Comment by chris sweeney on April 14, 2010 at 6:51pm

Having been a serious bluegrass music addict from the mid-seventies forward, my shelves contain many, many Rounder titles. I used to even have some of the record numbers memorized - the first Tony Rice LP is 0085 for instance.

I remember thinking early on what a great name they chose for the label. I still think that.

I don't know anything about Concord, but I hope that Ken Irwin and the gang came out well on the deal. They have done an awful lot for my record collection. Good luck guys!

Comment by Kyla Fairchild on April 14, 2010 at 9:45pm

Congrats to Ken, Bill, Marion (and all the great staff they have had over the years) for 40 years of commitment, passion and integrity. Rounder could always be counted on to support No Depression over the years, including our transition online, which we have appreciated very much. Glad to hear that it sounds like things are continuing on more or less the same but it still feels like the end of an era somehow.

The folks at Concord are great so the label should be in good hands which is a relief!

Comment by Bill Nowlin on April 15, 2010 at 3:34am

Thanks, Kyla - and thanks to you, too, Chris.

It feels a lot like the end of an era to us, too, Kyla, but - no to be too sappy or anything - it also feels like the beginning of a new one. We never believed we could soldier on forever all by ourselves, and I think it's safe to say we're surprised we were able to last as long as we did. This isn't a funeral for Rounder, though. It's finding what we believe will be a better and more solid home for all the artists we've worked with and all the albums we've worked with over these last 40 years. It was not a decision we took lightly; we only made the move after thoroughly considering the interest from Concord and looking at their track record, too.

Fortunately, Ken and Marian and myself and all the rest of the key people at Rounder in A&R, publicity, marketing, and so forth will remain involved, and actively so. We've got a really outstanding release schedule for the balance of 2010, and some really nice stuff that we're working on for 2011. We're confident that people will look back and feel we've made no worse a change than when we moved from independent distribution to being handled by the biggest of the majors - Universal - something around 10 years ago. We hope that Rounder will keep on keeping on. That's our plan for the company and its legacy.

Comment by Grant Alden on April 15, 2010 at 3:38am

Be interesting to know what Concord's long-range plans are, given our previous conversation about the conservation of recordings. They're clearly assembling a quality catalog (and, if memory doesn't fail, they're putting out the new Alejandro Escovedo album, so it's not just a catalog operation), and they're clearly moving toward...something. I wonder what that is.
I also wonder...didn't Rounder have some kind of deal with Universal? I remember that they were involved somehow in the marketing of the O Brother soundtrack through that channel. Maybe that deal expired, and the founders (who have to be contemplating whatever retirement looks like for them...probably flying to Africa to hear that fellow play spoons on his teeth!) needed to find another safe harbor for their label.
Regardless, my hat's off to the label. They've done yeoman work for four decades. And it always tickled me to see Ken Irwin at a show, usually something woefully obscure, for it reminded me that it was not simply possible but essential to keep my ears open. Despite my dour posts here!

Comment by Bill Nowlin on April 15, 2010 at 3:52am

WOW! Hannes Coetzee - what great YouTube videos there are on him. Yes, Grant, as I alluded to in my post (which I must have been writing just at the same time you were writing yours), Rounder has been distributed by Universal for a decade or so. That deal has been renewed three times, because we were content with it.

It wasn't at all that we were forced to look elsewhere because that deal was up. But finding a safe harbor isn't a bad metaphor. These aren't the easiest of times in the record business (going through similar stuggles as are newspapers and magazines), and it seemed like the right time to merge our operations into those of Concord. I don't presume to speak for Concord itself and its long-term plans, but we wouldn't have made the move if we didn't feel it would be the right home for the collective body of work that Ken and Marian and myself have assembled over our combined 120 years. I believe that Concord values depth of catalog, and that it also welcomes a certain freshness of spirit that I like to think Rounder still has in some of our own, ongoing signings.

Comment by Cash Edwards on April 15, 2010 at 7:42am

How wonderful for all you all. Beverly Hills huh? Hollywood, here comes the best in American music!

Comment by Easy Ed on April 15, 2010 at 8:59am

I wanted to sleep on it before I posted my thoughts on this news, and I'm glad to see Kyla, Grant and Bill in the mix. When I first threw up this "cut and paste" yesterday, a friend from Universal quickly sent me a note that said "it's all in the family, dude". He we referring to the distribution remaining in place with the same sales team, the same delivery channels and with little change in the day to day business from their perspective. I'll guess that the biggest change will be for Bill, Ken and Marian as they transition to being employees as opposed to owners. Some do it very well, and others don't.

Grant and I both had the same initial thought, because I also started to think about our conversation of how the conservation of music can take place with many music companies struggling, and unable to compete in the digital landscape. My fear is that especially smaller, independent labels are apt to throw their hands up, walk away and master recordings will be lost or forgotten. In the case of Rounder, which has a massive catalog of titles (of which many only sell a tiny amount each year) , I was happy to see Concord step up to the plate because they understand that business model.

While the original Concord Jazz label is relatively small, their acquisition of the
Fantasy/Milestone/Prestige catalogs a few years ago is almost the mirror image of Rounder in the jazz world in terms of breadth. And to date, the Concord folks have shown not only a deep respect for the music and traditions, but they have applied skillful marketing and sales techniques that have expanded their consumer base. I think its important to look at their track record and not their street address in determining whether this is a good thing or not.

I think this might be a time to say to the three Rounder founders....thank you. Thanks for creating a home for this magnificent body of music. Thanks for being respectful to the artists and to your customers. Thanks for putting out music that doesn't sell a heck of a lot, but is important to be heard. Thanks for taking the best steps in choosing who will take the reins for the future. (And on a personal note, thanks for all the commission I earned back in the seventies when I was selling 3014, 3024 and 3045 faster than you could make them.)

Comment by Kyla Fairchild on April 15, 2010 at 9:53am

I'm posting a link to the great discussion that ensued after Grant's post "Who then is in charge of our musical past?" that Ed referenced above.

It's an interesting question to ponder as we enter this digital age. Check it out if you haven't already.

Comment by Old Soul on April 20, 2010 at 5:23am

As a young jazz fan in the 80s, I basically grew up on the sound of Concord recordings, and many of them are still among my favorites. Carl Jefferson had a specific musical vision for his company, just as the great team at Rounder did for theirs. However, he's long gone from the scene. Let's hope that whoever signed Kenny G and Dave Koz to Concord--which probably has Jefferson spinning in his grave--doesn't mess with Rounder.

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