1: Rough Trade and the 1970's
How did the Rough Trade start?
- The Rough Trade started in a little shop in West London opened by a man called Geoff Travis on 20th February 1976, during the IRA bombing campaign.
Which music trends were popular?
- Punk rock became very popular as it was a revolt against mainstream music.
What was the ethos of Rough Trade at this time?
- The ethos for Rough Trade for new artists was to 'Do it themselves.' This made artists different from mainstream artists.
How was Rough Trade different to large corporations?
- Rough Trade was different to large corporations as they did not control their artists. They would not tell them how to act, what to do and what to wear. Artists 'done it themselves.'
What techniques were used to expand the Independent music scene?
- To expand the independent music scene, Rough Trade bought in Austin Palmer, a Reggae DJ, and started to sell Reggae music, that Austin Palmer was in charge of.
How did this lead to Rough Trade's expansion?
- This led to Rough Trade's expansion as more people were employed, and the music they sold appealed to more people.
What type of business structure existed in the 1970's?
- At the beginning of the 1970's, businesses were very much about pleasing their customers and society. Business structure began to change towards the end of the 1970's, when the future Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher made a famous speech about a 'free society' and against socialism. this led to businesses caring more about money than anything else. However, Rough Trade always believed in 'principles before profit', and this is what made them different.
Explain the successes of the distribution department and record label.
- Rough Trade's songs were distributed by Independent Nationwide Distribution. The successes were that their songs could now be distributed nationwide, rather than just in London. People distributing all over the country were also buying Rough Trade's excess stock.
In the 1970's, Rough Trade signed artists such as 'Buzzcocks', 'The Desperate Bicycles', 'Scritti Politi' and 'The Normal', who had a hit song called 'T.V.O.D', and 2000 copies were made. After that, dozens of records were released.
2: The 1980's
How did contracts affect the development of Rough Trade?
- Contracts affected the development of the Rough Trade as some of the artists who had contracts were not very popular with their target audiences, and described it as 'commercial music'. However, when 'The Smiths' wanted to leave Rough Trade, they couldn't as they had a contract, and made two more songs for Rough Trade, and Rough Trade got the money for these hits.
What issues occurred between the record label and distribution?
-There was conflict between Rough Trade and distribution as distribution were getting more and more power as there were bigger demands for music. Geoff Travis was worried that they cared more about money than the music, and he did not believe in this.
What changes did this lead to within the business structure of Rough Trade?
- The led to Rough Trade hiring large marketing, which London Records spent a lot of money on. It also led to Rough Trade leaving West London and opening a new headquarters, where qualified professionals were employed.
What has been Rough Trade's ideology and how was this effected by the change in structure?
Rough Trade's ideology was 'principles before profit' and this was effected when Geoff Travis handed over control to a bigger organization as he felt they cared less about the music, and more about the money.
No comments:
Post a Comment