Jonathan Poneman
person on 1 show · 12 statements across 1 episodes · said 4 times in 4 episodes since 2020
On the record as a speaker too: Jonathan Poneman across every show, appearances and statements → this page counts the times other people say the name.
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How I Built This 4
2021 1 mention in 1 episode
2020 3 mentions in 3 episodes 1 per episode
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12 statements about Jonathan Poneman, every show
Poneman: Post-Nirvana, we paid $150k for bands that previously cost $2k
“Well, there were bands who, before Nirvana had their explosive success, we would have signed for 2000 dollars. In one particular case, I signed one of those bands for 150,000 dollars.”
Pavitt: Firing four key employees triggered departure and co-founder estrangement
“The firing of four employees that I thought were very valuable to the company, and I was very traumatized by that. I was very, I can't even put it into words, but . I couldn't process that, and I was very upset, and I think that was really what led to our estr…”
Poneman: Warner deal proceeds went directly to the founders, not Sub Pop
“Similarly, the deal was done with Bruce and myself, singularly. It was not done with SubPop, so the money went directly to Bruce and myself.”
Poneman: Running Sub Pop was easier broke than funded
“In some ways it was much easier to run the label with no money than it became when we had some money.”
Pavitt: Nirvana shopped their 1990 Butch Vig sessions secretly to major labels
“So we sent Nirvana there in 1990, I believe it was May. They were supposed to record their next album, and that tape wound up being a demo that got shopped to Majors, unbeknownst to myself and John.”
Poneman: Kurt Cobain regularly insisted Nirvana should sell a million records
“Kurt would Tell me regularly. We should be selling a million of these. And I'd be going, you don't understand, you know.”
Pavitt: Sub Pop signed Nirvana using a 20-cent photocopied library contract
“John's true genius was to go to the library and photocopy a generic contract, use a little whiteout, and for you know, 20 cents worth of copies, we were able to get a contract with Nirvana that is essentially the reason why we're talking to you today.”
Poneman: 'Grunge' as a cultural gestalt will outlast the era's bands
“There are few things that I think are going to stand the test of time than the word grunge. I think a lot of these bands will long be forgotten, but that word grunge and the Style, and time, and gestalt. You know, everything that it summons will stay.”
Poneman: Sub Pop pioneered direct COD retail sales for US indie labels
“And at the time, independent record labels weren't doing this in the United States. We all figured that we needed to have a relationship with a distributor to get our records into the stores. But Bruce and I picked up the phone, and we decided to start selling…”
Poneman: Mudhoney remains Sub Pop's ultimate flagship house band
“Mudhoney ended up becoming, and still is to this day, the ultimate, or the flagship, or they're the sub-pop house band.”
Poneman: Early Sub Pop funding relied on pitching personal connections on hype
“Bruce and I basically hit up everybody we knew for money at one point or the other, and it was a business proposition that was driven by hype.”