The Business Philosophy

Many labels start out small and are willing to put out albums that won't be huge sellers. They can say, "well if we only sell 5,000 copies of this in a lifetime, that's fine." But as they grow, the price of entry into the catalog grows; it starts with an album needing to guarantee sales of 10,000 copies, then 15, then in a shorter period of time--maybe in months instead of years. It's not necessarily a sign of money-grubbing corporatism, it's a matter of scale--it costs more to do things after you move from a garage to a warehouse to an office to a campus.

Sadly, once that bar is raised, whole levels of really great albums are left out--albums that are musically enriching, but which defy categorization enough to make it hard for the marketing department to guarantee sales quotas. The NorthSide staff saw that happen at Ryko, and don't want it to happen to them. Their titles sell an average of 3-4,000 copies, with Väsen's Whirled being their top seller at around 10,000. They compensate for their lack of quantity with...well, with a different type of quantity. 42 albums in 2-1/2 years is quite a pace for such a small company, but it results in sales numbers which aren't too shabby.

The numbers aren't the goal, though--the music is...and the fans-slash-customers. NorthSide does all their own mail order processing and wish to keep it that way. The only marketing they do is an email announcement list and occasional mailing of catalogs--to people who have signed onto the mailing list after purchasing an album or attending a concert. The closer they can stay to their customers, the more attuned they can be to comments and feedback--and it doesn't get much closer than knowing that the person taking your phone order is more likely to have the title of Marketing Director than Part-Time Sales Associate.

Interestingly, by minimizing the amount of marketing they do, NorthSide can make their marketing more effective. In an industry where the next "best thing since sliced bread" comes along many times a day, the traditional channels for marketing messages are primarily worthless noise. NorthSide realizes that most of their target audience have long stopped listening to the hype anyway. So rather than add to the noise and hype, they save their money and put it where they feel it will be most effective: bringing the bands to the States to tour.

Recent and upcoming tours include Groupa (with Ånon Egeland), Rosenberg 7, Frifot, Loituma, and the "Nordic Nights 2000" tour with Väsen, JPP, and the Annbjørg Lien Band. But so far the most exciting concert event (and the largest in scale) for the company has been their Nordic Roots Music Festival. First held April 1-4, 1999 in Minneapolis, the Festival showcased ten of their top artists and ended up mostly financed by NorthSide since the ticket sales didn't fully cover the costs, even though all but one afternoon show on Easter Sunday sold out.

The festival was deemed a success, though, not solely in financial terms but also in human: people came from all over the country and bonded over the music (the influence folk music has had for centuries), and many left at the end with long-lasting new friends and memories. So it has become an annual event: once again, the non-profit Cedar Cultural Centre (where Jay McHale is now the Volunteer Coordinator/House Manager) will host the Nordic Roots Music Festival on April 19-23, 2000, bringing together four nights of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to hear the best of Nordic roots.

On the web:
NorthSide
East Side Digital
Omniuum

RootsWorld has numerous reviews of NorthSide albums

If you're considering buying the Balkans Without Borders benefit album, consider buying it through RootsWorld's $3 extra commitment (assuming it hasn't reached its donation limit yet).

Inside Earpollution:
Garmarna, Vengeance (album review)
Sorten Muld, Mark II (album review)

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