An interview with indie label entrepreneur Virgil Dickerson.
Virgil Dickerson runs thriving (yes, you read it correctly... thriving) indie label Suburban Home Records. One of his most interesting side-projects is a music tribe called the Vinyl Collective Cooperative. This all vinyl reissue label is financed and run by it's 210 members and a 10 member board of directors. Slots to join sold out in 8 minutes.
Q: What is the Vinyl Collective Cooperative?
Dickerson: The Vinyl Collective Cooperative is a collective of 220 folks around the globe who nominate and vote on releases that they want to see pressed on vinyl. Only releases that have never been put out on vinyl can be nominated. The 220 unit holders of the cooperative receive a free copy of the most limited variant of the pressing, copies are given to the band and to the label that licensed us the album, and the remaining copies are sold. That revenue goes back into the Cooperative for future releases. The hope is that there will continue to be funds to manufacture future releases and if that happens, the unit holders will continue to get a free copy of the most limited version of those records.
Q: How has is it working?
Dickerson: So far, only 2 releases have been manufactured and both are amazing. The Falcon's "God Don't Make No Trash" 10" was the Coop's first release. The Coop's second release is the Jealous Sound's Kill Them with Kindness double LP.
Q: Would you run a "normal" label this way?
Dickerson: I think that if a "normal" label was organized the right way, this model could work.It is definitely a lot of work to coordinate and communicate with 220
people. There have been some headaches, but as the cooperative
continues, we hope to smooth it all out. I could see it as a model for
other labels who just want to release great records, but it would be
difficult if the participants expected to receive dividends. The Vinyl
Cooperative works well because everyone involved are avid collectors.
Q: How is Suburban Home fairing in these tough times?
Dickerson: Honestly, we are doing better now than in our 13 year history. I feel
very fortunate to be able to say that. In March of 2007, we downsized our
entire operation and moved things into my house and cut staff. April of
2008, things turned around to the point where we are now in a new
office/warehouse and have a staff again and are having our best year to
date. I think that the big guys are feeling the downside of these tough
times, but having always been a really small label, we are just hitting
our stride in a different way.
We just had 3 of our last 4 Suburban Home releases on the Billboard Top New Artist charts and that has never happened in our entire history.
