This interview was conducted via emails with Brendan of spinART Records <http://www.spinartrecords.com> here in NYC. This interview took place over the course of October.

TR- What differentiates your label from a major label?

Brendan- The main difference is that we do not have the huge distribution reach that a major label does. We use a distributor called ADA whom we pay a distibution fee to. A major has it's record label arm and it's distribution arm under one roof. Then there are more vague notions of why we are different. One being spinART believes in artist development, most majors don't. Developing a career for an artist or band that in the end benefits both the label and the artist is our goal.

TR- What is the most difficult aspect of your job that a typical music fan wouldn't be aware of?

Brendan- Fighting with the post office when we try to do giant mailings and they put you through a sort of Kafka-esque bureaucracy that would make your head spin.

TR- How important is it to be in a major market city, for a band and for a label, vs. being in a smaller market?

Brendan- I don't know. We are in NYC and sometimes I feel that we would never get some of the opportunities that that we do if we weren't here. But then there are plenty of people making a splash from other parts of the country. It seems that as long as you have access to FedEx and the internet you could operate just as well as anybody.

TR- What is your favorite label?

Brendan- Besides spinART? It's hard to say. Almost everyone is putting out good records but some put them out a little more inconsistently than others. I don't know if there is one label that seems to do it for me on a regular basis. I'm sure that's true for a lot of people. There are A LOT of labels and releases out there and only a handful of good bands.

TR- How did you get into the music biz?

Brendan- Got fired from the Virgin Megastore after a year of exemplary service, if I do say so myself, for buying (yes buying not stealing) a cd by Australian greats YOU AM I before it was supposed to be on sale. They sat me down (I thought my promotion was at hand) and told me I had "broken company policy" and that security would excort me from the building. I know, you're thinking "there must be more to it than that!" but there really wasn't. Any way, met someone from spinART two days later who invited me to come down and three and a half years later I'm still here.

TR- Generally what do you think about the prevalence of mp3s and the whole Napster Phenomenon?

Brendan- Generally? - We'll see what it all means in five years when more people have broadband and the shakeout in the .com stocks has taken it's toll. I mean - I'm not ignoring what 's happing now but I think it's going to change form again and no one's going to predict it.

TR- Do you believe that the "record" is going to become obsolete in favor of structures like the subscription system that some labels are toying with, and how do you think this change in music delivery changes the way the public looks at bands.

Brendan- Maybe for a while. Who knows? All it takes is one band to have a really hugely successfull go at it either with a record or an MP3 single or whatever it is and everyone will try to do it exactly the same way. Sgt.Pepper's came out in 1967 and it was the first record that outsold the singles that came from it. At least, I think I heard that once. so, before that (and there are a lot of great records from that time) everyone was more concerned with singles. Now, you can't even find a single from most of indie releases.

TR- Do you believe the labels, both major and indie, had the responsibility to see this coming and should've prepared themselves better?

Brendan- Who saw the internet coming? Even Bill Gates got caught with his pants down. No industry was prepared.

TR- What do you think is in the future for small labels in relation to Napster?

Brendan- I have no idea. Even if Napster stays in business I don't think it has THAT much to do with anything outside the mainstream. I do searches on there and I find hardly anything that's even mildly obscure.

TR- Do you believe there will ever be any regulation, any royalty paying system for downloaded mp3s?

Brendan- I don't see how it can go any other way. The law may be vague here or there about certain specifics but there's no way you can set up a system that allows millions of people to copy someone elses intellectual property.

TR- Do artists lose credibility the more music becomes easily stolen and/or easily downloaded?

Brendan- no.

TR- Does music have a significant cultural value that is a necessary element in the survival in a culture like in the US?

Brendan- It's inherent. It's not that it's needed it just IS a part of life.