Rough Trade 1970's

Rough Trade and the 1970's

How did Rough Trade start?

Rough trade was a small but hip record shop. Geoff Travis came back from his travels in America where he had purchased many records by small bands. He decided that it would be good if he could start his own record shop as he had so many records and he thought that it would be good to have a shop that people could relax and feel at home in whilst doing what they do best, listening to music.

What music trends were popular?

Punk and Reggae were very popular at this time as it was a new era of revolt against the government and this was how people revolutionized against the people, Thatcher was in crisis as the people of Britain were rebelling with music and fashion.

What was the ethos of Rough Trade at the time?

Rough Trade decided that they wanted the shop to be a place were people could come and relax, listen to the music they love whilst having a drink or reading. They also allowed new artists to come in and play their record in the shop so that they could get recognition even if it was just to the local community.

How was Rough Trade different to large corporations?

The Political division gave Rough Trade a unique and alternative spirit which the community relished in. They allowed artist off of the street to play their music in the shop and they then judged whether they felt it would sell records then make some copies and sell them as unique small bands for the local community or who ever was interested.

What techniques were used to expand the Independent music scene?

One of Rough Trade's bands decided that for their their record cover they would put the costs and how they produced a record without any inside help. This enabled many other wannabe artist to 'Do It Yourself' which then increased the Independent music scene.

How did this lead to Rough Trade's expansion?

By giving Independent bands the opportunity to make their own record without having to be signed and Rough Trade playing their tracks within the shop floor this enabled them to become a unique label that allowed the artist to be free with what they wrote and what they did with out signing a contract.

What type of Business Structure existed in the 1970's?

Explain the success of the distribution department and record label?

By allowing the artist to be free with the ideals that they had with music this allowed them to make music that they wanted to hear and in a lot of cases the public also wanted to hear it. The success of the distribution relied solely on whether or not the public like the artist that they were listening to. As there was a punk revolt and that was all the people wanted to hear as soon as Rough Trade were selling music by bands that had got into the chart they were selling records of the shelf.