The Ledger
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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.”
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: 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: 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.”
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.”
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: Krist Novoselic demanded a recording contract by banging on Pavitt's windows
“One evening, Chris Novoselic went over to Bruce's house and started banging on the windows, demanding a recording contract.”
Poneman: The Postal Service's 'Give Up' is Sub Pop's second best-selling album
“Second best-selling.”
Poneman: Invested $10,000 in childhood savings bonds to fund Sub Pop
“There were savings bonds. And there was around nine or 10,000 dollars.”