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Music

Out Of This Spark

OUT OF THIS SPARK FIFTH ANNIVERSARY with SNAILHOUSE, FOREST CITY LOVERS, SNOWBLINK, OCTOBERMAN and others at the Tranzac (292 Brunswick), Saturday (February 25), doors 8 pm. $15-$17. RT, SS. See listing.


It’s been said that it takes at least five years to get a small business off the ground. Fifty per cent of them fail long before then.

Stuart Duncan’s Out of This Spark record label celebrates reaching that landmark with an anniversary party on Saturday at the Tranzac. But despite the local label’s successes – its roster includes internationally touring acts Forest City Lovers and Tasseomancy – Duncan is about to take a yearlong hiatus to re-evaluate his business plan.

“Running a label the size of ours can be draining time-wise and financially, and I need a break from it,” he explains. “I’ve reached the conclusion that I don’t really want to operate the same way we have been for the last few years.

“When it started, it was much more grassroots and cutting-edge. As we became a bit bigger and more established, we tried to get into the same sphere as labels like Paper Bag, Secret City and Arts & Crafts, which meant focusing more on the shitty mechanics of the music industry, like publicity, advertising and promo. That also involved a lot more risk.”

He’s considering a return to smaller-scale releases, leaving it up to good music in cool packaging to grab attention. Keeping things small, however, means limited access to crucial funding from places like FACTOR, Canadian Heritage and the Radio Starmaker Fund.

Eligibility for Starmaker funding, for example, requires a pop/rock artist to have sold at least 7,500 albums and an indie label to have invested at least $15,000 into it. Meanwhile, to qualify for FACTOR’s Emerging Artist Sound Recording program, which contributes a loan of up to $30,000 toward a recording and another $35,000 toward marketing, a label must have sold a minimum of 3,500 units by the artist.

Labels with sales of 5,000-plus units by an artist can also receive Direct Board Approval status from FACTOR. That allows them to access much higher loan amounts – $50,000 to $100,000 for a recording – and applications are vetted solely on eligibility rather than creative merit. What you need, says Duncan, is an album that really breaks, which is becoming rare now that fewer people pay for music.

“The music industry in Canada wouldn’t exist without places like FACTOR,” says Duncan, who ballparks Out of This Spark’s annual sales at $20,000 to $30,000. “It’s a bit problematic because it’s created a two-tiered system: labels and music projects with funding and those without. Those without can’t access the same opportunities, and every year access to funding gets more challenging.

“I do think [funding bodies] like FACTOR are important, but there need to be fundamental changes to make them more equitable.

“Like, we don’t need $50,000 for one of our releases, but $5,000 to $10,000 would be a significant help. A lot of innovative music isn’t getting support because it doesn’t fall into the traditional record label system.”

But the downsizing decision isn’t all about finances. Community-building has also been an important component of OOTS’s mandate – Saturday’s show includes several non-OOTS bands like Snailhouse (see a Q&A with Snailhouse here), Octoberman and Richard Laviolette that are part of the label’s extended family – and Duncan hopes to expand on that.

Specifically, he wants to set up a small-label alliance within which labels of a similar size and scope can work together to help each other grow. Already he works informally with Blocks Recording Club, Blue Fog, Fuzzy Logic and You’ve Changed, relationships he’d like to formalize. And he sees the growing support of small proprietors in cycling, beer, food and retail spheres as a sign that the public might get on board.

“I want OOTS to always be relevant and do more than just put out a select group of people’s music. I really think music can be a tool for social change, and a lot of people we’ve worked with feel the same way. None of us is getting rich off what we do, but we can get another type of satisfaction from contributing something larger to the community.”

music@nowtoronto.com

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