Extract from an interview with Jon Lee from Carbon Records.

Extract from an interview conducted with Jon Lee, co-founder of Carbon Records. Carbon Records, situated in the basement of Urban Outfitters, Kensington High Street, London, have grown beyond their carrier bag into being a recording label, club night and are currently planning their expansion into the online dynamic. Jon talks here about the birth of Carbon, their ideals and the future for 'independents' in a digital economy.

M: How did Carbon come about - the store and the record label?
J: The store was a very personal thing. I'd spent years DJing and doing parties with my brother, consequently I had quite a large record collection. At that time I was playing quite hard banging house, but I got to the stage {maybe I got a bit older} when I came home one Wednesday evening and I was like 'I love music, didn't want to watch television but wanted to listen to some tunes'. There was nothing I could listen to on a Wednesday night from my collection, so I sort to buy some more records. I wanted a collection that was more than just banging house 12"s. I started to look about but couldn't find anything. I would walk out with fifty quid in my pocket trying to buy records.

M: And nobody would take your money?
J: Yeah. I might read a review in Mixmag and I'd find something that I'd be into, but I couldn't understand any of the reference points they'd give. If they used words like 'this is funky', I'd think that that is what I'm up for and then go to try and find it. Invariably it was never out. Problem one.
Problem two, was when I'd go to some of the specialists stores, often ones that I didn't know and bizarrely, because I spent so much time shopping in stores that I knew, I had forgotten how intimidating they were and felt really uncomfortable in them. This was even though I'd spent years, day in day out, shopping for plastic. I spent about four months doing this and must have spent a sum total of zero. I thought, 'I can't be the only person that really struggles'. I started looking into how more music could be sold for people who knew what they liked, but didn't know anything about it. The multiples, HMV and Virgin, were rubbish. If you could find it, you'd have to take a massive risk because you couldn't listen to it, whilst the specialist stores had too much attitude.
I started to look into a way of making all that work. What we came up with, was what ultimately became Carbon. A way of selling quality music of any description, not format specific {CDs, 12"s or MP3s}, as long as it was good - it could be old, it could be new. We would sell music to people who knew nothing about music. What they did know however, is what they liked.

M: Now that you are looking at being an online dynamic and building the virtual infrastructure for the store, how do you see your proposition changing?
J: We'll be able to translate the proposition directly. Again, it will be about the partnerships that we have. It will be about a convergent strategy, not just about the Internet. If you're talking about our sort of customer, who doesn't really know what they're looking for, we're going to have to get quite smart about how we find them and to a certain extent, it's not just about the Internet for us. I think that Internet sites that do really well 'music wise', are often about train spotters to a large extent because you've got a global audience all of a sudden. The global trainspotter niche of 'break beat' people for example, is quite big. As much as we will do some of that, that's not our core proposition.
We are very keen to get involved with interactive television, for example hosting magazine shows that allow viewers to buy the product. We're keen to get involved with mobile communications, whether that is WAP or third generation mobiles. Again, it will be about us finding our audience and if we do a deal with a phone supplier, supplying an alternative radio station for example, that's how it will work for us. It's all about convergent strategies, not just about the Internet.

M: With digital television and the evolution of broadband, are there avenues available for 'independents' to get onto these platforms?
J: I instinctively think that there is. If you look at how all the big companies operate in those fields, they will normally sign up with a big aggregator in another field. So if you're talking about a telco, then they'll clearly do a big deal with some form of entertainment based company. They need critical mass in whatever. The market is at a very earlier stage in all these ventures, but as those ventures grow they will need to have strong critical marketing aspects to their business and they will need to look at people to provide it and it won't be the majors. Whether they are a major distribution company or a major retail company, they will not be able to provide the 'grass roots' kind of stuff - which is exactly what we can do. I know the WAP deals that are being struck at the moment are with people that are bigger than us, but we're not in a hurry. We've got a lot of stuff happening offline, we'll do it when it's right us and when the market is right for it.

M: You mentioned earlier about wanting to do your own thing, what does operating 'independently' actually mean to you as an individual?
J: It means everything really. I spent ten years working in corporate envrionments. To succeed in anyway in a corporate environment you have to tow the line and do things you are told, which I think hampers creativity and freedom of expression. I think that they're the things that are important to me. I have the ability to be able to express myself in the way that I want now, without worrying too much.

M: And if someone came along and wanted to buy the Carbon proposition, how would you feel?
J: We've talked about this a lot. We're looking at funding at the moment and the decision we've made, is that with any funding that we get we will maintain a major share holding. It is about being able to do things our own way and as soon as someone else takes over, then possibly the day to day reality of what Carbon is for the guys that run it won't be there anymore.

M: In terms of looking to go online, what are you learning so far in terms of resources?
J: It is difficult to begin with, because all of a sudden you have to seek out capital - where do you start? It's also a long process because you know nothing about it, you have to talk to loads of people, and you don't know which direction to go in. Aside from that, it's about trying to find the balance of what it is that you want to do. Is this about making money? Or is this something we believe in? I think the more we look at how we are going to grow and fund the expansion, the more we realise it's about what we want to do. It's a question of maintaining that, maintaining the ideal, whilst also still becoming commercially successful.

M: And in terms of a creative culture, in the future, what do you think the future is for an 'independent'? Do you think that it is all about collaboration?
J: I really like the concept of family. When you think about it, it's about supporting and nurturing relationships where you can - supporting people's dreams and ambitions, and trying to help them along the way through people who have similar, although different angles on things. That's exactly what I think it's all about. It's all about partnerships, in the best sense of the word, a creative nurturing structure that allows talent and expression to show through. There's just so much talent out there that doesn't get the rewards that it deserves, which is kind of what we're all about.

[Ends]