1985 Demise of the Independent Label Association (source unknown)

1984 WAS a bad year for the indie scene. Two of the larger independent record and distribution companies had serious problems, IDS went bust and Pinnacle was sold. The major record companies regained their stranglehold, which the indies had loosened in '77.

'85 didn't exactly herald a new dawn. Early this year the Independent Label Association, a non-profit making organisation set up by Trisha O'Keefe and Sabrina Rooles as a centralised register of independent record companies, ceased trading. The ILA's intention had been to smooth the way for new indie labels. Its closure was, sadly, due to a lack of support from the record industry rather than any financial troubles.

The ILA noticed massive problems that still need to be resolved if the indie network is to thrive, the principal one being distribution - too few distributors are getting records into too few shops and small labels lack the finance to re-press sufficient records to meet any favourable response.

Trisha tells one horror story of a small label who took their record to IDS. They told them they had a potential hit and to press 5,000 copies and hire a plugger (£200 a week) with their own money. In return IDS would distribute the record. When the label returned some weeks later, instructions completed, IDS had changed their mind about the record's potential 'leaving this poor guy with 5,000 records on his floor and nothing but bills coming in'.

'The record business isn't just a matter of pressing a piece of plastic. The industry is a monopoly run by people with the finance to bribe, corrupt and dissuade. Corporations spend fortunes and can demand that monopoly because of those fortunes. The indies don't stand a chance in that set-up."

Once an indie label manages to get its records into the shops it comes face to face with the 'strikeforce', an instrument used by the majors to induce shops to stock and sell their product. The idea of concessions to retailers, anything from free holidays to extra posters, to encourage them to look favourably upon certain product, ie hype, is well known. "This is," Trisha explains, 'an industry that demands people finding loopholes."

Airplay remains the other major blockage to Indie chart success. The fact is that Radio One producers are more likely to listen to a new release from, say, CBS than from Xcentric Noise.

Mike Hawkes, producer of the Janice Long show, disagrees: "I treat indies exactly the same as a major -it's the quality of the record that counts. I programme a fair mixture on Janice Long - and there’s Peelie of course - but an indie record isn't necessarily superior, as some of them would try and have you believe."

He admitted that daytime radio played few indie releases.

"I can't comment on why that is. There are examples of records that would have been hits if they'd had daytime airplay but we try to do our bit."

Even with airplay, the stumbling block of distribution remains.

'Smiley Culture is a good example. We played it to death on the show and it didn't do a thing. The second it was picked up by Polydor, who could promote and distribute, it took off."

There are other technical problems hindering the emergence of new labels. Whatever material they use they are, subject straight away to a financial penalty. Cover versions immediately incur a royalty of six and a quarter per cent of the retail value, which is paid to the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society who collect on behalf of publishers.

The cost of promotional copies is increased. The catch 22 is that, should a new label use their own material, they are not eligible to join the Performing Rights Society (who collect airplay fees for writers and publishers) until they have a certain amount of product already commercially released.

Rough Trade is one independent who have managed to break through. They recently celebrated a number one album courtesy of The Smiths. Richard Boon, responsible for production with the company, puts it down to "a lot of hard work by foolishly committed bands of underpaid fanatics promoting good records rather than something non-descript with a great sales campaign behind it. We're naively principled."

He feels that the indies have to develop a more creative method of selling their product.

'Indies can't promote records in the same way as majors. They have to compete with large budgets which represent tax losses for multi-national corporations. Indies have to aim to reach their audience in a different way. They have to think independently."

And thereby comes the dichotomy, Should the indies fight the majors on their own battleground or should they try to subvert the whole system? It's not possible simply to define an indie as a small version of a major - they're in it for different reasons. Independence is the whole point. Diversity is an essential part of the scene.

And the artists? New Order's Steve Morris defends the independent set-up. Certainly they've remained loyal to Factory, with whom they've had several hit singles and albums.

"We get greater freedom and control. We can get away with not putting out an album for two years, if we don't want to. Also we make enough money. That's not the prime consideration, but we don't do it purely for love. Factory believe you should pay for the music and not the promotion that accompanies a record.

"The bigger a record company gets, the more out of touch it becomes. The majors treat indies as an extension of A and R."

But Steve feels that the indies have lost the initial impact they had during the punk explosion.

'If we were a new band starting out on a new indie label we'd find it very difficult indeed. People aren't as interested in indies as they were when we first signed to Factory. It's difficult for a young band to see the advantage of signing to an indie now. It's the hare and tortoise syndrome.'

Edwyn Collins cites Factory as an inspiration for Postcard, the Scottish indie label which brought Orange Juice to prominence. When OJ signed with Polydor they tried to take that independent spirit with them demanding a deal that gave them artistic control. But Edwyn regrets signing when they did.

'We should have released our first album on Rough Trade. Orange Juice split up because Polydor weren't committed to the band.’ He agrees that it's harder for a band today to sign the type of autonomous deal with a major that OJ had.

'Majors see small labels as breeding grounds for LP artists. A singles artist can't recoup the money. We sold 215,000 copies of 'Rip It Up' and just broke even because of expenses such as videos."

So the indies struggle on. The closure of the ILA has drawn attention to the plight of the indies and already there are moves to set up a body, the IPI, to provide a similar service to the ILA and hopefully tackle the problems outlined above.

There is certainly a need for it.