Interview: The Swedish Model
The death knell for major labels clangs louder with each passing day, but it's not as if the indies are immune either. Enter The Swedish Model, a new cooperative founded by seven of Sweden's most forward-thinking labels: Adrian Recordings, A TenderVersion Recording, Flora & Fauna, Hybris, I Made This, Nomethod Records and Songs I Wish I Had Written. They might not share a cohesive sound, but they do share in ideas and that's a commodity that's all too precious in this current uneasy business climate.
The group's initial statement was released last week, but it left me with more questions than answers so I had Martin Lundmark from member label A TenderVersion Recording help fill in the blanks.
How did The Swedish Model come together?
I guess it began when some of us met at SOM:s annual meetings. After awhile we felt that that organization was too big and slow moving when it came to certain areas, so we wanted to start our own network where ideas could be spawned and co-operation could take place fast and easy.
For the non-industry saavy, can you explain what SOM is?
SOM (Svenska Oberoende Musikproducenter = Swedish Independent Musicproducers) is a organization for independent record labels founded in 1974 with about 250 labels as members. It was founded to help preserve and develop the rights and interests of smaller labels.
How did you decide on what labels to invite? What's the common thread that holds you all together? Is there skill and/or knowledge sharing at work?
I think a common thread is that we all feel that we are not a part of the traditional "music business". We are also sick and tired of the negativism that has plagued the debate and the general music climate lately. We all believe that there is a place for music companies in the future, we just have to adapt and be open to all new solutions, and make up some new ones ourselves! And yes, we share knowledge, contacts, information etc.
So then, what exactly is the purpose of The Swedish Model?
The purpose is to work together and try to grow and get more attention both within and outside of Sweden. We also want to be a creative outlet of ideas, a think-tank or whatever you call it. We want to spur each other to come up with ideas on how to use technology and the internet to spread the music we release and love, and to be a positive voice in the debate.
How would you like to see the music industry evolve? What role do you see the label (and The Swedish Model, by extension) fulfilling in this new world?
Old ways of distributing and selling music are on the way to die. Artists now have the power and ability to market, distribute and sell their music themselves. However, just because they can doesn't mean they WANT to. So there is definitely still a role to play in the new world. I think we also have to stop treating the CD-album as something holy, as music gets more and more track-based, bands might be releasing songs month by month for example. Our role is to make sure that artists who want to try new ideas of spreading and releasing their music have help to do so from people like us who are genuine music lovers and open and adaptable.
Got any examples of new initiatives already in the works? Anything you can tell us about to look forward to?
Not just yet actually, but we are working on it!
What's the future of The Swedish Model? Do you plan on adding more labels or other partners? Where do you see yourselves in a year's time?
At the moment we are not planning to add more labels. We are focusing on getting our common work together running smoothly and to follow up on our ideas and visions. I think in a year this interview has been done with The New York Times, Berliner Zeitung and The Times. The Swedish Model has met with a lot of people interested in evolving the music industry and our music has been heard by a lot more people than ever before!