Dependent Records (stylized as dependent) is a German

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

that mainly focuses on

aggrotech Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound w ...

electro-industrial Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound ...

, and

futurepop Futurepop is an electronic music genre that has been characterized as a blend of synth-pop, EBM and dance beats, based on trance and techno.Peter Matzke, Tobias Seeliger: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon.'' Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Ber ...

music. The label was founded in January

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

after the demise of the Off Beat label by former Off Beat A&R manager Stefan Herwig along with Eskil Simonsson (

Covenant Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...

), Johan Van Roy (

Suicide Commando Suicide Commando is a Belgian electro-industrial music act formed by Johan Van Roy in 1986. For live shows, it consists of Van Roy himself on vocals, Torben Schmidt on keyboards, and Mario Vaerewijck on drums. History Van Roy began experimen ...

), Bryan Erickson (

Velvet Acid Christ Velvet Acid Christ (VAC) is an electro-industrial band based in Denver, Colorado. The band was formed in 1990 by its leader vocalist, musician, and producer Bryan Erickson (aka Disease Factory), and later featured various ex-members of Toxic Com ...

), and

Ronan Harris Ronan Harris (born 14 June 1967) is the founding member of the electronic music project VNV Nation. He is credited with the songwriting, production, lyrical and vocal aspects of the band's music. In the years preceding VNV Nation's debut album, ...

(

VNV Nation VNV Nation, also known as Victory Not Vengeance, are a British-Irish electronic music group formed in London and led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter and producer, with live members being keyboardists Mike Wimer and David Ger ...

). Artists that have released music through Dependent Records include

Klinik Klinik, (sometimes called The Klinik), is an industrial music band from Belgium, originally formed around 1982 by electro-synthpop practitioner Marc Verhaeghen, who is the only constant member. History Marc Verhaeghen originally formed Klinik ...

, Seabound,

Apoptygma Berzerk Apoptygma Berzerk (; commonly abbreviated to APB or APOP) is a Norwegian band that produces a style of electro rock, industrial rock, synth-pop and ballads backed with electronic rhythms, commonly known within the scene as "futurepop". Apoptygm ...

Dismantled Dismantled (born Gary Zon) is an electronic music artist from the United States. History Dismantled is the product of an experiment that began in late 2000 by Gary Zon, who was attempting to create something similar to Front Line Assembly's ...

, Ivory Frequency, Pride & Fall, mind.in.a.box,

Rotersand Rotersand is a German electronic music act, formed in September 2002 by musician/producer Gun and singer Rascal with dance music producer/DJ Krischan J.E. Wesenberg joining them shortly after. Rotersand's music can generally be described as fu ...

Flesh Field Flesh Field is an American electronic / industrial band formed in 1996 by Ian Ross in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The name Flesh Field is an unofficial term Ian Ross came up with to describe the psychological defense mechanisms of rape vict ...

, Fractured, Auto Aggression,

Girls Under Glass Girls Under Glass (GUG) is a musical group from Hamburg, Germany, founded in 1986 by Thomas Lücke, Hauke Harms, and Volker "Zaphor" Zacharias. Described as "an indispensable part of the German wave and gothic scene", GUG began as a gothic rock b ...

, and Iris.

History

Dependent announced at the start of 2007 that the label would close its doors to new artists and shut down once contractual obligations had been fulfilled, citing ongoing concerns with

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

. This announcement took the form of an essay in both German and English in the booklet to ''Dependence: Next Level Electronics Volume 2'', a compilation featuring work by fourteen artists signed to the label, in which Stefan Herwig stated, "...we estimate that illegal downloads of Dependent albums outnumber legal purchases by a factor of three or even five to one". After the label closed down, a person claiming to be Stefan Herwig uploaded the whole back catalogue to

The Pirate Bay The Pirate Bay, commonly abbreviated as TPB, is a free searchable online index of Film, movies, music, video games, Pornographic film, pornography and software. Founded in 2003 by Swedish think tank , The Pirate Bay facilitates the connection ...

, one of the major

BitTorrent BitTorrent is a Protocol (computing), communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a Decentralised system, decentralized manner. The protocol is d ...

trackers. Herwig denied being responsible for this which makes it all seem to be a hoax spread by Torrentfreak.Record Label Quits, Uploads Albums onto The Pirate Bay
(Torrentfreak.com, visited 11-02-2008) On May 15, 2009, Herwig announced that Dependent Records would reopen in the summer or fall of that year, partnering with the US-based

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania ...

, citing fan support and the role of labels as "quality filters" for the vast number of new bands.

Artists

References

External links

Official site

Dependent Records at discogs.org
{{Authority control German independent record labels Record labels established in 1999 Electronic music record labels Industrial record labels 1999 establishments in Germany

History

Artists

See also

References

External links