Australian Retailer General Pants Starts Artist-Friendly 'Major Label'

Posted on Jan 29th 2010 11:30AM by Katie Benson
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General Pants Co., a leading fashion retailer in Australia, has announced the launch of Major Label, a "singles only" record label that gives signed acts ownership of copyright, full creative control and 100 percent of the royalties from digital retail sales.

Signing unknown Australian artists, the retail chain will be using their 700-strong staff to act as the talent scouts, street teams and publicists for the label, recruiting acts either in-store or in social situations such as local gigs.

Staff will upload music to the Major Label music blog housed on the General Pants Co. website, and from there Major Label will release three singles a month, making the tracks available for live streaming on the site and also available through selected online retailers.

Jethro Lyons, Brand Manager of General Pants Co. said in a statement, "Major Label is about discovering up-and-coming, hot new Australian acts and throwing them a lifeline. The program engages our staff and customers and puts General Pants Co. on the dance floor of the Australian music scene, which is an exciting place to be right now."

The initiative is the first of its kind in Australia and launches on March 1.