The legendary Alan McGee has announced recently that he is officially turning his back to the idea of record labels and as a result will be closing the doors on his newest label, Poptones. Once the founder of Creation Records and discoverer of Oasis and The Jesus & Mary Chain, McGee now wants to focus his efforts on being an advisor to bands.
In an interview with BBC, McGee claimed that it’s no longer realistic for labels to profit from bands stating, “The accountants will make them (the record companies) see sense. They’ll probably stop signing new groups – new groups will have to develop themselves. The best advice I could give to any young band is to do it yourself. Of course the major record companies will come in and sign two or three new bands a year and probably always will, but who’ll own the major record companies? Probably a hedge fund.”
While this notion has shown some success in the past (i.e.: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), one has to wonder who will pay off what radio is left in the States, and what the long run would be like for bands that do this from the start. Oh, and for those taking tabs, one of those advised bands are someone we’ve written about before.
