| Sub Pop | |
|---|---|
 We're Not the Best, But We're Pretty Good | |
| Parent company | Warner Music Group (49%) |
| Founded | 1986 (1986) |
| Founder | Bruce Pavitt,Jonathan Poneman |
| Distributors | ADA (US) Outside Music (Canada) Merlin Network (digital) |
| Genre |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Seattle,Washington |
| Official website | www |
Sub Pop is an independentrecord label founded in 1986 in Seattle byBruce Pavitt andJonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such asNirvana,Soundgarden, andMudhoney, central players in thegrunge movement.[1] They are often credited with helping popularize grunge music. The label's roster includesFleet Foxes,Tad,Beach House,The Postal Service,Sleater-Kinney,Flight of the Conchords,Foals,Blitzen Trapper,Father John Misty,clipping.,Shabazz Palaces,Weyes Blood,Guerilla Toss,Bully,La Luz,Low,METZ,Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever,Kiwi Jr.,TV Priest andThe Shins. In 1995, the owners of Sub Pop sold a 49% stake of the label to theWarner Music Group.[2]
The origins of Sub Pop trace back to the early 1980s, whenBruce Pavitt started afanzine calledSubterranean Pop that focused exclusively on American independent record labels. Pavitt undertook the project in order to earn course credit while attendingEvergreen State College inOlympia, Washington. By the fourth issue, Pavitt had shortened the name toSub Pop and began alternating issues with compilation tapes of underground rock bands. TheSub Pop #5 cassette, released in 1982, sold two thousand copies.[3] In 1983, Pavitt moved toSeattle, Washington, and released the ninth and final issue ofSub Pop. While in Seattle, he wrote a column for local music magazineThe Rocket titled "Sub Pop U.S.A.", a column he ended in 1988.[4][5]
In 1986, Pavitt released the first Sub PopLP, the compilationSub Pop 100, which featured material by artists includingSonic Youth,Naked Raygun,Wipers, andScratch Acid. Seattle groupGreen River chose to record theirDry as a BoneEP for Pavitt's new label in June 1986; Pavitt couldn't afford to release it until the following year. When finally released,Dry as a Bone was promoted by Sub Pop as "ultra-loose grunge that destroyed the morals of a generation".[6] Also in 1987, Jonathan Poneman provided $20,000 in funding for Sub Pop to release the debutSoundgarden single "Hunted Down"/"Nothing to Say" in July 1987, followed by the band's first EPScreaming Life that October.[7] Poneman soon became a full partner in the label. Pavitt focused on the label's artists and repertoire aspects, while Poneman dealt with the business and legal issues.[8] Both men decided they wanted the label to focus on "this primal rock stuff that was coming out," according to Pavitt.[9]
In early 1988, Pavitt and Poneman quit their jobs to devote their full attention to Sub Pop.[10] Raising $43,000, they incorporated on April 1, 1988.[11] "Of course that was spent in, like, thirty days", Pavitt recalled. "We almost went bankrupt after a month".[10] That August Sub Pop released the first single byMudhoney, a band featuring former members of Green River. Sub Pop released the Mudhoney single "Touch Me I'm Sick" in an intentionally limited first pressing of 800 copies to create demand. The strategy was later adopted by other independent labels.[12]
Pavitt and Poneman studied earlier independent labels ranging fromMotown toSST Records and decided that virtually every successful movement in rock music had a regional basis. The pair sought to create a cohesive brand identity for Sub Pop. The label's ads promoted the label itself more than any particular band. The label also sought to market a "Seattle sound", which was accomplished with the help of producerJack Endino, who produced 75 singles, albums, and EPs for Sub Pop between 1987 and 1989. Endino recorded cheaply and quickly; in order to operate this way, he utilized some consistent studio techniques, which gave the records a similar sound.[13]
Endino, in a 1989 article featured inThe Rocket, explains:
The sound that I hear coming from bands that are walking in my door comes from fuzzy guitars, bashing drums, screaming vocals, no keyboards, and a general loud intent. There's a scrupulous avoidance of any mainstream musical trends, and an avoidance ofMIDI, or anything remotely hi-tech. I don't get people with thousand-dollar effects racks coming in.[14]
In November 1988, Sub Pop released "Love Buzz", the debut single byAberdeen, Washington bandNirvana, as the first entry in the Sub Pop Singles Club, a subscription service that would allow subscribers to receive singles by the label on a monthly basis by mail. At its peak in 1990, the club had two thousand subscribers.[15] The club made Sub Pop a powerful force in the Seattle scene, and effectively made the label's name synonymous with the music of the Seattle area—much in the same wayMotown Records was toDetroit—and helped to secure the label's cash flow.[16] The original series was discontinued in 1993, followed bySingles Club V.2, launched in 1998 and discontinued in 2002.[17]
Some commentators have argued that Sub Pop reframed the history of Seattle's music scene as part of their marketing campaign. Even in the late 1980s, the peak ofgrunge as a regional scene, Seattle's bands could not easily be confined to a single genre, since groups often blended musical styles and techniques, drawing, for example, onfolk rock,psychedelic rock,garage rock, andpop hooks. The "Seattle sound" cultivated and marketed by Sub Pop became known as grunge, while other Seattle bands likeThe U-Men, who preceded Sub-Pop, became pioneers ofavant gardepost-punk.[18]
Mindful that garnering the attention of the American mainstream music press was difficult for all but the largest indie label, Pavitt and Ponemen took inspiration from alternative bands like Sonic Youth,Butthole Surfers, andDinosaur Jr. and sought to publicize the label via theBritish music press. In March 1989, Pavitt and Poneman flewMelody Maker journalistEverett True to Seattle to write an article on the local music scene. As Pavitt had anticipated, the British press became enamoured with Sub Pop and the grunge sound. Pavitt said, "I really felt that the Brits and the Europeans wanted to see something that was unruly and that was more of an American archetype -- something that was really primal and really drew from the roots of rock & roll, which was very American."[19] Poneman explained the label's success: "It could have happened anywhere, but there was a lucky set of coincidences.Charles Peterson was here to document the scene, Jack Endino was here to record the scene. Bruce and I were here to exploit the scene."[16]
By 1991, Sub Pop were in financial difficulties, leadingMudhoney andTad to depart the label and delaying the release ofThe Afghan Whigs'Congregation (1992).[11] One particularly embarrassing incident occurred when acheck Sup Pop wrote to a studio to pay forMark Lanegan's recording sessionsbounced, resulting in a multi-year delay in the release of his second albumWhiskey for the Holy Ghost. WhenGeffen Records bought Nirvana's contract from Sub Pop for $72,000, it was agreed that the former would pay the latter a percentage of any profits from the band's major label debut,Nevermind (1991).[11] A stipulation was also implemented where selected future Nirvana studio LPs were required to carry the Sub Pop logo alongside Geffen's.[citation needed] The album's subsequent commercial success quickly brought Sub Pop out of their financial difficulties.[11] Pavitt noted: "By Christmas [1991],Nevermind had sold 2 million. We went from not being able to pay our phone bill to getting a check for half a million bucks."[20] Sales ofBleach helped keep the label going for years afterwards.[16] The mainstream success of Nirvana also brought Poneman and Pavitt worldwide media attention as the self-stylized "creators of the grunge scene".[11][20] After thesuicide of Kurt Cobain and the subsequent decline of grunge, Poneman began signing acts that were "not typically Sub Pop-ian", such as5ive Style,Combustible Edison andEric Matthews.[11] In 1995, the label signed a $20 million[11] joint venture withWarner Bros. Records (which had distributed Geffen since that label was founded in 1980; after 10 years under Warner, Geffen was sold toMCAMusic Entertainment Group), who acquired 49% of the label's stock.[2][11]
Poneman and Pavitt had a disagreement about the direction the label should take, with Poneman wanting the label to become larger and make more money.[16] In 1996, unable to take the new corporate culture following the Warner partnership, Pavitt left the label and was able to spend more time with his family.[20] The split between Pavitt and Poneman was not amicable, and they did not speak for seven years.[20]
The label opened offices worldwide and began major investment in new artists, but without achieving great commercial success, prompting a scaling down and a return to Seattle.[16]
In 2006, Sub Pop Records became the first Green-e certified record label. Through work with the Green-e program and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Sub Pop "greened" their label by purchasing enough renewable energy certificates to offset 100 percent of theelectricity they use in their office, showing their commitment to putting renewable energy in the mainstream as a way consumers can take action to do something aboutglobal warming.[21]
In early 2007, Sub Pop started a sister label by the name ofHardly Art.[22][23] This label is also partially owned by Warner Music. In August 2008, Sub Pop relaunched the singles club for one year to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.[24]
In 2009, they signed their secondhip-hop group, Seattle-basedShabazz Palaces – the first being The Evil Tambourines in 1999.[25] Ishmael Butler, one half of Shabazz Palaces and former member of jazz rap groupDigable Planets becameA&R for Sub Pop.[26]
In 2016, Megan Jasper was namedCEO of Sub Pop, and Gareth Smith was named director ofA&R for the label's publishing company.[27] Jasper was originally hired as an intern in 1989 and later became a receptionist.[28][29]
Domestically, Sub Pop has released five albums that have been certified as platinum, for sales of over 1 million units, by theRecording Industry Association of America:Bleach byNirvana;Give Up byThe Postal Service;Oh, Inverted World andWincing the Night Away byThe Shins; andFleet Foxes byFleet Foxes.[30]
Eight albums released by the label have been certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies:Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins;The Head and the Heart byThe Head and the Heart;Everything All the Time andCease to Begin byBand of Horses;Our Endless Numbered Days andThe Shepherd's Dog byIron & Wine;Depression Cherry byBeach House; andFlight of the Conchords byFlight of the Conchords.[30]
Starting in 2008, Sub Pop has released Deluxe Editions of its top-selling albums, which features a remastered version of the album, as well as some live tracks and demos. The albums released under this wereNirvana’sBleach,Mudhoney'sSuperfuzz Bigmuff,Sebadoh'sBakesale,Jason Loewenstein'sCodes, The Postal Service'sGive Up, andRed Red Meat'sBunny Gets Paid.
Sub Pop, its founders, and some acts on the label were featured on season 1, episode 5 ofVice Media'sDark Side of the 90's entitled "Grunge and the Seattle Sound".[31]
In the 2000 filmHigh Fidelity, a Sub Pop sticker can be seen in several scenes that take place in the main character’s record store.
InDavid Fincher’sThe Killer, the central villain, played byArliss Howard, wears a Sub Pop T-shirt.
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