„I think I need a label, but I'm not sure“ - Possibilities for releasing your Music - Music Pool x Amplify Community Evening
In a collaboration between Music Pool Berlin and Amplify we aim to explore various models of releasing music, with a label or without. Questions about how to find and work with a label, or how to release recorded music are among the frequently asked in both our programmes – and we want to take these FAQ as a starting point for this evening's discussion. What are the services that a label can and cannot provide? What to expect from a label? And how to find a label that fits well in the first place? At which point in my professional path should I start looking for a label? And what do I do if I don't find a label? And do I need to look for one anyway, or should I rather release my music myself? How to go about releasing music on my own? We will address these and related questions in a conversation with experienced artists and label makers:
Rabih Beani – Lebanese-born producer and DJ Rabih Beaini (formerly known as Morphosis) specializes in grainy, imaginative analogue techno. While his productions join the dots between raw, elementary electronica, and jazz, his Morphine label has put forward an equally forward-thinking selection of techno from the likes of Madteo, Hieroglyphic Being, and Anthony „Shake“ Shakir. Apart from his solo productions and DJ sets, Beani also works with the Upperground Orchestra, a multi-headed improvisational ensemble that explores the terrain between electronica, techno, and improvisational jazz. He served as producer for a retrospective collection of Buchla synth pioneer Charles Cohen and others of composer Pauline Oliveros, French mechanical-orchestra creator Pierre Bastien, and explosive Indonesian duo Senyawa.
Ziúr – Ziúr is producer from Berlin, with a background in the Berlin DIY scenes. She released her first mixtape /xuːx/ in 2015. Her debut album „U Feel Anything?“ was released in 2017 on the Planet Mu label. She stayed with Planet Mu also for her second album „ATØ“, released in late 2019. Ziúr is part of the Discwomen collective, participated in Peaches' remix album, organizes her own party series, and tours her energetic live sets to many festivals and clubs.
Marit Posch - Marit is a freelance Artist & Label & Project Manager based in Berlin. Having a law degree and a performance diploma opera/voice in her pockets, Marit started out working as Head of PR at the Berlin label BPitch Control, worked as a booking agent at Magnet Musik and also started to help Modeselektor with managing their career. In 2009, she set up Modeselektor’s label Monkeytown Records (and its sub labels 50WEAPONS and SSPB) and since then worked in pretty much every field of the label business: Label & Artist Management, PR, Online Marketing, Publishing as well as E-Commerce. She currently manages the artist CATNAPP, runs Alva Noto's label NOTON and oversees the album campaign for the French artist Rone on InFiné as an international label manager, besides working on diverse smaller projects as well. Since 2019, Marit has been part of NORIENT, a global network for global and multi local sounds and media culture, working as a Project Manager.
Max Boss (Easter) - Max Boss (along with writer Stine Omar) is one half of Easter, who place the deadpan delivery of riddling rhymes atop synthetic post-Eurodance beats, distilled into stark minimalism. Easter’s sonic identity is bolstered by a playfully clinical visual language – their 15 self-directed music videos show the sophisticated DIY aesthetic they have crafted, equally suitable for laptop screens as in white cubes. They have never released on a label.
Moderation: Andrea Goetzke & Shub Roy, based on musicians' FAQ
DJ: Grinderteeth (No Shade)