jesseluscious

Jesse/Alternative Tentacles here. Having worked @ Lookout w/ Dan, weathered the decline of Lumberjack-Mordam (Dirk still owes AT tens of thousands of dollars), and having known Virgil since touring with the Gr'ups back in 1992? 1993?, I think I can safely comment without being labeled a) anonymous or a random shit-talker. Dan's observations are accurate in terms of the downward spiral that often becomes a death spiral for small & mid-sized distributors and labels. That said, Virgil posting what he did here is in sharp contrast to the actions of most of the entities Dan (& I) have direct experience with. Example: Dirk/Lumberjack-Mordam never communicated with all of his labels detailing what was going on with the company past, say, 2006 (max!), and we all figured out that LMMG was in a death spiral sooner or later on our own, often through direct communication with each other. The trend of our kinds of businesses seems to be to be positive instead of honest. That leads people on a bit, but at the same time when one's rep is all one has, it's risky to admit even a little negative news. At this point though, everyone on the planet knows that music businesses large and small are hurting badly, so it's not a surprise. The openess of Virgil posting here & being straight-forward without letting too much information out is a positive sign to me. If I were an investor or a label being distributed by VC, I'd take heart in this development.