Interview with Nicolai Adolfs from Beep!Beep! Backup the truck!
I had an Interview with Nicolai Adolfs, founder of the Dutch Label Beep!Beep! Backup the truck! and member of the Band Kismet.
Beep! Beep! is one of the most popular labels in the Creative-Commons Scene. Artists like The Black Atlantic, Het Gloren or My, Bubba and Mi signed there and are very succesful. It's of course more than a netlabel, because it does very much more. Or have you ever heard of a netlabel artist who made 1500 Cd-Covers with his own hands? (Nothing against netlabels!)
Artists at Beep! Beep! did this - and much more. Living room shows, tours around the world....
And you can download every album for free at Bandcamp, Jamendo and Mininova!
A good way to get to know the label better is listening to it's compilation "Behold My Puny Bears, Vol. II"
Tfm.net: You founded the label Beep!Beep!Back up the Truck!. Why did you do this?
Nicolai:Well let's start with the fact that we (the founders) are really positive people/musicians
But we felt uncomfortable about the Dutch or maybe even international music climate that has been around for at least the past ten years
So we wanted thing to change. So we thought if we feel this way. Let's show people how we think it should be
tfm.net: Now, several years later, do you think you reached your goal?
What we do notice is that a lot of fans as well as musicians really support our approach
It's really hard for the business to change the old models...which is completely understandable
if it would change to quick a lot of people would lose there jobs
For some of those I would not feel sorry, but I want to believe that most people in the music business are in there beceause they still want to promote good creativity and art.
But we just started a few years ago and had the chance to start from scratch.
tfm.net: And what do you think, how will the music business look like in 10 years?
Nicolai: Even a lot different from how we work right now.
The distribution will probably be similar to the spotify model, so we will have a few huge servers around the world, containing all music available and people will have memberships and these servers will keep track of what people have been listening to, which seems really fair to me.
I guess this will effect huge artists, but will support quality.
In the end you will always have promotion companies that will promote certain artists.
This will be the modern kind of a record label.
tfm.net: Isn't it also a danger with such a centralised service?
Nicolai: Well maybe. But it's up to artist if they want to use these kinds of websites. These servers should be managed by some save foundation, not necessary a government, but it could be something like that. A foundation that gets a certain amount of tax and the rest will be transferred immediately to the music owners. It should not be owned by a regular company that's based on profit.
This should be something more international. The internet is a world wide thing and if you want to control copyright it should be managed by something international.
But we are not there yet. Bandcamp for example immediately transfers payments to your bank account and this seems pretty save for now.
tfm.net: You're uploading your music at Bandcamp, Jamendo and Mininova. Which of the services is your favorite?
Nicolai: Well they all have different qualities. I like the Jamendo royalties program, where they sell music packages to companies like hotels that we you can use creative commons and still get payed for airplay.
Mininova is not what it used to be, but still it served us with almost 200.000 downloads for ten of twenty releases, which is a great promotion in our opinion. So Mininova has it's own quality as well.
And then Bandcamp; I really like the fact that people can choose between different sound qualities,
but most important their payment service.
If people don't know yet: Beep Beep's entire catalog is entirely free in mp3 format, but!
People have to realize that a lot of people have put a lot of effort in these productions. This has cost a lot of money and time.
We as Beep Beep give the customer a load of options to support their artists:
you can donate anything for a lot of formats through bandcamp starting from nothing until your entire bank account. But most important we also have nice physical options like vinyl and cd's always wrapped in special artwork and for people who want uncompressed file formats
we have dropcards, which cost five euros and serve people who don't want anything physical not only with these uncompressed files but also with special content like HD live registrations and other special content
So thats that about those three.
tfm.net: Do you guess about how much percent pay for the music and how many download it for free?
Nicolai: Hm. Maybe one percent pays.
tfm.net: And is this enough to finance a label, and, of course, the artists?
Nicolai: Well the artist also sells a lot of records on tour that don't fund the record label.
Playing many shows is the best way to sell physical records, I guess.
But yes, it makes enough money to finance the label even if we still invest own money in new things that we want to try and for now it's only about financing and investing and not making any profit.
But thats a choice. We definitively could make more money
We are working on something new that fits with the creative works that artist make and that touches listeners; of course, it's a kind of entertainment.
We don't sell a product like Britney or the Jonas Brothers. Our main goal is to create an environment where artists can evolve and where artist and fans don't lose sight of what it's all about
and that is to move people, support people, help people to relax in a busy world.
tfm.net : Sounds interesting. Can you tell me how this thing will probably look like?
Nicolai: i can tell you one thing
Negro spirituals
punk
Johnny Cash - falsom prison
folk music - funarals / weddings
Blues
What i meant is:
This is about something different then making money and titties. This is about life.
tfm.net: And how long do we have to wait for it?
Nicolai: i don't have i clue.
It still happens a lot in many cultures, and it's everywhere around us, but I'm not sure how it will evolve. Maybe it also has to do with age.
It's harder to find on mtv then it's used to be. It's hard to find music on mtv in general ;).
tfm.net: And this will all start at your label?
Nicolai: Not all. But this is what our label is about. Of course there is also a commercial element,
but our goal is to stay connected and create a artist/consumer friendly enviroment
A lot of money gets lost in the old fashioned music bizz and a lot lot doesn't reach the artist. So to us it's personal.
tfm.net: Sounds like you will start a revolution...
Nicolai: Crazy, isn't it? And I'm turning 30 next month, but yes...in some way we will. It's gonna take a lot of time.
tfm.net: Has signing at a bigger label never been an option for you and for your band Kismet?
Nicolai: Nope. That's one of the reasons we started Beep! Beep!
tfm.net: But isn't earning money like Britney an argument for joining labels like Universal or Sony BMG?
Nicolai: Depends on your goals.
Britney is just plain entertainment, something like Six Flags or Disney World - Can be fun to do.
This is different from what we do with our music. Britney ain't no Radiohead or Neil Young. They are all still huge.
tfm.net: You have also some girls at Beep! Beep!. My Bubba and Mi are the first international artists at your label. Will Beep!Beep! be more international next time?
Nicolai: If something good comes a long, sure. That's another thing that annoyed us: The world has the tendency to think that only America and maybe some UK bands make good pop music. But that's bullshit.
It's about creating an environment for artist where they get rewarded for their efforts. That's how music gets better.
So that's another goal: Not a Dutch label not an American label not an European label - I would love to promote music from all around the world (in our own niche). Good bands from Afghanistan, Poland, Nigeria, Colombia....why not? But don't get me wrong: Also from the US and scandinavia -
just no borders is what i ment to say.
tfm.net: So, if you want international artists to sign at your label, how is it working at the moment; do you find the artists, or do the artists find you?
Nicolai: Well, someone suggested My Bubba and Mi to us, and we get a lot of demos.
Even if in the end we never signed anyone through a demo submission.
I think I am quite a music nerd - I try to find good music before it finds me.
tfm.net: But it's quite succesfull...
Nicolai: It really is. We get a lot of attention from all around the world. You have to understand that we started to work with a few very talented artists and a totally new approach. Things take time to evolve and need a lot of investments and effort. We are in the middle of that. But our bands are touring all around the world: Japan, Russia, Canada, Europe, Brazil and the US.
I guess that's quite succesfull.
tfm.net: Are there any labels which are further than you with this process?
Nicolai: Well I guess we are quite unique and there are some more labels that work with some of the same elements, but not as broad as we do and that's normal I guess.
The way we work also causes trouble and some people refuse to work with us because we are trying to change the old model . But, on the other hand, other companies love us for that.
tfm.net: And listeners love you for that too, i think...
Nicolai: Yep like I said before...In general people really tend to support us for our approach.
This whole industry has been fighting the mp3 format for over almost 20 years now - that is such a negative thought, I can hardly bear.
If they had embraced it 20 years ago...this whole problem would have been fixed for a long time.
tfm.net: So do you think the major labels will survive when they don't change their way?
Nicolai: No they would not - but they will change their way, trust me.
tfm.net: You have to know it...
Nicolai: It's the freaking internet...come on. They've been trying to close The Pirate Bay for how long now? Introduce a legal option for customers instead of paying lawsuits with money made by artists, who create it from a social point of view. This annoys me so much I can feel it through my whole body when i'm talking about it. POSITIVITY!
tfm.net: Your label uses creative-commons licenses as an alternative. Do you think they're good as they are now, or do they have to be changed to work perfectly?
Nicolai: Nope, not perfect yet. It doesn't generate any money out of airplay for example, wich isn't so good. This is a problem that could be solved by those server we where talking about in the beginning.
The internet is so hard to control and needs something that covers it all: something neutral and impartial.
tfm.net: More like an organisation or more like CC?
Nicolai: Maybe CC could evolve in that direction, as an organisation. But that's the thing with these servers I was talking about;
It can be used by individuals as well as by radio stations and for licensing for movies and commercials. This shouldn't be so hard.
It's easier to track down and sue if they don't pay for their rights.
I guess this will take more then ten or twenty years until something like that will really work.
That's why we work with the options that are available rigth now, and yes then CC and bandcamp and things like jamendo are the best options for now. I really appreciated their pioneering role,
but that doesn't mean they have the solution to the entire problem.
tfm.net: Back to the musical aspects. Het Gloren released a new album on Beep!Beep! recently. What can the listener expect?
Nicolai: Something really Dutch. Personally I think it's really interesting singer-songwriter based music with interesting music, but it's also lyricswise, which will be a problem for people who don't understand dutch. I wrote this down before in an article that said 'the lyrics are packed with funny sounding words and ambiguous expressions that make us smile while you don’t get it'. A nice thing is that we already got reactions from Canada and France who still seem to feel what the music is about. And even if they are wrong, it's still awesome.
tfm.net: Is this the most important thing with music for you? That it transports a message?
Nicolai: I can only speak for myself. But it is really hard warming when a doctor approaches you at a concert of one of your artists and tells or says:
“Thanks a lot...that was amazing ...I could really use that after this crazy week”
Music helps people, especially in these crazy stressful environments with high expectations that we are living in.
tfm.net: And which kind of music helps you?
Nicolai: Many types of music. It's hard to tell
I like to party on dance music, visit some good old hip hop show every once in a while, being moved by singer song writer or a good metal show or techincal postpunk.
All different moods I guess.
tfm.net: And which artists for example?
Nicolai: Blonde Redhead has a lot of everything, especially if you listen to all their records.
Neil Young, Talking Heads – Those are names that people might know.
tfm.net: Who was the most succesful artist at beep!beep! until now? Do you know it?
Nicolai: The Black Atlantic is most succesfull. The Black Atlantic is like a machine that never stops, and they benefit from it.
tfm.net: Do you think the promotion in Dutch TV made the cut?
Nicolai: Not at all. They benefit by playing everything and keeping in touch with their fans.
If you play a living room show with 40 people, you might sell 20 records; If you play a 500 capacity venue they might sell 40 records.
So percentage wise it pays to stay close to your fans.
tfm.net: And what's about Kismet. When can we expect the next album?
Nicolai: That's hard to tell. We will promote Hiatus in Germany, Switzerland and Austria for another while and I will guess we will focus on other projects after that. So it's a Hiatus after Hiatus.
tfm.net: Which band or artist would you recommend to our readers at the moment?
Nicolai: Well, I listen to: Forest Fire (touring Europe in September) and Washed Out (some tape music hype). Sharon van Etten is a really great singer-songwriter. Moonface, by the singer of wolf parade and Sunset Rubdown is a great free download.
tfm.net: Did any of them sign at beep!beep!?
Nicolai: Nope, none of them. We have some things on the shelf, but those are still secret. After the release of Het Gloren, we will reorganzie, so the first release after that will be late September I guess. It will be loud!