The Hello CD of the Month Club, also known as the Hello Recording Club or simply Hello, was a subscription-only

record company "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

that operated from

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. Hello was organised by

John Flansburgh John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York–based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Earl ...

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

and Marjorie Galen.Miller Rosenblum, Trudy.
Shoestring Label Provides an Outlet for Side Projects
. ''Billboard'', April 1994. Archived by Google. Retrieved 2012-12-25. Members of Hello received monthly issues of CD

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

s, each containing four or five songs by a particular artist. These EPs were exclusive to Hello.The subscription model is explained in a Hello ad, which is archived

here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

. Retrieved 2012-11-24.

Company history

founded the Hello CD of the Month Club with Marjorie Galen in 1993 as a way to provide an outlet for his solo material — Hello issued four

Mono Puff John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York–based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Earl ...

releases, as well as two EPs by Flansburgh's bandmate

John Linnell John Sidney Linnell ( ; born June 12, 1959) is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist, and is one half of the Brooklyn-based alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, with John Flansburgh, which was formed in 1982. In addition to sing ...

— while also providing a platform for both established musicians signed to other labels and new artists. Galen and Flansburgh originally intended Hello to be a standard independent label. However, this was not financially plausible, so Hello adopted a subscription model instead."Brain Child of a Giant". ''Creative Loafing''. 6 January 1994. Although Flansburgh and Galen had to seek out artists for Hello's first year of operation, by 1994, musicians were contacting the label themselves. In its first year, the label faced difficulties with understaffing.Flansburgh, John. "Partytime in the Summertime 1993". Summer, 1993 Hello Newsletter. Archived

. Retrieved 2012-11-25. Flansburgh has stated that the purpose of Hello was to produce and distribute music projects cheaply for the artist and the consumer. Hello only produced as many discs as the number of subscribers. It did not achieve outstanding financial success; however, Flansburgh reported that the label was in the black. Proceeds from

' 1985 Demo Tape, an optional addition to 1994 subscriptions, were donated to the People With AIDS Coalition.1985 Demo Tape. They Might Be Giants. Hello Recordings. 1994. The label dissolved after its 1996 subscription year due to a level of demand that the small label could no longer service. Some members did not receive the final 1996 releases until May 1997. For a brief time afterward, the Hello back catalogue was still available for purchase.Mono Puff FAQ
, including Hello information. MonoPuff.org Retrieved 2012-11-25. Over the span of Hello's existence, it issued releases from thirty-four different artists.

Release history

Hello produced thirty-nine EPs over four years, as well as two promotional samplers, a promotional copy of a full-length

album, and one compilation of original material by various artists. Hello also issued a live sampler from They Might Be Giants, and reissued their 1985 Demo Tape on cassette.

1993

1994

1995

1996

References

External links

* The Hello Recording Club article on This Might Be A Wiki {{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1993 Record labels disestablished in 1996 Alternative rock record labels Monthly events