Independent Recording Company

Independent Recording Company

1. Description

Infinity Cat Recordings is one of tens of thousands of small recording studios located in the United States. This independent record label operates in the region of Nashville, Tennessee, and has been in operation since its inception in 2002.  The record label was founded by Brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall, who together form the group JEFF The Brotherhood.  In terms of genre, the name focuses on producing music from various rock sub-genres, namely Alternative rock, Garage rock (Hann, 2012), Indie rock, Punk rock, and Grunge. The studio also has several artists and groups under its label and for whom it has released recordings ranging from the JEFF the Brotherhood, Be Your Pet, Diarrhea Planet, Daddy Issues, and Ed Schrader’s Music Beat (Ruiz, 2016).

Primarily, Infinity Cat Recordings identifies and records music for emerging talent within the Nashville area. The recording studio is described as one of the most influential labels that operate within the rock scene in the Nashville area. The studio is synonymously associated with the expression of the Nashville lifestyle of garage rock with its restless and raw strain that is associated with rock and roll and which does not come with a hefty budget.  The label distributes its recordings primarily through Dine Alone Records and RedEye,

2. Analysis

An analysis of the label’s records shows that all of its artists are rock musicians.  As such, the fan base of these artists target is rock n’ roll fans that enjoy the different subgenres in the category. For example, there some artists who target Alternative rock fans, Garage rock fans, Indie rock fans, Punk rock fans, or even Grunge fans. However, all these artists have the desire to reach a target that can be described as hyper-buzzed, vibrant, and noisy. The target can also be described as restless and raw, which are the hallmarks of rock ‘n’ roll.

The labels promote the music of its artists and get it to their consumers through distribution partners, namely Dine Alone Records and RedEye. The label also makes use of its website and a visitors’ center to reach their fan base (Infinity Cat, 2020). The visitors’ center, which is located in the headquarters is a retail center which was set up as in responses to their fans request. Here the fans visit and purchase various merchandise and recordings from their favorite artists.

As is common among small independent recording companies, Infinity Cat Recordings also faces various challenges and impediments as it seeks to promote and popularize their artists. First, the company meets monetary constraints borne by the fact that they do not have vast resources that are associated with big labels. Further, the company does not have a broad reach that could allow them to distribute their artists’ recordings to a global audience personally. As such, their works only get a limited scope when compared to large recording studios.

Infinity Cat Recordings has emerged as a label that is fiercely independent and one that is not looking to sell.  Although the brothers who are also recording artists have signed a deal with Warner Music Group to distribute their recordings, they preferred to retain their creative control. Further, the company is doing well as they sighted their successful management of the label as one of the reasons why they were not looking to for help. The label has also received recognition from Billboard Magazine, which ranked it among the best 50 American labels in Indie (Billboard, 2011).

3. Interpretation

Independent labels face various challenges that affect their business operations and effectiveness. Grant (2019) asserts that the marketing capabilities of a record label play a critical role in determining their competitive advantage and their ability to propel their artists in the music industry. It is this power that makes it possible for their artist to get into the limelight and break through the noise. From the analysis, the major challenge that  Infinity Cat Recordings faces and which is familiar to similar operators in the industry is lack of capacity to effectively market and distribute their recordings. The lack of a robust financial base means that the company can only engage small distributors with a limited reach and who cannot effectively popularize their artists.  This challenge is hard for these independent labels to overcome on their own.  The labels can, however, overcome these challenges by getting financial investment to help them finance their operation or by joining up with substantial recording companies that have the necessary resources and infrastructure.

Despite the challenges that are faced by small independent recording labels, these companies are essential and essential to the entire recording industry. First, these labels offer platforms for artists from all walks of life and genre to express their creativeness relatively easily, something that would be hard to accomplish without their presence. These labels are often on the ground where they identify talented individuals and give them a platform to be heard with only the use of limited resources. Further, they also help the entire recording industries by indenting talents, honing them, and placing them out there to be discovered.

In a world where small recording labels did not exist, things would be very different.  These studios, which are spread throughout the nation and world, provide platforms for expression for people from all walks of life and with a wide variety of creative geniuses. The studios make it possible for different art of art to be born and nurtured before they receive general public acceptance and popularity.  Further, most of the mainstream artists started in these small label companies where they were their talent was recognized and offered deals by huge recording studios affording them their prominence today. Therefore without these seemingly small and sometimes insignificant players in the music industry, it would have been impossible for some of the enormous talents who now enjoy a worldwide reception to be identified. Further creative works would be curtailed, and the current broad form of expressions would not be available.

References

Billboard (2011). “Billboard Pro’s D.I.Y 50 Indie Labels (Part I)”, Billboard, Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles//1175360/billboard-pros-diy-50-indie-labels-part-i

Grant, K. W. (2019). 3 Marketing Challenged Record Labels Face In 2019. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinwestcottgrant/2019/06/08/3-challenges-record-labels-face-marketing-music-in-2019/#701c582650a3

Hann, M. (2012), “Why The Garages of East Nashville are Now American Rock’s Hottest Property,” The Guardian Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/mar/25/east-nashville-garage-rock-scene-feature

Infinity cat (2020). About Infinity Cat Retrieved from http://www.infinitycat.com/

Ruiz, M. I (2016). How Nashville’s Infinity Cat Recordings Uses an Outdated Format To Stay On The Cutting Edge Flavorwire. Retrieved from https://www.flavorwire.com/574642/how-nashvilles-infinity-cat-recordings-uses-an-outdated-format-to-stay-on-the-cutting-edge