When is it going to stop? This economy is SHIT and it's killing us all! The music industry has felt a pinch for awhile now, so it's no big surprise when it hits us in the notes, so to speak. Touch and Go Records has just announced it will be laying off a number of it's employees.
"The current state of the economy has reached the point where we can no longer afford" to provide manufacturing and distribution services for the labels, including stalwarts such as Chicago-based Drag City, All Natural, Overcoat. Flameshovel and Atavistic Records; Delaware's Jade Tree; and Kill Rock Stars in the Pacific Northwest, said Touch and Go founder Corey Rusk.
Touch and Go will continue to operate as a label; it has released more than 400 records in the last 28 years including more than 100 on its Quarterstick subsidiary. But the decision to cut distribution will force Rusk to shrink his staff of about 25 people. He would not give specifics in a phone interview Wednesday, but said the decision was "painful for everybody involved." Several employees reported being "blindsided" by the announcement.
Mac McCaughan, cofounder of North Carolina independent label Merge Records, called the announcement "a sad day for music, independent music and punk rock in particular, and the music business as we know it in the real world."
"Corey Rusk is the most meticulous, cautious, thoughtful business person I know, which is what makes this whole thing so unbelievable and such a bad portent for the rest of the independent music business," McCaughan said. "If a company that did everything the right way can't survive in this environment ... then who can?"
Here is the complete text of Rusk's statement:
"It is with great sadness that we are reporting some major changes here at Touch and Go Records. Many of you may not be aware, but for nearly 2 decades, Touch and Go has provided manufacturing and distribution services for a select yet diverse group of other important independent record labels. Titles from these other labels populate the shelves of our warehouse alongside the titles on our own two labels, Touch and Go Records, and Quarterstick Records.
"Unfortunately, as much as we love all of these labels, the current state of the economy has reached the point where we can no longer afford to continue this lesser known, yet important part of Touch and Go’s operations. Over the years, these labels have become part of our family, and it pains us to see them go. We wish them all the very best and we will be doing everything we can to help make the transition as easy as possible.
"Touch and Go will be returning to its roots and focusing solely on being an independent record label. We’ll be busy for a few months working closely with the departing labels and scaling our company to an appropriate smaller size after their departure. It is the end of a grand chapter in Touch and Go’s history, but we also know that good things can come from new beginnings."
Touch and Go celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2006. It had grown from a bedroom operation designed expressly to put out a 7-inch single by the teenage Rusk’s hardcore band the Necros to a multimillion-dollar-a-year operation housed in a three-story 18,000-square-foot Ravenswood warehouse with 25 employees.Among the revered bands who have recorded for the label are Big Black, the Jesus Lizard, the Butthole Surfers, the Mekons, Slint, Calexico and TV on the Radio – virtually a Who’s Who of underground, punk and postpunk of the last three decades.
"It’s not coming to an end," Rusk said, "but it won’t be the same company it has been for the last 20 years."
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