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R.I.P Hydrahead Records


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It is a bummer to see something close its doors, even though so many people have struggled to keep them open. However, it isn't surprising. I know it's a defeated topic to bring up price, but seriously, if people are bummed about Hydra Head's sinking ship, then it is an obvious point to bring up. Twenty bucks on a single LP, and sometimes over 30 is pretty rough. I recently paid $20 plus shipping for an LP and it killed me inside a little bit, but the LP was self released by one of my favorite bands in the world.

Just as everybody else has mentioned, if they want to make up some of that money, repress that shit people have been begging for for sometime now.

Not to mention Hydra Head's website being a giant pain in the ass, if a record is sold out, then take it off the damn vinyl section of the webstore.

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see that's kinda what i mean. i'm partially sad, but mostly really fucking irritated that a label that i loved so much for a long time decided to run itself into this position.

i wont pretend to know any better than the people at HH, i don't know how to run a label, but what were they expecting operating like this for so long?

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I'm not going to complain about postage, pricing, web stores or business practices. All that bullshit is forgotten in time. I'm way too bummed out that a label I literally grew old with is going away.

Time to pull out all six of my "In These Black Days" 7"s and get busy.

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I've been hearing rumors of them going under for about a month now. I shrugged it off and was hoping it was just that, a rumor.

I will really miss HH. Such a bummer. Been buying HH releases over the last 16 years.

I wish they would go out with a bang and repress Cave In - UHYS.

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There's probably quite a few reasons for Hydra Head's ultimately demise, but I'm almost positive that $20 LPs vs $15 LPs is not one of them. If people want an album, they'll buy it, and HH has worked with enough "big name" bands that selling records was probably the least of their problems ... even with all the smaller, extreme left-of-center outfits on the roster.

Running a label myself, I'm left thinking, "if Hydra Head can't make it, what chance do I have?" On the other hand, I've worked at (relatively) successful labels long enough to also wonder, "what the hell was HH doing wrong?"

Most of us will never be close enough to the situation to find out ... but damn - I sure do wish I was a fly on the wall in HH's offices over the past year.

Anyway, I always appreciated their aesthetic and uncompromising attitude. I just ordered the Oceanic 2xLP. It cost me $26 with shipping - and I already owned the CD - but whatever. Hyrdra Head undoubtedly forged its own path in the world and you gotta respect that, even if you didn't always respect all their decisions in regards to pricing, etc etc.

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Hyrdra Head undoubtedly forged its own path in the world and you gotta respect that, even if you didn't always respect all their decisions in regards to pricing, etc etc.

This! This is what I was hoping this thread would get into discussing instead the incessant bitchfest about pricing.

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There's probably quite a few reasons for Hydra Head's ultimately demise, but I'm almost positive that $20 LPs vs $15 LPs is not one of them. If people want an album, they'll buy it, and HH has worked with enough "big name" bands that selling records was probably the least of their problems ... even with all the smaller, extreme left-of-center outfits on the roster.

Running a label myself, I'm left thinking, "if Hydra Head can't make it, what chance do I have?" On the other hand, I've worked at (relatively) successful labels long enough to also wonder, "what the hell was HH doing wrong?"

Most of us will never be close enough to the situation to find out ... but damn - I sure do wish I was a fly on the wall in HH's offices over the past year.

Anyway, I always appreciated their aesthetic and uncompromising attitude. I just ordered the Oceanic 2xLP. It cost me $26 with shipping - and I already owned the CD - but whatever. Hyrdra Head undoubtedly forged its own path in the world and you gotta respect that, even if you didn't always respect all their decisions in regards to pricing, etc etc.

excellent insight

If you don't mind me asking, what would you guess some of those reasons are?

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I think they were pretty forthcoming with exactly why they failed.

"Years of imbalance between creative ideals and financial realities, personal problems amongst the label operators, an unwillingness to compromise our aesthetic standards, a tendency towards releasing challenging (i.e. unmarketable) artists, and the steady decline of the music industry in general, are amongst the chief reasons for our inability to continue."

Combine that with the first line in their post where they admit it has never been a well-run operation and you've got you answer. They didn't make a lot of money, and they money they did make they probably didn't spend wisely or with an eye toward future health.

I'd guess you had a bunch of passionate people with a alarming lack of business acumen.

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20 dollar LPs are one thing but they routinely had ones closer or above 30 dollars. That last Big Business LP was over 30 if I remember correctly. There's no disputing that they put out great records with great packaging, but their prices certainly turned off many (obviously as they are going out of business). People obviously spoke with their wallets. Even now the price on DAMAGED records on their website is way too high.

I'll be sad ultimately that they are gone but truthfully they lost me a few years ago when I couldn't afford to buy their records anymore. I used to blindly buy anything they put out because odds were I'd love it.

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HH had a ton of good releases. Unfortunately, like many others, they priced me out.

The only HH record I have bought in recent years is the Daughters LP, and I really had to convince myself to pull the trigger on that one. (the bonus 7" went a long way in helping convince me)

Sorry to see the label go, but maybe now the bands on HH will have more reasonably priced records on other labels.

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HH had a ton of good releases. Unfortunately, like many others, they priced me out.

The only HH record I have bought in recent years is the Daughters LP, and I really had to convince myself to pull the trigger on that one. (the bonus 7" went a long way in helping convince me)

Sorry to see the label go, but maybe now the bands on HH will have more reasonably priced records on other labels.

Maybe they can go sign with Southern Lord [/sarcasm]

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Bummed about this, I hope those bands can find a good and responsible home, even if its just for some sporadic releases.

uhh... most bands left on HH's roster are one-man garage black metal bands or defunct art-core bands. the rest of the bands will probably go to Magic Bullet or something.

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