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What are the challenges faced by young European independent labels today? A special panel, organised as part of IMPALA’s 15th anniversary follow-up, will gather some of the continent’s most outstanding examples, June 7 in Cannes. Beforehand, you can meet them here! First up is Switzerland’s Mouthwatering Records, whose CEO Andreas Ryser (photo) answers our questionnaire.
midemblog: Could you briefly introduce your label?
Andreas Ryser: We release a variety of electronic music with at least one foot on the dancefloor. We’re based in Bern, Switzerland.
> Could you list three tracks that represent your label?
That’s not easy…
Odd Beholder – Landscape Escape (2016)
Len Sander – Places (2015)
Lapcat – Lavender (2016)
Check out 15 of our hottest tracks on Spotify, here…
> Why did you start a label?
So that we could release the music from my own band, Filewile, straight away without sending demos around and waiting ages for a reply by the labels… and have full control over everything. After a while we shared our know-how with other bands and started to sign them. Now, I’ve stopped doing music for a couple of years, and I’m focusing fully on the label/publishing.
>What are your best albums?
We’re releasing a lot of singles and EPs these days, as we are developing a lot of young, new artists. But surely Wrapped In Air by True and the debut album by JPTR are great albums.
> What tips do you have for other labels?
Be open minded with regards to new technologies, concepts and ideas.
> How does globalisation – and digitalisation – help small, local labels?
Switzerland is not known for exporting music, and making music is not really accepted as a business model here. The big independent companies are mainly distributing international products and rarely investing in new artists with international potential. With the digital takeover, and globalisation, this has changed. A lot of small labels are growing in Switzerland, and also working on the international markets. This is also one reason why we founded IndieSuisse (the Independent Label Association in Switzerland) 3 years ago, to give all those newborn labels a voice.
General info:
Country of activity: Switzerland
Year started: 2005
Music genre(s): Electronic, Synthpop
Number of releases: 100
Number of artists: 20
Number of employees: 3
Social platforms:
https://www.facebook.com/Mouthwateringrecords/
https://twitter.com/mouthwatering
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