Drag City

It's not like you couldn't have a digital copy of their albums if you really wanted to.

As for the latter sentiment, I don't download stuff illegally, so it makes their policy feel extra frustrating.

You could just rip it yourself, like I've been doing for last 15 years.

but it costs something. I'm sure even the little inserts with the download codes are significant.

as someone who does this - it doesn't cost anything. really.

ripping MP3s from vinyl is so annoying

I suspect it's not about costs as much as it is about discouraging piracy. I don't torrent stuff so I dunno about that end of it, but I've had no luck finding free MP3s of Drag City albums that I've purchased on vinyl, which I would think is at least partially due to them not having a bunch of MP3s from download codes floating around out there.

given how easy it is to rip a CD, they must be actively discouraging privacy as well

ha *piracy

I have no doubt that Drag City is aggro about downloading sites/blogs etc.

it is a slightly cranky approach, sure, but i get the feeling they just think: "hey you want to listen to a record, buy the record. you want to listen to a CD, buy the CD. you want to listen to mp3s, buy the mp3s."

yeah, and then they can just do some 'yeah, we are giving you less than the other guys. but that's because music is worth MORE. what have we become, etc.' or 'we are just simple music people with simple music options. have some artisanal mp3s.' marketing around it

I always throw out the download vouchers (like, if I wanted to download the album I would have done that lol) but feel a bit weird abt it bcz maybe it will affect resale price sometime in the future or just seem like a fun nostalgic part of the package is missing (lulz they had mp3s back then!)

I just give someone else the code if I think they'd like it and I already had downloaded it or whatever.

DON'T TELL THE COPS

worst episode of "dragnet" ever

what an entitled thing to say.

― hammer smashed nagls (mattresslessness), Friday, 20 February 2015 00:51 (3 days ago) Permalink

No, that's fair enough - I genuinely feel entitled to it! Contenderizer spells it out there, feeling a bit more sanguine about it. Many of those other labels listed make their loyal customers feel like they're getting maximum value when they shell out for a record, which is nice, and which is why I buy tons of Castle Face LPs, and vinyl via Bandcamp that I can also listen to on my commute, and don't really buy equally or more expensive Drag City stuff, where I feel like the people running the shop aren't that bothered about that stuff. Which is totally their right, obviously.

from their recent newsletter - beware the house style, but interesting in regards to this thread's recent discussions.

G'OD MORNING
The sun rises an acidic blood-orange over the blanket of snow and frozen poo(p) surrounding our independently-owned-and-operated ivory bunker/fantasy factory/time-and-love-and-music machine. It's the same sun dawning over the rest of the world, one little combat zone at a time, and sometimes we think it's the only thing we truly share with the deeply distressed rest of the planet. But you know what? FUCK the damn planet - it's too late for tears, and we're outta minutes to argue with naysayers and the rest of those who'd sooner end times than admit that they and their industrial patrons have brought on the close to the era of men (apes, please stand by!). We don't care about the government - a corrupt creature elite who so evidently care NOTHING for us, either. We're the chaff that runs their still, dripping a 'shine for them and the others of their selfish kind to imbibe. They are not our people; not only won't they get (or buy) our records, they certainly won't stay the force in their charge in order to benefit the greater good; this is clear. But OUR people - this society of music-lovers that we chose to live among and contribute to so many years ago - are we just another herd of zombified cattle to be shifted by their invisible hand? For ANYONE in music to argue that the days of the record label as we knew it are over, that the dinosaur mega-rollers have passed, leaving only the true and the good to determine their own fate on our One Free Internet, is drollery at the very least; it seems more like utter foolishness in the face of the very real and looming threat of the count-them-on-one-hand (yes, even yer apes' hands!) corporate collective that abso-fucking-lutely controls the One "Free" Internet to expel independent music makers for not signing potential profits into its iron fists. As well, it must be known at this point - well-known and REVILED, people - that these "services" exist ENTIRELY for a profit that will only be had, in the estimation of the "suits" (at least that's what we called them in the 90s; pressed-jeans-and-white-sneakers-and-pastel-polo-shirts-and-thrift-store-blazers by any other name would smell as cheap), by paying only a pittance to the very people whose content draws the moths (listeners, aka unique email addresses) to the flame (corporate marketing departments!)! !(!) So the controlling corporate scum are gone from our industry, eh? It seems they're retreated only as far as the internet's edge - where they merged, bought each other out, and consolidated power. Because that's what good corporations do, and we are delusional fools to expect anything more - like, to live in a world free of their damnable influence. So, when word comes to our tablets and pads from on low that we move our release date from Tuesday to Friday to save and serve the record industry...whose industry, again? Not yours and mine, actually, but the holding of the very few. Once again, the fat cats are sitting on our face - hoping for a quick suck of their udderly-adaptable/hermaphro bits (which is in no way an expression meant to bring shame upon the noble hermaphrodite, please understand!)! Don't let 'em tell you that we're living in a new free world where we can determine our own fate through the manipulation of technologies IN OUR HANDS - because once again, the power source for our tech is in the hands of the very few, for mostly THEIR gain and HARDLY ours. Yet there is still some power left to the individual! Your own unique email address is worth $2-$4 to marketing companies! We have value(s) after all! And if all else fails, remember that even apes are upfront about that whole "not killing ape" thing.

Wake up! It's still tomorrow.

That's so many words.

Really makes me not want to buy anything on the label.

Shooting to catch Sir Richard Bishop this evening. Assuming it's just going to be him and his new guitar, but we'll see!

there's a blanket of frozen poo(p) surrounding their building?

guess that'd make me hate my customers, too

Genuinely couldn't make it past the first few lines, that style is so embarrassing

don't understand how the friday release date is bad for indies

my eyes just slide off of that

like frozen poop

They're going for a US Maple promotional syntax instead of sounding like publicists.

A visual representation of rian's newsletters: http://files.dragcity.com/video/rockinrian.mov

tried to give drag city as a gift but they don't offer any sort of gift options
sorry you don't want my $ DC!

weird. but man they are unbelievable this year - bishop, six organs, batoh, baird, o'rourke! it's all golden.

i know!! i wanted to give my brother in law the chance to choose his own drag city gift and instead i had to give him something else

Drag City is def top 3 as far as labels are concerned

as far as newsletters are concerned?

Drag City kinda sucks wrt digital stuff. Like they make it has hard as possible for you to check out releases on their label, no bandcamp, one song on youtube or soundcloud. And no download cards. UP YOURS DRAG CITY, THE DRAG IS YOU

Not on Spotify either, good work dudes

I'm sure the business side of it is problematic, but at this point it's gotta be a huge drawback promotion-wise to not be on Spotify - in the long run the exposure their artists would gain on Spotify must be pretty valuable

That's what I'm saying. I mean, I want to hear the new Axis: Sova LP they did, but I'm not dropping $27 without hearing it first, so I may wind up illegally downloading it.

I support this label and their way of doing biz. I like the fact that they don't (have to) give a shit. Sure, it bums me out that I have to illegally download albums I bought on vinyl (though I do so without guilt), but lord knows there are plenty of other things to listen to on Spotify, Youtube, etc. I don't know if they are 'taking a stand' (Spotify rips off artists, etc) or just not bothering to expand the empire or whatever, but either way I'm in full support.

I understand why they do things this way, but it's definitely a tradeoff and as a result I just wind up thinking about Drag City a lot less often because they don't come up in the main channels I use for checking out music.

xp: hey... great. I don't really get what there is to support there and it doesn't seem so much a badass attitude as blindness to the modern era, but cool!

i get how this is annoying but it's hard to argue against it without sounding entitled and annoying. waah waah why isn't all your music free

https://soundcloud.com/drag-city btw

it's annoying but whatever. they are a good label

i just want bill callahan to release new music though

I don't really get what there is to support

maybe that's the problem?

If you're illegally downloading their albums are you supporting them? You should really be paying for the LP and download, that's their model.

And if you have to blind-buy albums at $25+ each to find out they're mediocre, too bad, I guess, you gotta support the label?

You should really be paying for the LP and download, that's their model

This is not their model. I've never gotten an LP w a download from them.

They are a great label that puts out good stuff. I support what they do.

in the long run the exposure their artists would gain on Spotify must be pretty valuable

Not really.

"and also the download, if you want a digital version"

(just to clarify)

Anyway I'm glad they're still a label, sure, I just think they're being dumb about the way they deal with digital stuff. If disagreeing with that means I'm not supporting them that's fine. I'll buy stuff they put out that I like, I'll try to check out the stuff I don't know, I think it's stupid to drive your customers to illegally download albums to have digital copies but I'll do that if I have to.

i get how this is annoying but it's hard to argue against it without sounding entitled and annoying. waah waah why isn't all your music free

― na (NA), Wednesday, January 4, 2017 9:20 AM (fourteen hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i can't really hate on them for that, but the fact of the matter is that it means i don't hear stuff on drag city. i just posted on another thread that i didn't even realize there was a new high llamas album. didn't bother with the new papa m album or the last couple of laetitia sadier records, despite liking their stuff in the past. hardly know anything about bitchin' bajas despite suspecting i might like them. etc. i did pay for downloads of the latest jim o'rourke and joanna newsom albums, which i guess is what they're banking on.

really not fucking hard to find audio samples of drag city albums you might be interested in
jfc spotify is fucking garbage and has made you simpletons