Independence Rules

35 years ago, DJ Henry Storch founded the record label Unique Records and seven years later the legendary club of the same name in Düsseldorf's old town. The club closed its doors in 2006, but the label remained. After the sudden death of Henry Storch in 2018, his former employee Ina Schulz took over the management of the record label. In an interview with VIVID, the manager explains how she sees her job as label head of Unique Records and head of international product management at Schubert Music Europe, how the players in indie music have coped with the disruption of recent years - and what new revenue models there are for artists.

Unique Records has achieved legendary status in Düsseldorf. On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, there was a large exhibition at the KIT. What is the reason for this high status?

It's thanks to Henry Storch and the people he brought together. People met at the Unique, later married and had children. The Unique was an institution, there was no big marketing plan behind it. Henry Storch did what he felt like doing - and he wanted to fill a niche. That vibe continued. He was also a good DJ who made sure people had fun. Of course, that helped the label carry on after his death. For me, that sets the bar high. I want to live up to the musical quality that Henry set.

What artists are currently releasing on Unique Records? Is there a particular talent?

Love Machine from Düsseldorf and the Frank Popp Ensemble. And Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys from South Africa.

In 2020 Schubert Music based in Warsaw bought Unique Records. What are the advantages for your work, what are the disadvantages?

I see mainly advantages: I am now employed, I have a different budget and I can intercept certain things better. Wrong decisions can be corrected more easily. Of course, I now have to justify myself financially. But I see it as a way of controlling myself. And the international structure of Schubert Music makes it easier for me to place artists abroad - for concerts or for advertising. Andreas Schubert was a good friend of Henry Storch - they had already founded Unique Music Publishing together in 2013. So Unique has not lost its identity through the takeover. To be honest, if we hadn't been bought in January 2020, we wouldn't have survived the pandemic.

“Im Unique haben sich Leute
kennengelernt, die später
geheiratet und Kinder
bekommen haben. Das Unique
war eine Institution.”

How did you deal with the whole pandemic crisis?

I was in close contact with the artists. We tried to come up with concepts that would help us keep in touch with our fans despite the lack of live shows. On the one hand, there was the possibility of expanding the Bandcamp business. Bandcamp is a US platform for artists where they can basically maintain their own website. Many were also working on their own shop or producing content for social media. But the time without concerts was hard because for us as an independent label the live market is incredibly important. For example, when Love Machine don't play shows, we sell 50 per cent less records. The concerts are also an important source of income for the bands, as well as raising their profile and generating more clicks on social media. If the artists can't play, they don't buy merchandise from us. We have received more funding since the pandemic, mainly from Initiative Musik, and we help the bands and musicians to get that funding.

The influence of streaming services like Spotify, Amazon or Apple is growing rapidly. What does this mean for the music industry and the work of record companies?

In general, we use streaming services as a way to promote artists. It has become essential to be visible on certain platforms,even if it doesn't pay off financially. Our digital distribution makes sure that the songs are visible in the stores, so there is a margin here as well, so in the end there is hardly any money going to us. It's only worth it in the sense that we know our artists can be found. We encourage artists to use these tools. They help us to promote concerts where, at best, an analogue record is sold. Because we still make most of our money from the sale of physical records. The margin is just much higher, even though the production costs have gone up.

What are the options for artists to increase their income?

There is Patreon, for example, which is one of the biggest platforms for artists to connect with their fans. As a fan, you can sign up for a monthly subscription at a price you set. You don't always get something tangible in return - it might be access to certain limited editions or VIP access to pre-sale tickets or guest lists. Some artists publish poetry, keep a video diary, share their lives, rehearsals or songwriting sessions with their fans. American artists are already very open because they don't have a social safety net. In Germany I see a lot of potential because there are a lot of people who are willing to support their favou-rite bands. I know artists who earn a large part of their income this way.

Vinyl is experiencing a revival. Are you noticing this?

Since the demand for vinyl is back, we can produce higher quan-tities, but with caution. That's because the cost of producing vinyl has gone up and we can't pass that cost directly on to the consumer. That would lead to fewer purchases. Nevertheless, the trend is noticeable. Vinyl is now back at 40 per cent. We would rather do without CDs than vinyl.

What is the future of the industry?

I see it in independent artists who are close to their fans. Be-cause a loyal fan base is very crisis-proof. I would also not be against the increasing digitalisation. If AI helps me write a press release, I have more capacity to think about how to create attrac-tive products. Or I can use the time to get involved in politics. •

Der Einfluss von Streaming-Diensten wie Spotify, Amazon oder Apple wächst stark. Was macht das mit der Musikindustrie und der Arbeit der Plattenfirmen?

Generell nutzen wir Streaming-Dienste als Möglichkeit, Künstler:innen bekannter zu machen. Es ist inzwischen unerlässlich, auf bestimmten Plattformen sichtbar zu sein, auch wenn es sich finanziell nicht unmittelbar auszahlt. Unser Digitalvertrieb sorgt dafür, dass die Songs in den Stores sicht bar sind, hier wird also auch noch eine Marge fällig, so dass am Ende ein kaum nennenswerter Betrag an uns geht. Es lohnt sich also nur in dem Sinne, dass wir wissen, dass unsere Künstler:innen gefunden werden. Wir halten die Künstler:innen an, diese Instrumente zu nutzen. Uns helfen sie, Konzerte zu bewerben, auf denen im besten Fall auch eine analoge Platte verkauft wird. Denn wir selbst verdienen mit dem Verkauf von physischen Tonträgern immer noch das meiste. Die Marge ist hier einfach viel höher, auch wenn die Herstellungskosten gestiegen sind.

Wo liegt die Zukunft der Branche?

Ich sehe sie bei unabhängigen Künstler:innen, die nahe bei ihren Fans sind. Denn eine treue Fanbase ist sehr krisensicher. Außerdem würde ich mich der stärker werdenden Digitalisierung nicht entgegenstemmen. Wenn mir KI hilft, einen Pressetext zu schreiben, dann habe ich mehr Kapazitäten zu überlegen, wie ich attraktive Produkte aufbaue. Oder ich kann mich in der Zeit politisch engagieren. •

Words: Ilona Marx
Pictures: PR, Nora Heidi Meyer-Volland, Christof Wolff, Martin Hinse, FotoSchiko, Suzan Köcher / Francis Broek

2023/04, Business engVIVID Magazin12. Oktober 2023Düsseldorf