The future of music since 1998. No Type is a community of labels, an independent space away from the big platforms, and most importantly: a place to discover new sounds.
A community of labels and artists who chose to hang together in order to take back the means of music distribution
The year was 1998. Musicians were about to change the way to distribute music on the internet. Remember: There was a time when listening to music on the internet was at best an excruciating ordeal where you needed to install a cornucopia of rebarbative tools & software (hello RealAudio!), not to mention be prepared to exert a great deal of patience (hello, 56 kpbs connection!).
And then came MP3 ::
No Type (directed by David Turgeon) was among the first in the world to recognise the potential of this new format and to use it on a greater scale, not as a way to rip CDs, but as a creation tool. Along with other pioneering netlabels, No Type has published over a hundred of free albums in a digital format, at a time when such a concept was purely speculative. Later on, likeminded labels have joined our ranks: Sine Fiction, Panospria, BricoLodge (and that’s only for starters.)
In 2021, No Type is more than a netlabel. It is a community of labels and artists who chose to hang together in order to take back the means of music distribution. At a time when a handful of corporations share nearly all of the web traffic, we need to reaffirm the importance of a free and independent web presence, outside of the big platforms.
Many albums available on No Type are free to stream and download. Many are available for purchase at a price which you consider fair. You choose. 85% of revenues will go back to the proper rightsholders.
Website reboot ::
With this reboot of the website both No Type and Panospria are effectively back in action. They’ll be releasing new music from the artists on their rosters and also accepting demo submissions from new projects to add to the family. Bringing new music to their audience and also putting a bit of money in the pockets of the artists until the return of live concerts. With the exception of Bandcamp, the state of music online is seemingly dominated by a few behemoth streaming operations that are giving very little back to the musicians. No Type will continue operating their own creative ecosystem online, largely away from those major platforms, with their own direct-to-artist payments.
Four labels ::
The four labels present on the site right now illustrates No Type’s existing pan-Canadian network:
No Type [Montreal]
A vanguard net-label from back in 1998, pushing the most “out there” sounds (IDM, glitch, noise, minimal, armchair techno) which attracted so many like-minded artists.
Sine Fiction [Quebec/Ottawa]
Soundtracks to science fiction novels, curated by former No Type co-director A_dontigny.
BricoLodge [Saskatoon/Regina]
Flatlanders Carrie Gates and Jon Vaughn curated this one based on their tastes and network, plenty of amazing releases here as well.
Panospria [Vancouver]
Panospria had just celebrated a decade of promoting concerts in Vancouver when the pandemic started and everything froze. Quite fittingly, the hundredth release is the Quiet City 2010-2010 compilation which coincides with the website relaunch. A special document of the last decade and a wonderful mix of local, regional, and international artists who’ve played for the Quiet City concert series in Vancouver, including Keith Fullerton Whitman, Keiji Haino, Blevin Blectum, Jaap Blonk, Marcus Fischer, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Alex Zhang Hungtai, Die Angel (Ilpo Väisänen from Pan Sonic with Schneider TM), and the list goes on. Nine hours of music and over nearly 80 tracks.
More labels scheduled ::
More labels are scheduled to come on board under the No Type umbrella. Some will be new, and others are culturally significant labels that are no longer operating that we’d be honoured to host online for posterity, giving No Type’s already extensive archive of experimental music even more of a historical focus. Announcements are forthcoming.
Quiet City 2010-2020 is available on No Type. [Website | email]
