Since we wrote about some smaller labels joining the RIAA last week, it looks like things have been cleared up. Due to random deals with several of the large distribution companies, most of these labels did show up on the RIAA list but in fact are not affiliated. They can’t seem to get off the list even after countless attempts. Catbirdseat has some info, and we also got this note in the comments section of the site from Absolutely Kosher:
Well, we’ve been asked about this half a dozen times in the last two weeks since Catbirdseat posted about it. Here’s the deal. We signed a deal with Fontana distribution early this year (February) which, as you may know, is owned by Universal. They have some sort of agreement in place where they report sales and the like to the RIAA. Without an exclusive contract with a distributor, our records (particularly those by our younger “developing” bands) had been brutally under-distributed and we were in need of a change. We tried to have any involvement with the RIAA removed from the contract, but it wasn’t a negotiable point and I wasn’t prepared to throw our whole distribution deal out the window over this. Suffice to say, we’ve had no communication with the RIAA directly, we won’t be showing up at any meetings and they can bite my ass. We’re listed on their site under “Distributed Labels of Reporting Companies” and that’s pretty much what we are – a distributed label of a reporting company.
best,
Cory Brown
Absolutely Kosher Records
Your site is realy very interesting.