The term “unsigned” has historically been used by the music business as an almost derogatory remark to denote artists and bands who haven’t yet signed to a label, be the label independent or major. Almost as if to say that the band isn’t “good enough” to be offered a record deal or that since they haven’t signed a deal, they have not yet reached “success”. There are a number of things wrong with this.

Firstly, there are many great bands and artists without record deals playing superb music on local scenes and circuits around the world. Playing smaller and more intimate gigs, they are the lifeblood of local scenes and perform a important cultural role. Moreover, the internet has served to make a lot more music open to discover by a lot more people, and we realise there is a wealth of talent out there untapped by record labels. Being signed to a label is by no means a necessary measure of an artist’s talent or their capacity to create great music.

Secondly, there are a number significant benefits to the independence associated with being unsigned, and it is possible to enjoy a successful career in music without signing to a Record Label.

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We are excited to announce that one of the Sweden´s foremost media news sites has written about Record Union!  Dagens Media (translated Todays Media) is well respected for providing the low down on innovative new internet media enterprises and marketing ideas. For you who speak Swedish, you can view the article here. We are very pleased for the exposure, and hope this will prompt others to write about our service, which will be up and running shortly!

Interestingly, the article draws a parallel between Record Union´s goal to democratize the distribution music, and Spotify, a streaming service which is democratizing the consumption of music. Spotify allows unlimited streaming of music from a vast and ever expanding library, all for a fixed and very affordable monthly cost which guarantees every artist a cut. Record Union and Spotify are going to work with each other in the future to make sure lots of indie and niche music has the chance to make its way into the Spotify library.