About Marangani Records...
"Marangani" is an Aboriginal word for a season of the year, roughly from February to April. It´s also a bit of a play on words, being similar to my name (O´Mara). At this point in time I feel that it´s a good thing for me to start up my own label. I´ve been toying with the idea for years and there have been a number of reasons for this:
1. Changing Marketing Strategies...years ago it was only possible to buy CD´s at certain shops which offered Jazz recordings, often at an inflated price. This has now changed. Nowadays everyone who has access to the Internet can purchase CD´s directly from an Online Shop. I think this is a positive development because regular shops cannot have every CD on the market in their CD bins. Regular shops often ask incredibly inflated prices for CD´s which they have ordered from record labels at a much lower price. I´ve seen one of my CD´s for sale at such a shop for 35 Euros! I never see any of that money!
2. No more Middlemen... I´m a musician who sometimes feels the urge to record some music. That´s my personal decision and has nothing to do with anyone else. However, there seem to be a lot of people out there who are interested in my music, although a lot of record producers have tried to convince me there isn´t! Everything has to be "marketed" and have a "concept". What about just music? Even when my recordings were eventually released there was inadequate promotion for them (that costs money!) so the recordings were quickly forgotten by all but a few. I´m grateful for the continuing support of all you loyal fans!
3. The Future Is Now...I wrote a tune recently which I decided to call "The Future Is Now". I want to look to the future with a positive attitude towards my music. That means I have to take control of things that I used to leave up to others. Times have changed and I don´t need those people anymore!
Some Stories about Producers...
A long time ago I had the naive attitude that record-producers were interested in music and promoting the artists that make it. Unfortunately this usually isn´t the case. The producers I have met are more interested in promoting themselves (and their labels) than the music they present. This will be their eventual downfall I´m sure. The audiences and consumers have now seen through this poorly-disguised egotrip and that´s why a lot of labels have had to close business in recent years. How can I take a producer seriously when he says I should record "AC-DC" tunes just because I´m Australian? Or abruptly leaves the room after he is introduced to me by another musician? Or doesn´t return a contract although it has been mutually agreed upon? Or who doesn´t send royalty statements although he is obliged to by contract? The list goes on and on...And I´m only one of many musicians in the same situation. Now I´ve decided to do something about it and I´m grateful for your support.
Thank you!
Peter O´Mara
June 2006