“Twenty years as an artist prepared me to serve other artists better.”

This week on Other Record Labels, Scott sits down with Chris Kelly, founder of Alt Dub Records, a UK-based dub techno label that’s been quietly selling out vinyl releases and building serious momentum in under two years.

Presented by LANDR - landr.otherrecordlabels.com

Chris is an artist-first label owner with decades of experience in sound, design, and culture — and it shows. In this wide-ranging, unplanned conversation, we dig into Chris’s musical roots, his obsession with imperfection, how strong branding and genre focus fuel demand, and why patience (especially with vinyl) is one of the hardest skills to learn as a label owner.

www.altdub.com

bandcamp.altdub.com

Why aren’t your records selling?

This week, I’m breaking down five common reasons your CDs, tapes, vinyl (and even your streams) might be stuck… and what to do about it.

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No, I’m not promising you’ll magically sell out overnight. But I do believe in the compound effect: a bunch of small 1% improvements that add up—going from no sales → a few sales → more sales → “okay wait… this is working.”

Everything in this episode comes from a mix of my own experience, the labels I’ve interviewed and learned from, and one underrated perspective: I’m also a buyer. I’m constantly checking out new music, adding albums to Apple Music, ordering on Bandcamp, digging through stores… and I can’t tell you how often a label makes it weirdly difficult to even listen to the music, let alone buy it.

So here are the five reasons your records aren’t moving:

1. You make it really hard If people can’t instantly hear what you do and instantly find where to buy it, you’re losing them. Fast.

2. You’re not asking (explicitly) Press is great—but are you actually selling to retailers, distros, and your buyer list? One post isn’t a campaign.

3. Your package is unappealing Artwork, presentation, bundling, and the whole campaign vibe matter more than most labels want to admit.

4. Your pricing structure is off Too high, too low, shipping friction, perceived value—pricing is psychology and math.

5. Your music is bad (or not interesting yet) Sometimes it’s not ready. Sometimes it’s the wrong fit. Sometimes it’s “good” in the worst way: forgettable. Let’s talk about aiming for interesting.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, this episode is meant to give you practical tweaks you can make immediately—without turning your label into some salesy corporate robot.

Listen now and pick one change to implement this week.

AI is showing up everywhere in the music industry — writing emails, summarizing deals, generating marketing plans… and now, drafting contracts.

But just because AI can help with music law, doesn’t mean it should.

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In this episode, I sit down with Cassandra Spangler, a New York–based music and entertainment attorney, to talk honestly about the growing trend of artists and indie labels using AI tools like ChatGPT for legal work — and why that can quietly put your catalog, your money, and your artists at serious risk.

We dig into:

• Why AI-generated contracts often sound legit — even when they’re wrong

• The hidden dangers of missing clauses, loopholes, and jurisdiction issues

• Why “I didn’t understand the contract” isn’t a legal defense

• The lack of accountability, confidentiality, and attorney-client privilege with AI

• How artists and labels are using AI the right way — as a starting point, not a replacement

This isn’t an anti-AI episode. I openly talk about how I use AI daily — including for this podcast. But when it comes to contracts, rights, royalties, and long-term careers, this conversation draws a clear line between helpful tools and costly shortcuts.

**Get in Touch with Cassandra Spangler: https://www.cspanglermusiclaw.com/