Indie Hip Hop label Stones Throw was recently featured in an article in the Los Angeles Times. Titled “Broken Record: Music in the Download Era,” the article focuses on the financial success of a number independent California music labels despite the sordid state of album sales.
Stones Throw label manager Eothen “Egon” Alapatt explained how the label has managed to buck the system with music placement in commercials and TV shows. Rapper/producer Oh No’s instrumental song “The Funk” was recently featured in a Mountain Dew commercial, and R&B singer Aloe Blacc’s “I Need a Dollar” is the theme song to HBO’s “How to Make it in America.”
“[Because of the placement of ‘I Need a Dollar,’ Aloe Blacc’s] record will actually sell,” said Alapatt. “The writing’s on the wall.” (Los Angeles TImes)
The full article can be read here.