Press
“One of the 100 Greatest Websites”
RCRD LBL starts with free MP3s of Justice, Mos Def — “Consider RCRD LBL an early holiday gift from the music industry.”
RCRD LBL KCKS BTT — “If they gave out an award for the ‘hippest of the hip,’ last week’s honor would have gone to RCRD LBL...[W]hichever way you pigeonhole RCRD LBL, it definitely was the place to be last week. Furthermore, it’s also the place to be this week. And probably next as well. RCRD LBL is for those wanting a daily dose of new music. Whether grabbing a new song from a familiar act, or to catch up with what’s currently circulating just under the radar, RCRD LBL is for those wanting to stay ahead of the music curve.”
Music Test: Can a Firm Profit From Free Tunes? — “Amid a seemingly endless slide in music sales, the industry is constantly casting about for new ways to make money from its product. The latest experiment: Give it away online, and enlist advertisers to cover costs. The fate of a new company — Rcrd Lbl (pronounced: Record Label) — will be a test case. A joint venture of Downtown Records, the independent label behind Gnarls Barkley and others, and Peter Rojas, a journalist and entrepreneur who founded the respected technology blog Gizmodo and Engadget, Rcrd Lbl is a hybrid record label and blog; its releases are to be posted on the company’s Web site for downloading, free and unrestricted by digital-rights management software that limits copying.”
RCRD LBL Solves the Free Music Riddle — “RCRD LBL, the online record label founded by Peter Rojas (Gizmodo and Engadget) and Josh Deutsch (Downtown Records) launched today, and the site is so popular that it loaded a bit slowly at certain points today — a testament to its popularity, since Rojas has run popular websites before...One of the smartest aspects of the site is its approachto social networks. Widgets for playlists, photos, tour dates, and fans (the site has a social networking aspect too, in that you can create a profile and become a fan of a band) can be embedded on other sites. Some of them contain an ad for one of the label's sponsors — currently Puma, Nikon, and Virgin America.”
Giving It Away Can Pay — “RCRD LBL isn't trying to compete with outlets that make music available for free. It is one of those outlets.... In no time the label's managed to position itself as a tastemaker.”