Dave Heckman of Metropolis Records:
The dark interview

artdesigncafé | music + art room | Published 29 April 2010
Page 3 of 3

Photo of Jack Dangers / Meat Beat Manifesto, also in the artdesigncafe.com editor’s music collection. And yep, paid for these too... Photo of The Birthday Massacre, also represented by Metropolis Records. Photo of Hanzel und Gretel, also represented by Metropolis Records.

R.J. Preece: Yeah, but you’re not a big record label. Dave Heckman: Even if I was, you can take all of the record labels in the world combined, and they’re assets are not even close to what Google has, or the phone companies. Yeah there’s the poor kid who doesn’t know any better. But it’s really the record labels against the technology companies. The government won’t force the technology companies to it and I don’t think they’ll do it on their own. At one point I thought consumers would start paying for the streaming model. We were starting to get revenue, people just pay USD$5-10/month, and the music is streamed versus permanently owning it. That revenue started to increase rather rapidly in 2007-08, and that revenue has plummeted as more people find ways to get it totally free. So, I’m relatively pessimistic. Luckily, I’ve done well and didn’t squander the money I made in the late 90s and early 00s. Some friends years ago said to me, “You’re pessimistic”. I said, “No, I’m a realist.” I’m not a pessimistic person in general; this is just the reality of the situation. Bands that were selling 50,000 copies, still as popular, are selling 1/3 that they used to. I don’t know how it’s going to change. It may be many, many generations from now. Music will have to exist in one form or another. It’s not going to stop. But as far as making a living from it? R.J. Preece: What about concert revenue? Dave Heckman: That got hit really hard by the recession. But I don’t participate in 360 degree deals with my bands. I don’t believe in that. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with them. R.J. Preece: What’s a 360-degree deal? Dave Heckman: That’s what the major labels do. Because their revenue is down from physical sales. They want to participate in a band’s touring and merchandising revenue. But you can’t “steal a show”. You can steal music, but you can’t steal a show.

R.J. Preece: Is there anything you despise about contemporary music culture?

Dave Heckman: I can’t stand pop music, even when I was a little kid. I’ve always liked dark, evil, edgy innovative type of music.

Particularly now, every female artist out there portrays herself like a whore to sell records. It’s pretty disgusting—the pop world. The way they market it really has nothing to do with the music itself. It’s totally different when you’re dealing with underground music—it’s a very small culture.

R.J. Preece: Where will Metropolis Records be in five years time?

Dave Heckman: My goal is to keep my last five employees employed. I think we’ll do that. I’ve managed to survive while a lot of big independents are gone.

I want to continue to put out dark music.

I run a lean ship, so we’ll still be here!

R.J. Preece would like to thank artdesigncafe.com editorial advisor Stephen Mallinder for helping to shape the questions for this article.

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