Culture

Touch & Go Records to Stop Releasing New Music, End Distribution

by Jarrett Martineau | February 18, 2009 at 11:25 am

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Touch & Go Records the seminal Chicago label that was home to amazing bands including Slint, Shellac, the Jesus Lizard, TV on the Radio and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "will cease releasing new albums and become a catalog only label".

Is this sign of troubled economic times and declining record sales? Indeed it is.

The label has announced that it will cease to manufacture and distribute titles from its roster on Touch, Go Records, and Quarterstick Records.

Many of you may not be aware, but for nearly 2 decades, Touch and Go has provided manufacturing and distribution services for a select yet diverse group of other important independent record labels. Titles from these other labels populate the shelves of our warehouse alongside the titles on our own two labels, Touch and Go Records, and Quarterstick Records.
Unfortunately, as much as we love all of these labels, the current state of the economy has reached the point where we can no longer afford to continue this lesser known, yet important part of Touch and Go's operations.

This is another sad note for the independent music community, although Touch & Go isn't completely gone just yet.

ouch and Go will be returning to its roots and focusing solely on being an independent record label. We'll be busy for a few months working closely with the departing labels and scaling our company to an appropriate smaller size after their departure.

It's not exactly clear what that means at this point, but it is certainly a substantial change in operation for this venerable Chicago record label.

Following online rumors, long-time indie mainstay Touch & Go has confirmed that it will cease releasing new albums and become a catalog only label. The Chicago label that that has produced seminal albums from Slint, the Jesus Lizard, Big Black, TV On The Radio, Shellac and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and later garnering fame for its losing copyright lawsuit over a "handshake" deal with the Butthole Surfers, has met its demise after nearly 30 years. The label, who's recent roster includes Ted Leo, the Uglysuit and All The Saints had seen financial trouble amidst a difficult economy and a decline in record sales.

Promotion for new acts such as Sholi and Mi Ami, who both released their debut albums today, will be kept up for a short time as not to leave the new bands without a paddle. The label is expected to go catalog-only, however, the distribution side has been shut down and the label will not produce new music. An unspecified number of layoffs will occur.

A press release confirming details is expected soon.