ANU launching its own record label to release niche music ignored by traditional music companies

Image: ANU Newsletter / Peter Damo

The Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra is going into the record label business.

The not-for-profit venture to be called ANU Press Music, launches in 2019, and will digitally distribute jazz, classical and art-rock works being ignored by traditional music companies.

These will be offered for free, with the aim of getting the music out to the world, rather than make money.

ANU Press Music is been driven by Dr Kim Cunio of the ANU School of Music, a Grammy nominated composer and recording artist.

He says that niche musicians in Australia no longer make money from record sales – fifteen years ago the music sold for $25-$30, now it’s $6 – and hence not attractive to larger labels as financially viable.

“The recorded music industry is in a state of flux,” points out Dr. Cunio.

“While certain areas are generating strong growth, such as film and video game music, other areas are much smaller than they were 20 years ago, none more than the traditional ‘record label’, which has struggled to maintain physical sales since the mid 2000s.

“This is not to say that that there is no demand for recorded music.

“There is still strong demand for recorded music, though the financial model has changed with the advent of digital distribution, meaning that few niche or academic artists now receive a significant royalty stream.

“The distribution spaces that were once filled by profit and government entities are now largely vacant, as the for-profit model struggles to make money out of high cultural art.”

Dr Kim Cunio could not get a deal in Australia for his last album and released it through a US label.

He says it sold well, and was long-listed for a Grammy.

He says it is essential that ventures as ANU Press Music get sidelined musicians out to the world.

“These might well be the musicians who we most admire in the future.”

Earlier this month, TMN reported that the University of Newcastle has launched a record label, Baraya Records, to help emerging musicians.

Its first artist is David Leha aka rap, soul and spoken word purveyor Radical Son, whose new release Louder Than Words was inspired by his love for the environment and produced with DJ KLP.