Burly In Middlin’ Time

I came across the myspace page of Burlytime Records.  This local label is responsible for one of this years’ applauded albums, Hyms for a Dark Horse by The Bowerbirds.  There was a blog posted about an open letter to Insound.  The long and short of it is that Burlytime tried to email Insound to sell some of the Bowebirds CDs on consignment.  Insound never responded, until that Pitchforkmedia review ushered in the props.  Please read below for the open letter:

Hi Patrick—
After talking about it a little more this morning, we’re going to decline the consignment offer from Insound. I feel compelled to tell you why, too, though you can stop reading now if you’d like, as I’m sure you’ve heard it all before: We’ve been trying to contact you guys for a few weeks now, and we hear back (actually, it wasn’t a response; it was a separate query!) this morning, after an 8.4 on Pitchfork. In the past month, Bowerbirds have been written about all over the place: John Darnielle called this the best debut he’s heard in years; the band was #6 at elbo.ws with TWO songs in the top 5; press from Paper Thin Walls, Harp, Venus and upcoming words from Spin, Paste, Popmatters, TONY and The Boston Globe; gushes from David at Continuum Press. We’ve sold hundreds of copies of this disc through our Web site, and the street date isn’t for another two weeks. Still, after repeated inquiries at Insound, nothing until today. That said, is Insound really the leading voice in Independent music it claims to be? What ground does Insound have its ear to? I know you’re busy wading through discs, but the guys that run this label—a music critic and record store clerk—know how that feels. Doesn’t it seem a bit ridiculous that you have to wait for perhaps the biggest music Web site in the world to recommend a record, and then offer us a middling 3-disc consignment offer because we’re still contracting a distribution deal? We’re a small label with two releases from bands in North Carolina. Thing is, the music is really fantastic, and there’s currently a headline review on the biggest music Web site in the world with a link to your Web site, telling people to buy it. Perhaps that you don’t have it already or show any serious interest in carrying it makes us look exactly like what we are— a small label with two releases from bands in North Carolina. Or maybe it makes you guys look massively out of touch with the people you aim to sell to and/or represent.

We’re passing on the 3-disc consignment, as it hardly seems worth it to tie up three discs with no guarantee of sell from you guys while people order several discs an hour on our Web site. But this isn’t about us: This is about the hundreds of fantastic bands out there without even a chance for distribution. Who’s representing them? Maybe Aquarius, maybe Other, maybe Forced Exposure. Certainly not Insound. We’re eager to hear your thoughts.
Thanks a lot—
Grayson Currin and Brad Cook
Burly Time Records

Even though it is not asked of me in the letter, here are my pennies of thought on the subject:
1 – Inviting someone to not read something that is obviously long is only going to make them want to read it even more.  The tone is indicting and harsh.  I am not saying that Burlytime are being completely inappropriate.  I think that more attention you pay to something, the more potential it has to perpetuate itself.  According to their letter, it seems that Insound is not deserving of such attention.  With that in mind, here’s what my approach would’ve been: a response that would consist of the first sentence from the second paragraph, with a “Thanks anyways” tagged on at the end with no personal signature.
2 - I know Burlytime is trying to make a case for all the other bands/labels that try to get noticed, but get ignored by Insound. This “open letter” is an opportunity to be a champion for them.  I think that is admirable.  The truth is that bands get ignored all the time or don’t get the attention they may deserve.  My guess is that there are hundreds, maybe thousands who are getting screwed, that is, if you base it on three combining factors:  a) desire to create b) resources to create (time and money) and c) patience are being used in vast, vast quantities by a single person or group with no promise of return.

What are your thoughts?