Friday, April 18, 2008

CMH Records - diversity on a small scale

The LA Weekly profiled CMH Records a couple of weeks ago (I'm a little late, but this is one of those issues that has been and will be around for years). It's a tiny little record company in Silver Lake, a very hip neighborhood in LA. I found this interesting because I had a temp job there several years ago. They release records (is that possible anymore? however it's done, they sell music) of obscure bands and genres that fall outside of the mainstream. I remember seeing several "Best Of" albums by bluegrass musicians that I had never of. They only sell a few thousand, but they do sell. And they've figured out how to do it and make money at it. They also come up with strange combinations - Radiohead songs done as lullabies, for example.

I love this kind of story because this is a great antidote to anyone's concerns about corporations controlling American society and homogenizing culture. Sure, there are lots of manufactured pop stars that sound alike. But if you want to buy an album of Springsteen or Dave Matthews songs covered by bluegrass musicians, here's where you go. Creativity isn't just what happens in the recording studio - it's also what defines the business strategy for this company.

And if you really want diversity and a wide range of music, Coachella is coming up.

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