The first part of the interview covered an introduction to the three partners that founded Connaisseur Recordings; Alex Flitsch with his wife Hilary, alongside Martin Henkel. The label is based in Offenbach, and has two sister labels called Connaisseur Supérieur and Outils du Connaisseur. Apart from producing quality underground electronic music, their striking cover illustrations make an equivalent visual impact. We get down to business at the start off the second part of the interview by talking about what it takes to get a hit, and piracy.
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[Read the first part of the interview HERE]
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[SG] I was chatting to Mike Weiss from Nervous Records about what it takes to get a hit these days. He said something interesting; that in New York in the 90s you could get a track supported in the clubs, get some word-of-mouth buzz and then came the radio play which created the hit. He went on to say that today the music is so diluted and easily accessible that it’s much harder to get a hit and that there aren’t as many “big” tracks anymore. Do you agree? And if so, how do you try and create buzz around your releases?
[AF] I absolutely agree. Due to the easy accessibility, music has lost its value completely. You play a track, even if it is a great one, but then after a month or so, it is out of your case and your mind again. The throughput is simply too high to leave lasting impressions. At the moment, there is no real formula on how to promote your releases perfectly. Sometimes, you do a great promo, receive excellent feedback and the press coverage is brilliant, but the sales just don’t mirror that at all. If you are mid size electronic label and not in the attention of the current hipster tendencies, it is quite tough actually.
With all that being said can you paint a picture about the current vinyl market? I know you’re committed to the format, but how many units would you say makes for a “big” release and is it worth all the hard work?
As I already said, you need a lot of passion and a long breath in the current situation. We will stay true vinyl, even if it will only be the add-on for the main digital release in future. Vinyl will always be worth fighting for! I would say, if you sell 1500 vinyl copies nowadays, you can already speak of a hit. Of course, there are still labels selling 3000-5000 units, but this is rare, temporary and only based on current hypes, I think.
Back in 2007 the distributors Neuton, Intergroove, Word and Sound, Groove Attack and Kompakt got together and formed the ProVinyl Alliance which is basically a commitment from it’s members to release music on vinyl two weeks prior to the digital release. From reading on your site I know that you support this. Do you think the Alliance has been a success as a concept, and has it been a success for your labels?
The basic idea was good, and most labels still work by their guidelines. However, unfortunately I have to say that the ProVinyl Alliance has failed, as the distributors couldn’t agree finally on many points.
You could argue that if the digital and vinyl releases came out at the same time that you would keep each side co-existing quite happily. Being devils advocate for a second, don’t you think that delaying the digital release of an album for two-weeks actually forces people to look for it illegally?
For a while now, I have had the same question on my mind. There are two sides to piracy. One side is obviously bad for our sales, while the other means getting attention in countries you haven’t had a market so far. This helps to get gigs for the label and the artist. Actually, I have stopped thinking of making money with the sales. The releases, as tough as it sounds, have ended up as a virtual business card for generating gigs.
Sites like Spotify—a site providing free streaming music with limited commercial interruption—are adding another layer of complexity to the ever changing digital music landscape. They are getting back to the concept of music as a “free” art form rather than product you can monetize. How do you think services like Spotify will affect the way you do business in the future? Do you see the underground being made more vulnerable as the overground morphs and changes? How important do you think other revenue streams like music licensing will be in the future?
I think sites like Spotify describe exactly what I said before: Bad for sales, but good for reputation and attention. It is a double-edged sword. The future scenario you mentioned with Spotify is actually already happening with Youtube. You can find all kinds of music recorded and streamable there. I know many people who listen to music only via Youtube, where you can find almost everything. Unquestionably a good multiplier, it is definitely counterproductive for the sales. What I regret with all these tendencies is that people seem to not be interested in good sound quality. I find the fact that the quality of a Youtube stream is already enough for most people really quite sad. I think the underground is less vulnerable to these tendencies, as in this scene more people prefer “the oldschool-way” as a lifestyle. Work-wise, licensing, sync-business and publishing are really important for labels nowadays, as this is the only way to still earn good money, but only if you are lucky and have good contacts.
One of the things I miss about buying vinyl are the sleeve designs and cover artwork. I used to be a designer and the artwork of your label has consistently caught my eye. How did you find your illustrator Max Pfisterer, and what sort of creative guidelines did you give him?
Martin and I are both advertisers, so creating an image of the label with an own distinctive look was obviously very important to us. In the beginning, we requested two designers, both of whom were recommended to us by people in our network. Max won this pitch, as he was able to picture exactly what we wanted. After he presented the monocle to us as a logo, we knew that he understood our vision and that he ticks the same way we do. Of course, we had a creative brief in the beginning, sketching our ideas. Max internalized and enriched these with his own, resulting in the artwork we have. We brainstorm for every new artwork: sometimes he has the initial idea and sometimes we do. The final result is mostly a symbiosis of all of our ideas. Max has become quite famous with his work for us. Since the beginning of our collaboration, he has started his own agency. Apart from us, he now works for other labels like Mothership and Dirty Bird, and for many different companies in the electronic scene. Furthermore, he and his friend Willy are quite successful with their intelligent and very creative VJ-project Frischvergiftung.
These days it’s hard to get good visibility with very limited (virtual) shelf space on websites. Why have you focused so much on the importance of your visual identity? Is it meant to be another way to add value to the vinyl format? Do you think the artwork has played a part in the labels success?
It was never focused on that, the development of the artwork came naturally and was never intended. We wanted a nice look, but we never expected our artwork to grow into what it is now, but of course we are happy it is that way. I think good artwork doesn’t improve sales, but it is very important for creating an image for a label. I do find however, that a white sleeve with potato printing can also create a very strong image. It simply has to fit to the music and the people behind it, to round up the whole concept. We cannot imagine working without Max and his creative visions anymore.
And finally, what can we expect from the Connaisseur family for the rest of the year?
On Connaisseur we just released our second release by Mutant Clan, the project by Timo Maas and Santos, which has already caused quite a buzz. Next, as already mentioned, will be the first part of “Alex Flitsch meets…” and after that, great, new releases by Plasmik and Brendon Moeller. On Supérieur the next release will be a new signing with New York DJ-Legend Tedd Patterson. Great dubby 90ies influenced tracks, somewhere between House and Techno. On Outils we just released “Frank ‘n Frank Trax“ by Connaisseur regular Daso and Franklin de Costa, which has taken off very successfully. After that, we have another new signing with Pol_On from Poland, a very interesting new project with Mike P, a famous Warsaw DJ and Kacpar Bogacz, a Jazz musician. Furthermore on Outils we have a new Patrick Chardronnet upcoming, this time in cooperation with connoisseur Oscar Schubaq. Very interesting and connaisseur-like vocal and remix support is also planned for this release, so watch out. In the second half of 2009 we will have our first artist albums. Our Dutch lady Estroe will start off with a wonderful long player, followed by the album by Kollektiv Turmstrasse. 2009 will be a great year!
I’d like to thank Alex, Hilary and Martin for taking the time to answer the questions, and I’d like to wish them the best of luck with their future releases!
Mutanism by Mutant Clan is out now in the RV shop.
Tags: Alex Flitsch, Connaisseur Recordings, Connaisseur Supérieur, Max Pfisterer, Piracy
