An insurgency of its own making at Bloodshot Records

October 26, 2021 9:09 AM

After sexual misconduct allegations, mounting unpaid royalties, one of its founding partners resigning and another "walking away," Chicago independent music label Bloodshot Records seemed to be shutting down. Independent music company Exceleration Music announced it has struck an agreement with label founders Rob Miller and Nan Warshaw to acquire Bloodshot Records and to assume full operational control of its catalog.

This Chicago Reader piece from late last year gives an indication of how the chaos was affecting the label's artists. Among the artists who have recorded for the label are: Neko Case, Old 97's, Laura Jane Grace and the Devouring Mothers, Lydia Loveless, The Mekons, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, Murder by Death, Robbie Fulks, Justin Townes Earle, Freakwater, Andrew Bird, Kelly Hogan, and many others.

With the new deal with Exceleration, who previously acquired jazz label Candid Records and announced partnerships with Chicago blues label Alligator and the Ray Charles Foundation, the label will live to see another day, albeit in a new form.

posted by DirtyOldTown (9 comments total)

(For the casual reader: the sexual misconduct was on the part of co-founder Nan Warshaw's domestic partner, Mark Panick. Her business partner, co-founder Rob Miller is part of the Bloodshot team left holding the bag, after both those allegations and the reputed unpaid royalties, which may also trace back to Warshaw. With gag orders in place and a lot of angry people around, it is hard to say.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:13 AM on October 26, 2021

Aw, this is bummer to hear on all fronts. I have given Bloodshot a good chunk of my money over the years.
posted by Kitteh at 9:36 AM on October 26, 2021 [2 favorites]

Publishing deals on back catalogues are a growth area in the music industry of 2021 - they can be viewed as similar to bonds in that they pay out over time. This deal is a good thing, but it also can be viewed as an opportunistic acquisition of a distressed asset which the new owners fully intend to monetize.

"Exceleration said that, with its acquisition, it was “beginning a long-term campaign to revitalize the presence and availability of the Bloodshot catalogue, both digitally and physically.” As for whether there will be any future releases from the label beyond maintaining and promoting the catalog, Exceleration says it’s too early to say."

"too early to say" = no. The artist catalogue is the valuable piece, not the label.
posted by Spacelegoman at 10:32 AM on October 26, 2021

I have met Bruce Iglauer a few times and I got the feeling he was a sharp guy and the best kind of music nerd. If he's partnering up Alligator Records with Exceleration, I'm hoping that means they're okay.

It could be that they're only after the catalog. Orbit could be that they're fully aware of how much the label's credibility is, in the near term at least, tanked, and they know they have to cut some royalty checks and mend some bridges before they try to do too much.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:44 AM on October 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

Strictly from a business standpoint, you'd have to be okay with possibly only getting the catalog for your purchase price, due to the risk that the label as an ongoing concern might not recover.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:50 AM on October 26, 2021

Is only being after the back catalog a bad thing? It seems like having someone who's at least marginally competent and honest in charge of selling those existing recordings and paying royalties on them would be good for both the artists and music lovers.
posted by kristi at 11:07 AM on October 26, 2021 [4 favorites]

Historically, there has been value for people with certain tastes in the curation aspect of what Bloodshot does. They may be the one label where if I see a new release from someone I have never heard of and my first thought is: I should check that out. If they stop putting out new records, that piece is gone forever.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:48 AM on October 26, 2021 [4 favorites]

Every step of this has been a heartbreak.
posted by MrJM at 1:39 PM on October 26, 2021

Damn, first I've heard of this - guess I'll stash my Bloodshot Ts for awhile - discovered a shitload of great artists from that label including the one and only Kelly Hogan.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 6:22 AM on October 27, 2021 [1 favorite]