The Ledger
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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: 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…”
Pavitt: Retaining royalty points on Nirvana's major-label records earned Sub Pop millions
“So, the way things played out, we had points because of the contract on Nirvana's records, so we went from having no money to actually having millions of dollars.”
Bandcamp hosts almost 10,000 independent record labels
“So we were, at this point, we have almost 10,000 independent labels on the site. So Sub Pop, Merge, ATO Ninja Tune, Relapse just Loads and loads of independent labels.”
Pavitt: John Peel said Sub Pop had most distinctive sound since Motown
“He literally said Sub Pop has the most distinctive regional sound since Tamla Motown.”
Pavitt: Nirvana's Sub Pop debut album Bleach has sold two million copies
“Yes, and then our Bleach album, I think at this point it sold like two million copies”
Pavitt: Sub Pop's Lamefest was Moore Theater's first local sellout
“The record release Party for Bleach was actually our Lamefest showcase at the Moore Theater with you know, seating 1500 people. It sold out, it was the first show in the history of the Moore Theater that had sold out a local show.”
Pavitt: Nirvana's debut album Bleach sold 40,000 copies through word of mouth
“It eventually sold up to around 40,000 copies, and there was just a lot of word of mouth.”
Poneman: The Postal Service's 'Give Up' is Sub Pop's second best-selling album
“Second best-selling.”
Pavitt: Borrowed $5,000 from a customer to press Sub Pop 100
“I borrowed 5000 bucks to put it out. It did wind up selling 5000 copies and Those were really good numbers at that time.”
Pavitt: Borrowed $3,000 from his father to release Green River's debut
“I called up my dad, and borrowed 3000 dollars, and got Dry as a Bone, the first Green River record, out.”
Pavitt: Sub Pop took off in 1987 via dual record promo
“This decision was made in spring of 87, and when the Green River Record Release Party happened in June of 87, by that time we had the Soundgarden single pressed, so when we mailed out the Green River EP to radio stations and press and so forth. We included the…”