Exchange Bureau Music & Public Media Group present
The Popular Vote
Thursday, Nov. 6th
9:00pm
The Shelter
431 E. Congress
Detroit, MI

$5 all night

Daz-I-Kue, John Arnold, Ibex, E. Spleece, Joshua Adams
Jared Sykes (live percussion)
hosted by Paul Randolph

Exchange Bureau Music
Reaching Across Party Lines

Glancing in my rearview mirror, I see the major-player record labels standing alone, looking confused and clunky. Maybe they’re just that far away, but from where I’m sitting, they look like those schoolyard bullies who were too busy stealing lunch (tour) money and shoving kids (bands) into lockers (genres) to see how incredibly uncool they were — and everyone/thing passed ‘em by.

Joshua Adams and Paul Katcher are both members of the Detroit-based soul/funk/house band Exchange Bureau and, as the story goes, “We were just politickin’ one night and decided to just go ahead and create a digital, independent record label.” But, as always, it’s easier said than done. “Paul and I really wanted to work hard to make this label, and we’ve done everything from building the Web site to handling all the business side to remixing artists … just everything,” notes Adams, who’s been making music in various forms for the past 20 years. Considering where he’s been and what he’s done with music, the fact that he’s co-founded a label comes as no surprise.

At last year’s Winter Music Conference in Miami, Adams and Katcher talked with a lot of labels, especially digital labels, and noticed most digital labels were run the same way: a fifty/fifty split with their artists. “After that, we started thinking of just doing this in-house instead of going through people who we don’t know whether or not will really push our material,” Adams said. “I started calling a lot of people I knew and started compiling a roster of people in the area that represent all areas across the ‘dance music’ spectrum: funk, hip-hop, house, techno, electro and more.” Not surprisingly, most of these artists were friends that Adams knew, which was a definite advantage, but working with friends in business can always prove … awkward. “There’s always that weird factor when you’re dealing with your friends in business, especially when you email them a contract for them to sign in blood,” laughed Adams. “Luckily, the people we’re working with, I really trust and believe they trust us. We just want everybody to do well.”
read the whole article:
http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/content/article_4749.shtml