Independent Label Distribution (ILD) sprang from a need for solid distribution for independent labels – some in business for more than 30 years – which had been perpetually stiffed, left in the lurch, sold to less than reputable companies or left in ruins by their disreputable distributors. ILD’s goal is to provide quick, efficient service to their customers while providing them with top-sounding and top-selling records at a fair price. Labels Frontier Records, Beer City, and Tribunal Records formed a new business model: a record distributor run by a faction of independent label owners. Faced with the prospect of being stiffed two times in four years, label vets Lisa Fancher, Mike Beer and Matt Rudzinski, took over their failing distributor in Richmond this summer and rebuilt it from the ground up.
“Of all the things I never thought I’d do, taking over my distributor is probably number one on my list,” said Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records and Independent Label Distribution. “Loser distributors have burned me for hundreds of thousands of dollars since Frontier started in 1980, so at this point I know what it takes to make one succeed. Mike Beer from Beer City, Matt Rudzinski from Tribunal Records and I share the same DIY ethic and we’re not just doing this to save ourselves, we’re interested in helping a couple dozen other labels survive after the previous owner was running the company into the ground. If taking his company over to run it ourselves isn’t punk, I don’t know what is!”
Titles currently distributed by Independent Label Distribution (ILD) include Adolescents, D.R.I., Les Baxter, Bouncing Souls, Cannabis Corpse, Larry & his Flask, Kill Whitney Dead, August Burns Red, Circle Jerks, MDC, The Dils, Hole, Naked Raygun, Rocket From The Crypt, Turbonegro, The Weirdos and more. A full list of ILD labels includes Altin Village & Mine Records, Anchorless Records, Beer City Records, Cavity Records, Chunksaah Records, CI Records, Corrosive Recordings, Dionysus Records/Bacchus Archives, Frontier Records, Init Records, No Way Records, Red Scare Industries, Riot Fest Records, Rodent Popsicle Records, Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club/Springman Records, Six Weeks Records, Sympathy For The Record Industry, Tankcrimes and Tribunal Records/Divebomb Records.
With a solid back catalog and a diverse, new roster of current bands and titles expected each month, ILD is poised to provide chains, one-stops and independent stores with superior service. Following a credo that quality counts, ILD is not your typical distributor with an uncertain shelf life – its goal is to offer quick, efficient service to customers while providing them with great fill on top-selling classic catalog and new releases at fair prices, no matter the size of the account.
ABOUT INDEPENDENT LABEL DISTRIBUTION
Independent Label Distribution (ILD) was formed in Richmond, Virginia in Summer 2011 as the first and only American music distribution company run by independent record label owners. Founded by three independent record label veterans, Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records, Mike Beer of Beer City Records and Matt Rudzinski of Tribunal Records, ILD provides quick, efficient service to customers from some of the world’s best catalog and new releases.