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Label lowdown: Venga Digital
In the latest instalment of our new label Q&A, we track down Liam Veitch of rising electro/fidget imprint Venga Digital to talk piracy, MySpace and why tracks need 'heart'.
Launched in 2006, Venga's roster reads like a who's who of Electro, with releases and remixes from the likes of Kelevra, Mightyfools, Edu K, Lee Mortimer, Aniki and AC Slater. The Venga lads pride themselves as purveyors of futureproof music. We head up to Burnley to find out more.
What do you think is the secret to your success as a label?
Good taste? Ha ha! In seriousness I think a willingness to provide cutting edge music and deliver it in a way that's engaging to people has really helped. We've made friends with bloggers and people that are genuinely interested in what we have to say, and we deliver music and other content to meet their high expectations.
What special ingredient are you looking for in tracks you sign?
'Heart' is something I look for in music: you can really tell when someone has put a lot of love into making a track. The tunes we sign are not regurgitated sound-a-likes. They're raw and unique. Anybody can jump onto YouTube and learn how to make a wobble sound in Massive, but if it doesn't have heart and its own identity then a track's no good for us.
What advice would you give to budding producers wishing to have a track out on Venga Digital?
Send your stuff over! We always listen to and respond to tracks, and although 99 per cent of stuff we get goes unsigned we have plenty of other opportunites for people to get involved with, like Demo of the Month on the podcast, and the unsigned chart that we publish intermittently. We get a lot of demos though, so don't get frustrated if you don't hear back from us immediately.
On a wider production note, try not to sound like everybody else. Experiment with your tracks and test them on real people. There's the old line: 'Play it to your dad, your nan and anyone who will listen', but it rings true. If they don't put their fingers in their ears then you're on the right track!
How important is self-promotion to getting a record deal?
This is a great question and it's something that's not mentioned enough. All too often people think that music is all you need but it's not. I'm a sucker for great design/promotion and in the online era your online appearance and your own self-promotion is crucial. Look to set yourself apart in the way you present yourself. MySpace is a good starting point as it combines a customiseable website-style platform with a media player (you can literally change every area of a myspace profile - check out Chris Lake's for ideas www.myspace.com/chrislake1).
Show that you mean business with a nice layout. http://spiff-myspace.blogspot.com is useful for nifty MySpace effects - much better than those clunky looking advertising-based profile generators (yukk).
At any one time at Venga Digital we'll have updates going on across our whole digital portfolio, from the main site through Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, Youtube and Soundcloud to Last FM. Nowadays the whole mix matters.
What technological advances can you foresee in the dance music industry and how do you see that affecting labels, clubbing and DJs?
You've only got to look at the work the guys at Pioneer and Native Instruments are doing to know that the days of decks are long gone. Ultimately though it's a good thing: it will promote creativity and more of an experience for fans going to see the big guys. As far as labels go, I think everyone now concedes that vinyl is dead and download is king. Low-cost streams are the way forward for big labels, providing an avenue they are hotly persuing at the moment to combat piracy.
Where do you see the dance music industry in five years time?
Dance music fans and DJs have a knack of evolving and re-creating themselves. Dubstep was a breath of fresh air. It really shook things up. Suddenly D&B heads were mixing with indie-electro kids. It's great, and long may that kind of merging continue. As far as new sounds go, I seem to be hearing a lot of disco again lately. Now where are those platform heels again?
Do physical formats have a future in electronic music?
CDs do, yes, but only in the mainstream markets. And even there I can see dance music compilation CDs being overtaken by memory sticks or some kind of a 'packaged' media that is customisable. I'd like to see memory sticks filled with playlists that you can buy or be given as a gift, that you can top up when you're bored of the tracks. It would mean you still get the box and packaging but all the music goes on the stick. Is that a bit 'Tomorrow's World'?
How is illegal downloading affecting your business and is there a solution for stopping it?
I made it a mission to chat with bloggers and community members from the outset, and I've built up some really good relationships as a result. Being involved in the readership of more blogs than Mrs Venga might like means I can keep on top of any leaks. I'm also pretty proactive at killing any leaks off. I search 'Venga Digital Zippyshare' on a daily basis and remove any links I find, so at the moment we're staying on top of things.
By the same token though, filesharing promotes your music as much as it steals it, so I wouldn't be too horrified if my music was being shared - as long as it was being shared after release. If it's before release then we have a problem!
What new releases/projects have you got coming up in the rest of the year?
We've just released TLGB - Incredibly Soft EP. I recommend it if you haven't already checked it out, it's a great package! Next up is a Mightyfools EP in December with remixes from Tommie Sunshine, Blatta & Inesha and Sound of Stereo. Sandwiched between these are the podcasts for November and December, with guest mixes from Mightyfools, Scott Cooper and Sharooz.
Do you invite demos? If so, where should people send them?
We actively promote our 'Always listen, always respond' policy, so do your worst! demos@vengadigital.co.uk is the address.
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More from Venga Digital: www.vengadigital.co.uk/
(c) 2009 Sounds/To/Sample