If you love your work, you’re responsible for marketing it

Pink Martini is a small orchestra. When members Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes recorded its debut album, they knew that record labels probably wouldn’t be interested. They also weren’t interested in handing over their work, which they loved, to other people for marketing; it was too important. So they didn’t seek representation through a label at all. Instead, they released Sympathique independently in 1997, creating an in-house record label named after Thomas’s dog named Heinz in the process. In the following decades, more people have joined the orchestra. Pink Martini has recorded more albums, and Heinz Records has sold over three million albums. While it turned out to be much more profitable, the business decision to release independently was useful. It kept Pink Martini’s master records with Heinz Records. I’m sure it meant the band had to figure out how to pay for more marketing and publicity, since a record label usually would have covered those costs. Staying independent…