World Serpent Distribution was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

and music distribution house formed in the 1990s by David Gibson, Alan Trench and Alison Webster.

Douglas Pearce Douglas Pearce (born 27 April 1956), known professionally as Douglas P., is a British musician, best known for his neofolk project Death in June. He was born in Sheerwater in Woking, Surrey and lives in Australia, which has been his home since ...

Death In June Death in June are a neofolk group led by English musician Douglas P. (Douglas Pearce). The band was originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as a trio. However, after the other members left, in 1984 and 1985, to work on other projects, ...

coined the company name in 1991, ''World Serpent'' being another name for

Jörmungandr In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr (, see Etymology), also known as the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent (, "worm of Midgard"), is an unfathomably large and monstrous sea serpent or worm who dwells in the world sea, encircling the Earth ( Midga ...

Founding

World Serpent was well known for distributing music by many

post-industrial In sociology, the post-industrial society is the stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy. The term was originated by Alain Touraine and is closely related t ...

apocalyptic folk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrument ...

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrume ...

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

and otherwise esoteric or experimental artists, such as

NER The Ner is a river in central Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Ru ...

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, founded in 1982 by David Tibet. Much of Current 93's early work was similar to late 1970s and early 1980s industrial music: abrasive tape loops, droning synthesizer noises and Tibet's distorte ...

, Durtro,

Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (, "Invincible Sun" or "Unconquered Sun") was the official Solar deity, sun god of the late Roman Empire and a later version of the god Sol (Roman mythology), Sol. The emperor Aurelian revived his cult in 274 AD and promoted Sol Inv ...

, Tursa, Coil,

Threshold House Threshold House is one of several record labels created by Coil to release their own work and that of affiliated projects. Associated labels include Eskaton and Chalice. It is also the name for the official Coil website. The label was initi ...

, Nurse With Wound,

United Dairies United Dairies was a United Kingdom-based creamery, milk bottling and distribution company. The company was formed in 1915 and merged to form Unigate in 1959. During World War I, there were dire shortages of men, horses and vehicles commande ...

Zone
Elijah's Mantle, De Nova Da Capo,

Orchis ''Orchis'' is a genus in the orchid family (Orchidaceae), occurring mainly in Europe and Maghreb, Northwest Africa, and ranging as far as Tibet, Mongolia, and Xinjiang. The name is from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις ''orchis'', meaning "testicl ...

Cryptanthus ''Cryptanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae. The genus name is from the Greek ''cryptos'' (hidden) and ''anthos'' (flower). The genus formerly had two recognized subgenera: ...

Ozymandias "Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's collection '' Ros ...

Ramses Records Ramesses or Ramses may refer to: Ancient Egypt Pharaohs of the nineteenth dynasty * Ramesses I, founder of the 19th Dynasty * Ramesses II, also called "Ramesses the Great" ** Prince Ramesses (prince), second son of Ramesses II ** Prince Rame ...

and many others. Many of these artists also ended up collaborating with or being influenced by one another, causing the ''World Serpent'' name to become synonymous with many of the artists and labels distributed through the company during the early 1990s. Due to early CDs being manufactured at Philips-Dupont Optical's UK pressing plant, World Serpent releases from the late 1980s and early 1990s were significantly affected by Compact Disc bronzing.

Bankruptcy

Following a long period of rumours,

Boyd Rice Boyd Blake Rice (born December 16, 1956) is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s. A pioneer of industrial music, Rice was one of the first artists to use a sampler and turntable as an instrum ...

left World Serpent Distribution. He was followed shortly thereafter by

, Richard Leviathan and

Albin Julius Albin Julius (born Albin Julius Martinek, 16 October 1967 – 4 May 2022) was an Austrian martial music and industrial artist; his primary musical project was called Der Blutharsch. His ancestors came to Austria from Bohemia, where they came f ...

. Subsequently, fewer and fewer releases began to be distributed by World Serpent, leading to much fan speculation. In October 2002, a claim filed by Pearce in 2000 was successfully settled out of court, resulting in Pearce receiving unpaid royalties from the Court Funds Office. Pearce also gave back his shares in the company he had helped form, but was no longer interested in or affiliated to. Founder Alan Trench left World Serpent Distribution at the end of 2003. It was confirmed in August 2004 that World Serpent Distribution was no longer operating and had gone bankrupt. Many artists distributed through World Serpent, such as

Chris and Cosey Chris & Cosey, sometimes known as Carter Tutti, are a musical duo formed in 1981, consisting of couple Chris Carter (electronics) and Cosey Fanni Tutti (voice, electronics, guitar, cornet), both previously (and as of 2020 the sole surviving) ...

, had not been informed by the company and may still be owed past dues.

References

{{Authority control British record labels Record labels disestablished in 2004 Industrial record labels Experimental music record labels

Founding

Bankruptcy

See also

References