Wednesday, October 11, 2017

LABEL ON INDEFINITE HIATUS; CLOSED TO SUBMISSIONS

It is with a heavy heart that i write this post.  Running a small label is very much a labor of love and sacrifice.  In the past I have been able to put my own money into this venture and keep the label operating at a financial loss to myself, but that is no longer possible.  Continually rising international postage rates, the severe cost of sending out artist copies internationally, and lack of support/interest from the noise community have forced me to close the label for the forseeable future.  I put out a goodly amount of releases over this summer, many of which have not sold a single copy.  This makes me deeply sad, and things really are not getting any better.  Combined with the entitled attitude i am encountering from people demanding releases or that their tapes be pushed to the forefront of my schedule has turned what was once a passion for me into a horrible obligation that i now dread dealing with.  I do not want it to be this way, and i do not want this thing i loved to be destroyed by others views' and opinions of how i should operate.  I do not owe anyone anything.  This label is MINE.
In light of all this, i am closing Altar Of Waste for an unknown time.  I just don't want the hassle anymore.  The fun has been destroyed, the joy erased.  I am tired of working hard for absolutely no gain.  My only goal for this label was for it to be self-sufficient, and i am far from attaining that goal.
The AOW store will remain open, and I will still put out the occasional new release.  But it will be on my time, and i will be releasing what I want, when I want. 
The label is also now CLOSED to submissions.  If i want to work with your project, I will get in touch with you and ask you.  That's it.
If we have an agreement in place for me to release your work, then that work will still be released.  Again-it will be on my time frame, so please do not write to me asking me when your album will come out.  I just don't know anymore.  It all depends on when i have the money.  I'm sorry, but that is the reality of it.  i am not independently wealthy-far from it.  I do not have the means to operate the label without sales.
Mostly i just want a break.
I feel like Oscar Issac in the Coen brothers Inside Llewyn Davis: I'm so fucking tired.

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