It’s a crazy time right now for artists, label owners and especially fans of music. We are well into the transitioning from physical goods bought and sold in brick and mortar retailers into a world where music is streamed, downloaded, purchased and consumed in everything from phones, to car dashboards, and even videogame systems. The frail, faltering war drums of the ancient and dying Major Label system have been trailing off in public for years now. But the indie guys are most definitely feeling the pinch too.
No one is buying CDs anymore. Not you — the listeners and fans — not the distributors, not the stores. It’s on its way out. We are either purchasing our music online, mostly as MP3s, or we’re downloading them for free. Regardless of how you obtain your music the old way of doing business in the industry is over.
Vinyl was the first format casualty; it was always a tricky proposition for an indie label. It’s expensive to manufacture, expensive to mail, you have to worry about returns and printing enough or not too much, and it is sold at a price to distributors and stores where maybe — just maybe — you’re breaking even. But more than likely you were losing money on vinyl as a means of promotion. (Serato, we *heart* you). But then CDs got hit…Damn…The Venerable Disc That Could…Stores started ordering less, distributors began receiving less. The writing was on the wall for the way labels had done business for decades. The packaged good was no longer dependable as a source of income.
After a brilliant ten year run, El-P has officially announced Def Jux is “wrapping up in it’s current form and re-imagining [it’s] collective and individual futures”. Which as a brand is most likely true; let’s take El on his word. But make no doubt about it: the Definitive Jux record label is gone. And that’s sort of a sad thing I think, because they were certainly a powerhouse in their time.
El-P wrote on DefinitiveJux.net:
In 2000 starting a traditional record label made a lot of sense. But now, in 2010, less so and I find myself yearning for something else to put my energy into. I also see newer, smarter, more interesting things on the horizon for the way art and commerce intersect, and as an artist and an entrepreneur, I’m eager to see them unfold. The evolution of this industry is, in my opinion, exciting, inevitable and it would be nice to see the DEFINITIVE JUX brand be a part of it. In other words, maybe we can turn this hoopty in to a hovercraft.
You may not have enjoyed their music or liked any of their artists, but from a business standpoint and a model for brand recognition, Def Jux was among the top ever in hiphop. Their fans were referred to as, “Def Jukies”; an insignia which united them all over the world. The label’s art direction was unified, bold and coherent across media: Print, album art, merchandise and website. And Def Jux pumped out a considerable amount of videos, some of which I thought were brilliant — perhaps beginning with its very first one: El-P’s, “Deep Space 9mm“.
Hey, what can I say, I was a fan. But I was also a business partner with Def Jux at The Giant Peach where we manufactured and sold their entire clothing line. They were right there with us when we started back in 1999, among only a handful of labels we affiliated ourselves with. To this extent, I feel like our respective companies grew in parallel together, and we were brothers-in-arms at this indie rap game.
I’m getting sentimental, but that’s how I’ll always remember Def Jux. I hope their legacy will go on to empower hiphop because things seem strange and almost quiet on the independent tip at the moment.
“This Is Our Label, We Are Very Dedicated.”
Peace out, Hoppy Harrington. Ya’ll did good.
• Read El-P’s sendoff, “Of Hooptys And Hovercrafts”
• Definitive Jux clothing, t-shirts and merchandise at The Giant Peach