Earache Records, the home of metal acts including Napalm Death, Godflesh and, more recently, for numerous UK blues-rock acts, is offering a new digital music distribution service: Earache Digital Distribution.
The new service doesn't require artists to sign anything, allows them to keep 100% of their rights, and lets them distribute to platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Deezer and Tidal, as well as social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook stories.
This is the latest in a line of moves that has seen Earache expand its operations. Other divisions include management, publishing, vinyl and merchandise distribution, as well as live stage curation at festivals including Glastonbury, Boomtown, Kendal Calling and Camp Bestival.
Earache founder Digby Pearson said: “The music industry has changed a lot since we first started, and change is happening ever faster. We’re always keen to evolve so we can continue to develop our artists. Digital distribution has democratised the industry, but there will always remain a need to support and empower artists on a tailored level.
“We’ve been doing this for years, and with Earache Digital Distribution, we’re now doing it in a different way, and welcome all genres. It's a way for us to work with more bands as we only actually sign (in the traditional sense) maybe two or three bands a year now."
He added: “The DIY ethic is strong here. We have been and always will be about the music. With our platform we’re able to open doors to all of the biggest digital music outlets in the world, so each track can reach its fans quicker and artists can get a personal service and advice along the way, which is not something other distribution sites offer.
“Over the years we’ve built strong relationships with award winning mix engineers, plus world-class designers, and video directors, and we are experts at planning tours. By launching our distribution service we’re adding to the ways artists can tap into our contacts and knowledge to hopefully reach their full potential. It’s not just distribution here, we’re more than happy to help their creative side too.”
Rock band As December Falls (pictured) said of the service: “We loved moving to Earache Digital Distribution for our music simply because they provide a much deeper level of customer service than any of the other digital providers that we've ever worked with in the past.
“The platform's easy to use and they deliver exceptionally fast to stores. There's also the benefit of working with a partner that has label resources at their disposal which other platforms can't compete with.”
