A note from SCMS' CEO, John Holloway
A few days ago we announced our new label, SCMS Records, with an official press release. It’s incredibly exciting, but I decided to make my debut on the SCMS blog to write a bit more personally about why we started a record label.
Because if you look at it on paper, starting a record label right now might not make a lot of sense. They’re expensive and they rarely make money, and I’m sure we’re all familiar with the royalty issues with streaming platforms for artists.
But this isn’t about money. It’s about timing.
We’re in a golden era at SCMS with James Ehnes as our artistic director, who is celebrated as one of the great musicians of our time. And what’s happening on our stage right now is not normal. These performances, night after night, feel like perhaps the best time we’ll ever hear a piece. Sometimes they might be the best these artists will ever get to play a particular work.
And then it’s gone. That’s the part that doesn’t sit right.
What we’re creating is too special not to share and preserve – for people who can’t be there, for the people who aren’t even here yet, and for all those that love chamber music but don’t quite know it yet.
That’s really the heart of SCMS Records. It’s our way of preserving moments from this golden era, and building the defining collection of chamber music. A kind of snapshot of what chamber music can be at its highest level, curated by James, played by masterful musicians, recorded with care and shared widely. It’s a collection, but also a guide. A record of what’s great about this art form and this organization, at this exact right moment in time.
It’s also uniquely ours.
We have an incredible music producer in Simon Kiln who’s been capturing our Winter and Summer Festivals through the Virtual Concert Hall. We have the equipment, the team, the hall – and the artists are already coming, rehearsing and performing. The difference between what we’re already doing and creating the recordings for the label is actually a pretty small lift. A few extra sessions, a bit more intention.
So this is about perpetuity. It’s about preserving greatness, defining an artform of which we’re a leader. SCMS records is perfectly aligned with our mission to make chamber music a central cultural force. Buy the albums, stream them, pick up the vinyl or the CD – whatever your thing is – it’s worth it.
John
