The Deli NYC #55 - Half Waif, NYC MixCon 2018

“Is ‘ Pe ak Vinyl’ a myth?”
“physical
media is still
46% of the
market.”
“Cassettes aren’t
"Social
Media and
Playlist
are the
main promotional
force."
dead qui te yet!”
In the early aughts, some kind of “slow earthquake”
triggered the end of the record industry as
we knew it. Originated by the advent of the MP3
format, which allowed listeners to easily download
and stream music, that seism brought about an
era of revenue and job losses that lasted almost 15
years. Starting in 2015, the sector finally began to
show signs of growth again, driven mostly by new
revenue from streaming music services like Spotify
and YouTube, but also by the unexpected resurgence
of vintage formats like vinyl and audio cassettes.
We caught up with three very different trend-setting
Brooklyn-based labels—Fools Gold, Captured Tracks
and Partisan Records—to see how they are navigating
these relatively uncharted waters and to ask them
a few questions our musician readers might find helpful
for managing their careers.
the deli Summer 2018 11