Square Tire Music Announces Square Tire Music

April 14, 2009 - PRLog -- Square Tire Music, a new Los-Angeles based record label, has its sites set squarely on the business model used by the majors.  “There are myriad ways for bands to distribute and promote their music nowadays.  The Internet is the great equalizer.   And it just doesn't make sense for bands to sign 360 deals or give up a single dollar in revenue,” said Mike TV, one of the label's founders and the front-man for Los Angeles-based indie-rock band, Get Set Go.   “We intend to give one-hundred percent of all album sales and merchandise revenue back to the band.”  

Square Tire Music launches their new site, www.squaretiremusic.com, on April 24, 2009.  They intend to sell .mp3 album downloads of the Square Tire bands, sell short-run, collector-edition physical cds, and merchandise from the site.  “We're very excited to be part of the Square Tire family,” said Jeremy Keeler, a member of New Maximum Donkey, one of the bands from the Square Tire roster.  “It puts us right where we wanted to be at this point in our career: in charge of our music and connecting directly with our fans.”

Square Tire Music will launch with a roster of five bands, New Maximum Donkey, The Power Cords, Secret Powers, I Give Up, and with special permission from TSR Records, Get Set Go.  They intend to release at least three additional bands every quarter and are already in discussions with local favorites, The New Fidelity, The Kris Special, and The Hunting Accident.  “We intend to give local Los Angeles bands a way to distribute their music without feeling like they're getting screwed.  Even services like Itunes take a ridiculous percentage of every sale.   We're want the fans to know that every dollar they spend goes directly to the bands they love.  And we hope to give our fans never-before-experienced access to the members of the bands,” said Mike TV.  “Without the fans, we're just a bunch of guys making music in our bedrooms.”

All of the Square Tire bands are firmly rooted in the DIY movement.  With the exception of Get Set Go, each of the bands have at least one self-released record.  All of them, including Get Set Go, book their own national tours.  Many of them make their own merchandise, including t-shirts, buttons, and stickers.  “We do it all.  I guess it made sense that we'd eventually start our own record label,” said TV.  

“Square Tire intends to make full use of the viral marketing possibilities that are available through web services such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Blip.  We're lean, we're hungry, and we're willing to work 24/7 to get the word out.  Sure, we might not sell 100,000 units but if we're retaining all of the revenue we only need to sell 10,000 units to make the money we would have made on a major label,” said TV.  “And through the Internet we've got a global presence.  Fifty cds in China, and forty cds in Australia, and thirty cds in Germany all begin to add up.  This is a trend that's happening all across the planet.  We're not innovators.  We're survivors.”

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Established in 2009, Square Tire Music is making a business practice of giving one-hundred percent of all revenue from album and merchandise sales back to their bands. Business operations are conducted entirely from their website allowing them to maintain an exceptionally low overhead. Through advertising, contributions of both time and money by the bands and the fans, and the sale of compilations and exclusive, collector-edition releases the label intends to cover their operating expenses and continue in service of the idea that the bands should retain all monies generated from the sale of their music.