Pssst! Hey Buddy... Wanna Buy A Record Label?

If so, happen to know where you can get a good deal on a respectable name.

Long Gone John, the man who founded Sympathy For The Record Industry in 1988, has decided to put his label up for sale.

Over the years, Sympathy has helped launch a ton of big names, including The White Stripes, Hole and Rocket From The Crypt. Sympathy has worked with a ton of Detroit artists besides the White Stripes as well, including The Von Bondies, Detroit Cobras and The Dirtbombs. The label has also worked with a bunch of other great acts from around the country, including Southern Culture on the Skids, Man or Astro-man? Free Kitten and the Dwarves.

If you want to pick up the label, according to John’s MySpace, you can do so for the reasonable price of “$625,000.00 or $700,000.00 if I don't like you.”

In addition to being the new owner of the company, John also breaks down all that would be included in this transaction, from existing stock to distribution to the most wonderful asset - “questionable/nebulous rights to nearly 750 releases by over 550 bands.”

It could be a sound investment by someone who was really ready to make a go at the independent music industry. Sympathy is a trusted and respectable independent label, and I can only hope that whomever decides to pony up will take good care of it. I’d hate to see it get swallowed up by a major label.

Interested parties can find all of the information on John’s MySpace site, which incidentally would be a great place to network a team of interested parties to go in together on such a purchase. And, if you simply want to buy the label and ask someone else to run it, I may know of a writer who could run a label for you.

But, if you simply want to have your own record label, there are much cheaper ways to do it. There are even books on doing it (here’s one for example). Not having done it, I’m sure it’s a lot of work, but if you’re ready and don’t have $650K lying around, that may be the way to go. Just don’t come crying to me when the person who bought Sympathy is signing all the bands you want on your little label.

Logo Courtesy of Sympathy For The Record Industry