Did you know that the entire 40-year catalog of the punk rock label of note, Dischord, is available on Bandcamp for free streaming? While free, they're hoping listeners will download the music to support the artists. Bandcamp is waiving their sales fees on certain days each month so that all of the money will go to the artists. The first of these days was May 1. The initiative will also repeat on June 5 and July 3 and will last from 12am to 11:59pm PST time on all three days.
From the piece on Farout Magazine:
While the foundations of punk music have multiple different influencers, seminal Washington DC punk label Dischord have always had their say. The independent label, co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, founded the company in 1980 in order to release Minor Disturbance by The Teen Idles. From there, Dischord focused on a nationwide network of underground bands and continued to spearhead the punk movement with their uncompromising approach to the music industry.
“We don’t use contracts, lawyers, any of those kinds of things,” MacKaye once commented on the ethos of Dischord Records. “We are partners—they make the music, and we make the records.”
Nelson, echoing MacKaye’s sentiment, added: “From the beginning of this label, people have said that the way we do things is unsustainable, unrealistic, idealistic, and we were just dreaming,” he said. “Well, the dream is now 35 years old, so they can go fuck themselves.”
Correction: Changes were made to this piece to correct inaccuracies from the linked article. Apologies for any confusion.
Image: Dischord Records
