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Business News Digital Labels & Publishers
Warner launches vinyl reprint label Run Out Groove
By Chris Cooke | Published on Wednesday 29 March 2017
Having recently launched a new label focused on finding future streaming hits, now Warner Music has formally put live a new label focused on old music and vinyl. Well, you’ve got to tick all the boxes, I guess.
US-based Run Out Groove is being described as a “fan-driven, vinyl-only” label. The venture has parallels with the Ninja Tune-founded Beat Delete venture that ran in the UK from 2013 to 2015, and the recently launched Vinylised project, though this one will be specifically tapping the Warner Music archives for deleted and rarity recordings to put out again on vinyl – as Universal did briefly with its own catalogue back in 2013.
Each month fans will be asked to vote on which of three previously unreleased or out-of-print recordings they would like to see released on a twelve-inch disc. Once a recording has been selected, fans will be able to pre-order their copy, plus a limited run of each Run Out Groove release will be sent to participating American record stores.
Says Billy Fields at Warner’s WEA division: “Warner Music Group is home to many legendary labels – Atlantic, Warner Bros, Reprise, Elektra, Sire, Rykodisc and more – which have produced a wealth of expertly curated music over the years. What makes Run Out Groove unique is that the crate-digging community is steering the ship. We are crowd-sourcing niche, but in-demand, selections from our vast vault to be pressed on high-quality vinyl, and it’s going to be a lot of fun to see where the community decides to take us”.
One of the first bands set for a limited edition vinyl release via the Run Out Groove project is Echo & The Bunnymen, from which guitarist Will Sergeant says: “I am chuffed that our fans came out in droves and voted for us and that Run Out Groove are releasing our live-in-Sweden recording. It’s a historical document of another time, another place, another me and a very interesting stop off travelling the road map of the band’s life”.
He goes on: “I love the fact that vinyl is having an amazing resurgence and many young music fans are embracing the medium. I am an avid vinyl enthusiast and my vinyl collection is a route map to my life – when you lay them out on your bedroom floor like tarot cards, having a pocket full of MP3s can’t do that. The cover art of an LP is almost as important to me as the music. With LPs you feel like you have actually got something worth having, to hold and read while you listen”.
Those of you collecting new Warner labels should also know about Black Diamond Records, a new UK-based joint venture between the major and David Olusegun and Derek Edmund Ojofeitimi’s Black Diamond Music Group.
Says Warner Music UK Max Lousada chief: “We’re always looking for the brightest and most creative talent to work with throughout the Warner Music family – our team and our artists. That’s why David and Derek are a great fit. They’ve shown they’re natural A&Rs who gravitate towards brilliant artists and have a strong understanding of what it takes to develop and break artists in today’s environment. It’s good to be working with them and I’m looking forward to seeing who else they discover”.
