[atlantaprog] Re: Fripp on the music biz

    Let's not forget that in the end, Fripp's label DGM Records failed--and 
    about a year or two after this article was published.



  That was primarily because of the losses incurred by the release of a;lbums 
by non Crimson bands like The Rosenbergs, whose album, Mission You, is actually 
a quite solid power pop album that never got a fair shake.  All of DGM's 
Crimson releases were quite profitable.

  CH


True, and DGM is still in existence as a King Crimson boutique label of sorts, 
but the original idea was to provide a home for other artists as well and to be 
an honorable label in a sea of weasels.  The original vision didn't pan out.  
Now there is considerable talk (but no concrete results yet) of redoing DGM's 
website as some sort of new subscription thing.  I assume the idea here is to 
experiment with direct digital sales without having to go through some big 
monopoly like iTunes.  I assume this will start as a King Crimson thing, but I 
suppose if it is successful, it could expand.  In a separate issue, he also is 
frustrated with the nature of the touring business, and it sounds like he'll be 
experimenting with ways of thinking about live KC performance (like 
multi-concert residencies in a few selected cities rather than an expansive 
tour, doing the merchandise and tickets through the DGM site, and so on).  
Anyway, the point is that RF is still trying to figure out a way to exist with 
honorable intentions in a music business that he finds corrupt at almost every 
level.  Even when he fails, he usually does so in interesting ways, so more 
power to him.

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