🔵 Finally the indies make a move back towards their own ecosystem

Why the newly-formed Cargo Independent Distribution deal matters

Hi there -

Some big news dropped today: indie giants Beggars Group and Secretly Group have partnered with Cargo distribution to form a brand new independent distributor here in the UK: Cargo Independent Distribution.

I think most people might well shrug and think “OK - so what?” about this news, but for me this is one of the most notable developments this year.

Allow me to elaborate…

Last November, I wrote about how I felt we needed indie labels to focus on the protection of the indie ecosystem. Universal was slowly buying up shares in indie businesses, but in a manner that ensured it always remained just under the radar relative to market share scrutiny. Perhaps the most notable investment was its 49% ownership of indie stalwart PIAS.

I have banged this drum fairly continually since, on the basis it has felt like the entire independent space was becoming largely co-owned by the majors, and that when the majors have far wider interests, the spirit of indie that made things so interesting was coming under threat.

The creation of Cargo Independent Distribution (CID - well played on the acronym there btw!) therefore represents a powerful statement, not least because it sees the Beggars group taking its sales business from PIAS to this new, wholly independent entity. For both PIAS and Universal, I’d imagine this amounts to a hefty blow, given the sheer scale of the Beggars Group’s revenues and reach, even just here in the UK.

I cannot help but consider this development in the context of the ORCA trade research body that emerged from stealth mode recently. ORCA, if you’ve missed it, very much represents what I’d term as “traditional” indie labels - that is, companies whose sole business focus is signing and releasing artists, and who do not hold down a wide array of related operations. Domino, XL, Sub Pop and Partisan (all ORCA members) would be an example of the former, and Believe are an good example of the latter.

The message is clear then: these traditional indie labels see themselves as a market sector of their own. If you follow that logic through, it therefore lends weight to them also therefore wanting to keep other aspects of their business function equally independent. Ergo, it isn’t a massive logical leap to suggest that in time, more of these types of indie label might seek to join this new CID operation.

Of course, we should remain grounded here: Cargo is not a massive operation compared to the likes of Proper (arguably the #1 indie distributor here in the UK), and I’d imagine it will have some serious scaling up to do in order to properly serve the likes of Beggars with all its needs. However with those labels now invested in this business, those needs are surely apparent and being addressed from day one.

I have said for some time now that I feel the landscape around indie labels is feeling very reminiscent of the early 1980s when the likes of Beggars, Rough Trade and more came together to form a new indie distribution network so as to properly take on the major labels. Cut to 2024 and it feels like history is indeed repeating itself, and for me, that is a very good thing indeed.

So yes, this is a small event that is only affecting the UK, but I would think we will see a ripple effect from this on various levels for some time now. Watch this space - methinks things are finally changing for the better.

Have a great evening,

D.

P.S. I am conscious that I said in the last issue that everyone should read Richard Richard King’s fantastic “How Soon is Now?: The Madmen and Mavericks who made Independent Music 1975-2005” and then had a broken link. Apologies, that is now fixed. For me this is required reading for anyone working in the indie music space, but I think it also gives you an appreciation for just how far these labels have come. Now, with today’s development, I’d argue it has now elevated into the “essential reading” category.

🎶 listening to “Come and See” by Gurriers. I’ve posted about these guys a few times before now, but with the album out last Friday, it warrants another mention. One of the best albums to drop so far this year IMO: angry noisy rock that, on the album, knows when to also dial down the attitude for a mo. Album sequencing doesn’t get talked about much but this one’s near-perfect in that regard. Get on it.

📺 watching “LL COOL J - Murdergram Deux ft. Eminem” on YouTube. Great video, and the rapping on this is a cast-iron demonstration of why these two artists are legends…. BUT… I just found the whole delivery so full-on and unrelenting that it is almost exhausting to listen to. But should these two do an album? 100%. Stellar production from Q-Tip too.

🤖 reading “From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga” by SH Fernando. There are some great books around about Wu Tang but this one is my favourite thus far. Brilliantly written, endlessly engaging… it’s just a real page turner you can get hooked on. I can’t wait to read his next book, about MF Doom!

---

Stories worth reading from the Music Industry:

Secretly Distribution, Beggars Group and Cargo Records partner to form new distributor

As part of the new merger, CID will provide physical distribution and sales support for Secretly Group, which includes the labels Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, Saddest Factory and Secretly Canadian, along with affiliates All Flowers Group and Numero Group. CID will also provide sales representation for Beggars Group and its partner labels XL Recordings, Young, Rough Trade, Matador and 4AD, representing artists such as Jamie XX, Radiohead, Koreless, Jockstrap and more.

👆🏻Hot take: see editorial above

The burning of the Library of Alexandria for fandoms

"This is literally stan twitter 9/11," one user posted, "does [Musk] have any idea how many delicate ecosystems will be destroyed when the Brazil servers go down?... C list celebrities and below will be overrun with hate with no immensely passionate fans defending them to the hilt! The reaction meme market will crash!"

👆🏻Hot take: I’ve not seen this commented on too much among music trade press, but the point here is a valid one. The closure of X in Brazil might well have a huge impact on fan/stan accounts that do a huge amount of work for artists and labels.

Could a new remuneration right be the key to AI music licensing?

“The best way for creators to generate a decent stream of ongoing revenue for the use of their copyrighted works by GenAI applications is to be paid when the datasets used to train GenAI containing their works are used to create new ‘content’. This should take the form of a license,” explains the executive summary.

👆🏻Hot take: I agree with the principle here, but will it ever happen? That’s where I’m sceptical, sadly. Big Tech does not like copyright, or rights holders. (Though it loves a patent, obviously 🙄)

Coldplay's UK stadium concerts will benefit grassroots venues

The band will play two nights at Hull’s Craven Park Stadium then six nights at London’s Wembley Stadium next August. 10% of the proceeds will be donated to charity the Music Venue Trust to support its work with grassroots venues. The promoters, venues and ticketing firms involved in the concerts will also be making donations.

👆🏻Hot take: there’s no two ways about it, this is an incredibly generous gesture from Coldplay, and I only hope other massive artists who came up through those smaller venues might do the same. Great to see.

UnitedMasters adds AI mastering through deal with startup RoEx

UnitedMasters’ latest expansion of the services it offers to artists focuses on ‘intelligent music mastering’. It’s via a deal with startup RoEx, which has built AI-powered tools to automate the music-mastering process. Those will now be offered to UnitedMasters’ roster of artists, but the companies said they plan to deepen their partnership: “working towards providing comprehensive audio quality services for UnitedMasters’ artists and producing educational content for UnitedMasters’ artist development tool, Blueprint”.

👆🏻Hot take: I’ve said for some time now that I feel labels and label services companies need to broaden their offerings to compete with the likes of LANDR offering distribution. This feels like a step in that direction, which is good. (Disclosure: RoEx is a Motive Unknown client).

---

Notable news from the world of tech:

By showing Musk’s X the red card, has Brazil scored a goal for all democracies?

Suddenly, though, the atmosphere seems to be changing. The EU now has three significant pieces of legislation on its statute book: the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, and now its AI Act. Across the Atlantic, we’ve seen the conviction of Google as a monopolist and now its prosecution for abusive control of the digital advertising market. Here in the UK the Competition and Markets Authority has been casting a baleful eye on the kind of tech corporate mergers that used to be waved through. Across the Channel, the French are holding the Telegram chief executive while they investigate the toxic sewer that he runs. And now X has been shut down by a judge in Brazil. So something’s up. About time too.

👆🏻Hot take: I remain fascinated to see whether Big Tech will finally get humbled. All signs suggest so, and the knock-on effects of that could be substantial.

Threatened US ban against TikTok ‘unconstitutional’, platform argues

Free speech campaigners including PEN America have filed amicus briefs – a means of expressing support for one side in a case – in support of TikTok and ByteDance’s lawsuit. Opponents of the law stress that a ban would also cause disruptions in the world of marketing, retail and in the lives of many different content creators, some of whom are also suing the US government. TikTok is covering the legal costs for that lawsuit.

👆🏻Hot take: I’ve said before that there’s a hypocrisy of sorts here, in that it’s fine for the US social companies to own and control masses of data about non-US users, but it’s unthinkable that a Chinese company has the same for US users. I’ll admit to be surprised that even free speech advocates are now getting involved though; to me this feels a little more nuanced than that.

AI is great for churning out apps, but don't forget to test

Research published by Leapwork, drawn from the feedback of 401 respondents across the US and UK, noted that while 85 percent had integrated AI apps into their tech stacks, 68 percent had experienced performance, accuracy, and reliability issues. The 401 respondents were 201 C-suite executives (CTO and CIO), and 200 technical leads (for example, IT managers.) Some notable outages in recent months were due to insufficient or inadequate testing – the CrowdStrike incident was at least partially down to some doubtful practices at the cyber security company – and although AI might be seen as a panacea for companies seeking to increase productivity or cut costs (depending on your perspective), testing processes must similarly evolve.

👆🏻Hot take: I feel this reflects our own experiences with AI here at Motive Unknown. A lot of promise, maybe, but serious reliability issues and a general sense that one cannot sufficiently control the LLM so as to ensure decent responses.

---

Looking for something else to read? Here you go:

The experience economy is booming. So is regret

Buyer beware: Experiangst is real

👆🏻Hot take: in light of the whole Oasis fiasco, I can’t help but think this phenomenon is only going to become more of a thing as we move through 2025.

Is anyone out there?

Dead Internet Theory says that you’re the only human left online. It started out as a conspiratorial joke, but it is edging ever closer to reality

👆🏻Hot take: another great article about the general downward spiral of the internet from a quality perspective. Personally, I think it’s a necessary move to a rock bottom we have to hit before things turn around and start getting much, much better. And I don’t think we’re far from that point either.

---