Extract from an interview with Jim Muotune from Soma Records.

Jim is a founding member of Soma, a Glasgow based dance label. The label was launced in 1990, they now boast globally recognised acts including Slam, Silicon Soul and Universal Principles.

Jim has recorded and released material on Soma as Rejuvination along with Glenn Gibbons. He now runs Digital Music Design, a multimedia/music company who have worked with the BBC and numerous advertising agencies.

Extract from an interview conducted with Jim Muotune, Soma Records, about their digital distribution through iCrunch.com and the future for creativity on the Internet.

M: Can you tell me a little bit about the motivations behind securing your digital distribution with iCrunch?
J: Within Soma and our attitudes towards new media, we felt that there weren't the human resources within the company to actually experiment and look at the whole area of new media. The iCrunch deal is structured in such a way that allows Soma to put some human resources around the idea of digital transmission of music and extending that into the emerging new media scene.

M: What kind of experiences are you learning from the digital distribution with iCrunch?
J: In essence, the iCrunch deal is in its first stages but what I am learning is that this notion of 'exclusivity' is a problem and is a 'Grey' area. For example, HMV are looking at an initiative that will mean CDs/CD-ROMs being burnt in-house across Britain and this is classed under the terms of the iCrunch's contract as a 'digital transmission'. When you're in line to do a contract for digital transmission and bearing in mind MP3s, then you are only aware of 10% of what the future of technology will be. We will be moving into an interesting stage when more and more online shop fronts open up and we all know that this online business will be driven by partnership and the exclusive nature of any deal will threaten partnership.

M: You mentioned earlier the idea of collaboration. What from your experiences are the main difficulties for this style of marketing?
J: The main difficulty is the idea that the brands are not complementary or supplementary to your own brand. For example, we did a tour with Levi's and other 'independent labels' under the banner of Vapour, but you would never see a situation where one independent label would be seen as strong enough to brand that partnership. For us it's the idea of being able to do that kind of London-centric marketing activity. We exist in Scotland and there are obvious disadvantages to being up there and not being surrounded by these creative types who do not have Soma in mind when putting campaigns together. I think that you can get lost in the multiple partnerships.

M: Now that Soma is an online dynamic as well, how do you see the Soma proposition changing?
J: I would like to see us exploiting some of the reasons that we set up the label in the first instance. For example, building the creative infrastructure within Scotland and some of the cerebral ideas we had with regard to Aldus Huxley, various conspiracy theories and the illuminati - all of those kinds of things and also communicating more of the various influences that have inspired our artists.

M: In terms of a creative culture, what do you think the way forward on the Internet is?
J: People should embrace the multi-media aspect. There has to be sound, visuals and interactivity, creative partnerships, all focused towards building the creative community infrastructure. I believe all of these things are important when developing an e-commerce strategy.

M: Can your visions of an Aldus Huxley inspired multi-media future really succeed in the world of 'dot corp.'?
J: I think that all good niche sites will survive because there is too much information and at the end of the day, it's about lifestyle. If we sell a Soma record, we are not just selling a record; we are now selling and embracing particular lifestyles. I think that some of those lifestyles are truly underground…We now have a role to represent these counter cultures and to inspire others, whether that is through the music, writing or through visual arts. I think that online is the perfect environment for this to happen and an opportunity to showcase the whole multi-media experience. We should embrace these possibilities, in which musicians become video-directors and vis-versa. You now need to become a multi-dimensional artist, people must now embrace this.

M: Can an online brand, purely be online? Is there a truly sustainable online culture?
J: No. I think that you have to embrace the offline, until this 'flip effect' arrives (exponential take up of the Internet) and more Otaku {sensory immersion in the online world} in which people live, sleep, eat and shit through computers and virtual worlds takes place. I think that amongst this whole online thing, it's very worrying to think that people are losing a sense of community by being sat in front of their computers. Web cams will therefore become important to retain the idea of community and whilst Internet cafes are a great idea, it hasn't taken off. What will happen, as in the computer games world, is that it will take off in people's homes.

[Ends]