Black marketing
By Mark Roach,
Wellington indie Loop Recordings shows the major labels how to work with multinationals.
All Blacks: The Music
Loop Recordings, 2007
Rooting for the underdog is as much of a Kiwi pastime as our national game, cheering on the minnows as they punch above their weight. Perhaps this is why the independent record label fascinates us. The enterprise and talent of their provincial XV versus the power and depth of the major labels’ Super 14 sides.
The indies may not be as big as the majors, but they’re a creative bunch. A case in point is Loop, the Wellington label with an established reputation for beautifully designed multimedia releases with a wealth of audio and visual content (as opposed to being a tacked-on ‘bonus’ afterthought designed to shift a bit more product).
Loop has never been shy about packing down with multinational corporates. All Blacks The Music is not only an officially licensed product of the All Black brand, but also provides a platform for the ABs’ primary sponsors, adidas and Philips. It’s the kind of venture you would normally expect to see from a major label. Loop has also eschewed delivery of ‘alternative’ music, opting instead to license tracks from major label competitors and compiling an exceptional CD that rugby-loving Kiwis are going to buy in droves (at last check, sales had exceeded gold status).
Of the 17 tracks, only two (The Black Seeds and Fly My Pretties) come from the Loop stable of artists and—with the forgivable exception of Herbs’ ‘French Letter’—none of the tracks is more than five years old. The one downside is that unless you’ve been living under a rock for that time, chances are you already own many of these tracks. But as a package for friends and whanau overseas, and simply as a memento of the strength of both Kiwi rugby and Kiwi music in 2007, then this compilation is a winner. As a symbol of indie creativity and commercial savvy, it gets the bonus point.
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