a 5M pie. And they require a choice in oven sizes.

[Guest Speed Racer]

YHF has sold 590,000 copies to date, according to Wikipedia. Assuming they had self-released this record, sold CDs for $15 a piece and accounting for a $3 production cost, that leaves them with $7,080,000 to split. If they made a major label release that sold 1,000,000 copies, that also sold for $15, but they only received a 3% per disc take (which I understand to be pretty common for a major label band-cut), they would split $450,000.

 

ETA: Even accounting for a whopping $10-per-disc production cost, the self-released album would have netted the band $2,950,000.

 

Pure speculation, of course, with admittedly shakey math.

[jff]

Music is a business. Tweedy and the band have issues to debate as they continue to grow an audience. That's my point.

 

True, and they're not getting any younger. Right now, they make their money on the road. At some point (hopefully not any time soon) they're probably going to want to, or have to, spend less time on the road, and will need more of their income to come from product sales compared to concert ticket sales.