Since its inception in the early Eighties, Epitaph Records has waved the independent punk banner. Now it's working with the online music company Emusic (formerly Goodnoise) in a strategic partnership that will have Emusic promoting and selling Epitaph music in the MP3 format at www.emusic.com.|

Starting today, visitors to Emusic can download free MP3 demo portions of songs by Pennywise, Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Tom Waits and others, or download the complete PUNK-O-RAMA compilations for between $4.99 and $8.99. Fans who want to own the actual CD are directed to Wherehousemusic.com.

"On top of that, there will be individual songs from other records for 99 cents each," explains Dave Hansen, head of marketing at Epitaph Records. "And then, every other Tuesday, we'll be rolling out [new songs] until the end of the year, so there [always] will be new Epitaph stuff on the site -- and on other [e-]retailers as they start to pop up."

Unlike major labels, Epitaph is not participating in the IBM/Real Networks' Electronic Music Management System (EMMS) trials, code-named the Madison Project, which has 1,000 homes in San Diego wired with high-speed modems and CD recorders with access to major label music. So Epitaph did not have to worry about "breaking" from the industry system. Emusic is the natural partner for Epitaph; independent artists (like Frank Black and George Clinton) have flocked to Emusic to sell their music online as an alternative to the record industry e-commerce juggernaut.

For Epitaph, this is a relatively late entry into the world of online music sales, but the label has been actively experimenting with its Web site (www.epitaph.com) for many months. "We've been using the Web to do marketing and promotional activities, [but] not for commerce," says Hansen. "We're not focused on [digital distribution]; we're focused on selling records the traditional way. We have a partner now and we want to be involved with technology and we know we're going to sell records this way down the line. Hopefully we'll be on the leading edge."

Eventually, Epitaph may sell music on its own site, too, but for now it's content to let Emusic do all the e-commerce. If anything, Epitaph is simply capitalizing on the marketing possibilities. "We give away a lot of music," says Hansen, "a lot of cassette samplers. We spend a lot of money on that. And this is a cheaper way to do that. We can get names; people can get more information about artists. And we get e-mail addresses. We're excited about it."

JAMES CURY
(July 13, 1999)