Roadrunner Records Europe Shutting Down !

[DigitalMetal]

Roadrunner Records parent company Warner Music Group is closing Roadrunner's European offices in a cost cutting move.

http://lambgoat.com/news/18235/Roadrunner-UK-shutting-down

 

[jeid]

I'm sure I read something about this a long time ago.

 

[DigitalMetal]

its just happened in the last few hours, some friends of friends have been working there until today , sad times
Although i would expect its been brewing for a while as its not the sort of thing that is a snap decision really.
On the greater scheme of things i guess its just the evolution of industry, like CD's killing vinyl and MP3's killing CD's, now its the labels turn

 

[egan.]

Isn't roadrunner in the Warner family now? It's probably just getting folded in for efficiency. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

 

[DigitalMetal]

Yup, (see my original post) that seems to be the root of it

 

[egan.]

Oops. Sorry, for my failed reading. I saw a bunch of tweets and my eyes glazed over.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Here's an idea that will make Roadrunner executives richer without having to lay people off:

1. Tell your bands to write songs, not albums.
2. Sell songs online for $0.10 each, or Roadrunner Unlimited Passes for $20.00/year
3. Sit back and watch the profits skyrocket from your new summer home in France.

 

[Lowberg]

I went to school for a degree in music business, and I was going to move to NYC and apply for an entry lvl job working for Sony/Warner/Universal (Actually there was a marketing postition open a while back for roadrunner US I was considering applying for) And its stuff like this that makes me say "eh maybe ill wait a bit and see how this whole music industry thing unfolds" lol

 

[decoy205]

I worked for Warner for 7 years in Royalties. I left last year and now work for a major music publisher.

This is just the beginning as someone has said. The industry does not pull in anywhere near the amounts it used to. It requires tons and tons of overhead to keep this machine running. Lowering pricing on assets doesn't save labels. Plus it reduces the amounts bands/artists make and the chances of them affording to do more releases.

I'm sure a lot more will come. NOT a good time to be at a label especially a subsidiary of a bigger fish.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Lowering pricing on assets doesn't save labels. Plus it reduces the amounts bands/artists make and the chances of them affording to do more releases.

You mean "Lowering pricing on assets did not used to save labels."

It's a different game now. It costs damn near nothing to create and distribute music. People aren't stupid, they are not going to pay $10 to buy something they can easily steal for free.

But I think people will pay a dollar to support a band they like. For some reason the record industry forgets that not all people are money-grubbing cheapskates like record industry execs.

 

[fatalforce]

This is sad. Alot of guys without jobs now. The music industry is rough even if you're working for it

 

[GeertSamuel]

Sad thing is tat it all started here in the Netherlands to get the US and South-American bands over here in Europe...and now it's closing down in Europe?..pfff..

Sad for all people losing a job

 

[Siriun]

Wow. This is bad news for a lot of bands and people. So many things are going to disappear now slowly and bit by bit. Less tours, less albums, less funding, less crew available, less just about everything.
Huge blow to the music industry, at least for metal. I heard the budget cut was from Warner bro's (Warner Bro's owns RR btw) trimming the fat so to speak because metal didn't quite 'fit' their agenda.

RR Canada took a nut-shot too and went down. RIP Roadrunner.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Are you sure this means less tours and albums?

PS Hey Matt Heafy: how about "thank you for listening to my music, how did you like it" not "You're a jerk."

PPS sorry for the tangent, this really does suck for those who lost their jobs.

 

[Siriun]

Are you sure this means less tours and albums?

PS Hey Matt Heafy: how about "thank you for listening to my music, how did you like it" not "You're a jerk."

PPS sorry for the tangent, this really does suck for those who lost their jobs.

Absolutely. They just got hit with the Budget hammer drastically. This isn't just
a minuscule event that happened. Their going to be on a much stricter budget now more than ever because of this. They're going to have to cut back so much. They lost a lot of reeeaaallly good staff, apparently.

 

[decoy205]

The music companies have lowered pricing based on the industry evolution just not fast enough to combat piracy and the changing environment. I am by no means an executive and I know a lot of good hard working people who won't have jobs with Warner anymore. Roadrunner is small potatoes compared to a lot of the affiliates. They are not the only ones losing here.

I will have to disagree with the statement that it costs next to nothing to put out records. Quality records cost money. Some of my favorite records of all time were produced by Colin Richardson who's done many roadrunner classics. Do you think he comes at low cost? Studios management and lots of other things cost money. Being on this board you know how much decent gear costs I'm sure.

It does suck but times are changin and the business needs to change faster to keep up. Good bands will still make good records! People like me need to prepare ourselves for the enevitable hammer.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

I will have to disagree with the statement that it costs next to nothing to put out records. Quality records cost money. Some of my favorite records of all time were produced by Colin Richardson who's done many roadrunner classics. Do you think he comes at low cost? Studios management and lots of other things cost money. Being on this board you know how much decent gear costs I'm sure.

You are not disagreeing with my statement. I did not say quality records, I just said records.

People don't care about quality anymore, even here on this board...

 

[decoy205]

Well I still want quality! Ha. I will agree that they do need to change the way music and media as a product is available for consumption. It will be interesting to see what these big companies will do to try an adapt after all the dust has settled.

 

[DanLights]

You are not disagreeing with my statement. I did not say quality records, I just said records.

People don't care about quality anymore, even here on this board...

I can absolutely disagree with this statement. It costs nothing to distribute them yes, and the ability to make infinite free copies of a product you're selling (thus giving your product an unimaginable number of 0$ on variable production cost, leaving only the initial fixed cost, which is the cost of actually recording, producing, etc.) is an advantage that for some reason big labels have not embraced in their favour. I don't see why labels have not taken a monthly/annual subscription service with regular downloads approach like the porn industry did so many years ago when digital became the new medium. But I'm not an expert in the subject so I can't really point fingers, just my thoughts.

But people care about quality, even subconsciously people will feel the need to re-listen to that album which actually sounds good, it has more staying power than the "average" ones.

 

[metalexp]

Roadrunner's taste in musicians has been getting worse as years have gone on.