The kind of corporate approach I meant was that everything has to be run by him first including whatever you record in a studio. As if he doesn't trust a band's judgement on what is a good song and what is bad. Lots of bands do record awful things, but you'd think that what got you on Steven's label in the first place was that you had a sense of quality. Boss Martians just landed on the label and this is the first time that Evan Foster hasn't had 100 % control over what songs get on the album. Granted, it is Wicked Cool's money but still, we hated it when Don Kirshner did it but it's OK for Steven? Most of the labels turn down a whole entire album (Estrus for instance) before they'd make you lose a song. Not that they wouldn't turn down an entire album because they hated one song, I'm just saying that most indie labels let bands have quality control. The only record labels that are like Goldman Sachs are labels like Jive, Number one records that are going to implode and lose in the long run. I wish independents could do things a bit more efficently but I do prefer bands having 100% over context. MikeL said:
Doing it the corporate way can also mean things are done more efficiently, and the product reaches a wider audience. Just as long as Renegade Nation doesn't turn into the Goldman Sachs of garage rock, I'm happy:)
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:My belief (by the way, belief is a possession, believe is a verb) is that Little Steven gets a lot of people who would never had been a fan of garage rock into becoming a believer.
While a found out this month that he does take a bit of a corporate (nazi?) approach to his label and song lists (all songs recorded by bands on Wicked Cool have to be approved before being released and hosts of the sattalite shows like Manfred from the Woggles HAVE to play songs that are approved by Steven), the people who work for him and the bands are still happy, unlike people who work for Universal or Clear(?).
While I don't care for the corporate approach, if the bands don't mind, it's all good.