Artists Without a Label

http://www.awal.com/

Type: MP3 broker Age: 10 Nationality: British Lots of musicians love to crow about how the internet age has made record labels redundant, but the fact is, unless (like grime star Wiley) you're going to drive round the shops with copies of your mixtape in your car boot, sometimes a middleman is exactly what you need. Sheffield's AWAL lets artists sell their music through iTunes without having to pander to A&R men. Quality control might be out, but democratisation is in.

More from AWAL

Q&A with AWAL founder Denzyl Feigelson

How did you get the idea for AWAL?
In 1996, when I was managing major label artists, I was getting great submissions and demos, but labels just weren't interested in real 'career development'. One day I got a great cassette tape from a young singer/songwriter who was simply amazing. I called him up and asked if he was on a label He said, 'Nope, I'm an artist without a label.' In that moment, I saw the future. The rest is history, as they say.

Do conventional labels have any future?
Yes, they do, and I'm hoping they will. They will most likely learn to adapt to the new landscape, even if it's changing more rapidly than they're used to. My sense is that they will become more flexible and open to new ideas.

Presumably you get some pretty disastrous submissions. Where do you draw the line?
AWAL is a great team of seasoned pros and new young ears. So between us, we have a great system of knowing what we like, and the kinds of artists and personalities that fit our way of working. It's an intuitive thing.

Some people are saying the music industry is going to have to move to a business model where you get to download unlimited songs for a monthly subscription. What do you think?
There are already many models out there testing this approach. My sense is that, when someone pays attention to the artist, the label, the profit margins, and the technology platform, then it might work. I believe the power is now more with the consumer that ever before, so you will see a lot of growth in new technology and community building platforms. The subscription model needs to catch up to where artists believe that they can be compensated fairly.

The good news is that music is the "hot" topic, and I think more music is being enjoyed, shared, talked about and possibly being purchased now (in new methods) than any other time in the industry's history. With a death of one thing, comes the rebirth of something else.

What are your personal favourite releases on AWAL?
I have so many...

Kate Walsh
Tom Baxter
(we are) performance
Kate Havnevik
The Joff Winks Band
Lily Fraser
Jacob Golden
Circuits