Last week, Touch and Go Records announced that it would cease it's distribution operations and suspend releasing new music on it's label.
As an independent record store, this news was shocking, sad, disheartening, concerning and disappointing. While we hope the label will continue on, the loss of T&G as a distributor could have major ramifications on the indie music landscape and stores like ours.
Touch and Go distributes over 20 labels, including indie stalwarts Merge Records and Kill Rock Stars. If you ever looked at the stickers on a CD or LP you bought from our store, you probably noticed that a lot of them note "TG". That means we got that CD or LP from Touch and Go. We can almost guarantee that if you are reading this, you've purchased an item that was distributed by Touch and Go.
Their business approach is indie centric, and everything from their pricing, customer service, and general business philosophy went towards benefiting a store like ours. That's why we are able to price nearly all of the titles they distribute for $13.99 or less. Even though we weren't the largest account for T&G, we were always treated as if we were. From providing us with promos and posters and giveaways for customers, to allowing and encouraging indie stores to sell titles before the street date, they make visiting an independent record store a more unique and personal experience. They also go above and beyond to correct a mistake, like overnighting new Spoon CDs so we'll have them by the weekend.
Touch and Go set the model for other indie distributors like Secretly Canadian, and we can only hope that the labels they distribute can find good homes so a store like ours can continue to be a store like ours.
To honor Touch and Go, all titles in the store on Touch and Go and their sister label, Quarterstick, will be 10% off through March 8th! This includes titles from artists such as Calexico, Slint, Ted Leo, TV on the Radio, Coco Rosie, Shellac, Black Heart Procession, Pinback, Nina Nastasia, Polvo, etc.
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