Label: Pure Groove
Artists: Little Boots, The Joy Formidable, Whitey, Gold Teeth, The Shoes, The Virgins, We Have Band, Your Twenties, Electrocute, Ipso Facto, Passion Pit, Thomas Tantrum, Marina and the Diamonds and more...
Soon after the original shop opened, the growth of technology and consequent D.I.Y. attitude to making and putting out music led to Pure Groove setting up a cluster of labels which reflected the then current music trends including the garage label Locked On. As the dance scene became more commercial and bedroom studio technology began to affect all music genres, Pure Groove moved towards a new horizon, which better facilitated their talent as tastemakers.
With the seepage of electro sounds into music from rock to folk, plus the burgeoning electro scene itself, this was and still is the most fertile ground for new music and Pure Groove were amongst the first to harvest it. They didn’t merely do this as a shop, or as a label for that matter but took a different approach which could be described in the music industry’s favourite new analogy “the 360”.
Instead of focusing on the fickle digital market, which is scattered with pitfalls for the niche independent label, they brought together three elements which when combined, made more that the sum of their parts: live performance, collectable physical product and spotting new talent early.
In a world where music is increasingly disassociated from something tangible, the spectacle of musicians performing a song that a listener has previously only known as an mp3 on his iPod has a new magic. Pure Groove has tapped into the renaissance of the live music scene by turning over part of their shop floor to a venue for in-stores. These are free and take place early in the evening so that the audience can experience new music with the minimum cost to their pocket or their busy lifestyle.
The in-store often works on another level as a product launch, although frequently the limited edition releases have all but sold out on presale by the time of the launch. The releases are mainly 7” vinyl but can take other forms, although the thing they all have in common is their quality, uniqueness and extreme desirability to collectors. The Little Boots 7” they released on their 50 Bones label last year is now changing hands on eBay for many times its original purchase price for example.
It isn’t just cool packaging that excites the music fans though. The third, and perhaps most valuable ingredient in Pure Groove’s mix is their ability to predict the market and to a certain degree, influence it too. Little Boots is a good example of the label’s golden touch and in the light of her imminent success, Pure Groove’s ability to spot and break new artists will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Already, other labels want to work with Pure Groove in order to showcase their artists to the right audience, a situation unthinkable a few years ago when a signed artist would never be permitted to do a one off release on another label.
Such is the changing landscape of the music industry and Pure Groove send out a clear message of hope for artists and industry alike. It is possible to navigate through these difficult times of file sharing coupled with recession, it’s just a matter of embracing the new and adapting to it.