Submitted by honna on
Equinox Records is closing after 10+ years & 50 vinyl releases. David Vangel wrote a retrospective on Equinox Records you can read it here. He has included a bunch of pictures showing Equinox releases. I have always been a fan of the art & presentation on Equinox Releases. You can download David Vangel's 2011 "Breadth Control" album for free until Thursday September 5th.
You can still buy Equinox Records Releases in their shop & on Bandcamp.
You can also read a letter from Günter on the Equinox Records website. I've included it below because I can't link directly to the letter.
// From Equinox Records
Dear Fans, Artists, Friends,
Today, I would like to announce that Equinox Records is closing. The “Counter Future – A Sound Exposure Vol. 3” album, the 50th vinyl release on the label, marks the final item.
This announcement takes a load off my mind as this has not been a spontaneous move. The closure has been a decision made in late 2011. At that time it almost seemed impossible as the label has been my life – today, it has proved to be the right step.
There are multiple reasons for the closure. First of all, as founder, father and head of the label, new goals have developed for my life. Unfortunately, this announcement was meant to be kept secret until now. Only a small bunch of near friends and our main artists have been informed in advance.
I have risked a lot for the label and also denied myself of many things. But Equinox Records has simply been a project from the heart. I have experienced a lot of positive things with the label in the past years – and many of my dreams have become true. With unique and individual artists it has been a musical celebration, a big picture with countless nuances, styles and colours.
Even in the past years, the development of the label still seemed to be on track, despite the ubiquitous negative trend in the music business. I have always been sure that our music will reach a wider audience sooner or later. Nevertheless, there has never been a breakthrough for Equinox and I can say for sure that some of our artists would have deserved more attention.
However, I faced the fact that the main goals that I had when I started the label have been reached and that they don’t necessarily have to be measured with plays and hits. Equinox has built up a small world on its own. As I have been involved in the artistic process of most releases, the extensive label catalogue is something that I am extremely proud of personally.
Anyway, I am still a bit sad about the fact that Equinox has always been some kind of outsider: many times the music has been regarded as somewhere in “between”, sometimes as too experimental or as too different. The label has always been confronted with lack of understanding, especially in terms of press and distributions. Though this is something that countless other labels are experiencing as well.
Nevertheless, the actual market-based conditions in the music business have been another essential problem for myself. Even though music in the electronic field can technically be produced with almost no costs, it needs a lot of money to finance the product, to promote and market it, and many other things. Therefore, the extensive label work had to be done with a lack of means. I had to face the fact that I am partly running an exhausting DIY business. In the end, I had to ask myself if I want to continue with the label work, and possibly add another 10 years of running the company, and the answer was a clear “no”.
With the final „Counter Future“ project I wanted to define and demonstrate one more time what Equinox is. I am very content with the compilation and happy that almost all artists, that have accompanied the label over the past years, are part of it. “Counter Future” completes the picture that I have talked about earlier. The album closes some kind of circle, back to the first release.
I am writing all this with a tear in my eye, because an important period in my life ends. I have to thank those who have helped me along the way: all artists, my family, friends and fans. I especially want to thank Dimitris Kountouris for the extensive help in 2012 as the second label manager and talented engineer. Without him and his support I probably wouldn’t have been able to release about 15 releases the last year.
Thanks,
Günter
P.S.:
Almost our complete catalogue will be available today as a free download via Bandcamp for 24 hours. Additionally, we have lowered the prices for many of our items in our shop. These can be ordered directly via Bandcamp though it is better (and cheaper) to buy directly via the Equinox Online Store.
Furthermore, I would like to announce that there will be one more final release on the sublabel Equinox.Digital by Godblesscomputers. Afterwards this label will be closed as well. However, the company around Equinox will still be active and our website and shop will still be run. Additionally, we will try to keep you updated as much as we can about news from our former artists and more. We recommend following us on Facebook and/or subscribing the newsletter.
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http://www.vangelmusic.com/2013/08/31/eqx-records-a-retrospective/
http://equinoxrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.equinoxrecords.com/shop/
http://www.equinoxrecords.com/news/