Anti- Fall 2008 Sampler, And A Word On Core Values

iMeem has secured the right to stream the new Anti-Records Fall 2008 digital sampler, the applet for which I have re-posted above for your convenience. Not only is this the perfect opportunity for you folks to listen to some great music from one of the most eclectic catalogues of music featured on any record label (the N.A.S.A. track is particularly awesome), but it also gives me an excuse to talk about what makes Anti- a unique demonstration of how adhering to core values can lead to success.

Anti- is the sister company to Epitaph records, a label that is devoted mainly to punk and hardcore acts like The Offspring, NOFX, Pennywise, and Rancid. The core values of Epitaph are devoted to that punk spirit, from marketing to artist relations, and the label has achieved great success in the space, building a reputation as an organization that can be trusted in a genre that relies almost entirely on trust. Around the turn of the millennium, Epitaph had the opportunity to sign Tom Waits, an indisputable legend and a huge get for any label. However, as you should probably know, Tom Waits is not a punk artist, at least not in the traditional sense, and the existing Epitaph marketing and promotion methodology would have been all wrong for one of his releases, not to mention the fact that the Epitaph fan base wasn’t likely to have much of an affinity for his music. That being said, this was Tom Waits, and that doesn’t exactly land on your doorstep every day.

So the owners of Epitaph had themselves a dilemma: either compromise their core values, sign Tom, and probably see his release and their hard-earned reputation go down in flames, or pass on Tom and the chance to work with one of the most inventive artists in music. They decided to do neither, and take secret option C: form a brand new record label, with a different set of core principles, and sign Tom to that instead. Thus, Anti-Records was born. The label has since gone on to great success and become the premier label for idiosyncratic artists, with a diverse roster that includes Nick Cave, NASA, William Elliott Whitmore, and Cadence Weapon, to name a few.

The success of Anti- owes entirely to the restraint of the owners of Epitaph and their knowledge of what their limits were. There is no question that they made the right choice for Tom by passing on him at Epitaph. It would have been like fitting a strange peg in a round hole. Sometimes knowing your limits and not taking every opportunity as it comes can be the best course of action.

Doing something that betrays your core values for the sake of short-term benefit will ultimately lead to heartache and failure in the long run. Make sure you consider both your heart and your head the next time you get the chance to open for a band you don’t really like, or are approached by a manager you are unsure of. You will be better off if you do.

Oh, and one last thing. You can grab a download of the entire Fall 2008 Anti-Records sampler for free here:

DOWNLOAD .ZIP : Anti- Records 2009 Digital Sampler(Via MOKB)