Entity Netlabel

Broadband caused a musical revolution, but in more ways than people often imagine. Music on the web goes beyond the battle between illegal downloads and iTunes. The whole copyrights war is getting the most attention, but in the shadows lurk the open source communities of the music industry.

entity netlabel logo

Netlabels are more than safehouses for rejected artists releasing their unpublished stuff for free. Of course some labels never really outgrow their amateur roots, but the best of the crop easily rival the big professional labels, some even outdo them.

The Entity netlabel was created in 2003 as a reincarnation of the silently deceased Tinnitus label. The driving forces behind Entity are Jan Robbe and Nico De Gols, two Belgian artists who contributed several albums to the label themselves. Throughout the years they managed to keep the quality high, though last year Nico De Gols left the label in the careful hands of Jan Robbe.

The label was founded on ideals and they've kept true to them over the years. A little excerpt from their ideology statement:

From our own background in electronic composition, we know that it has become increasingly impossible for experimental musicians not to compromise their styles in order to have their music commercially released, either because of the narrow-mindedness that accompanies commercialism in many ways or because of the narrow-mindedness of the brainwashed listener.

A statement that could easily be mistaken as a frustrated lash of an underperforming artist. But the back catalog of the Entity label tells a different story. The label has released 46 albums for free so far, 3 other albums require a personal donation. The bulk of these albums are extremely high quality experimental electronic releases, featuring the best the genre has to offer, including some brilliant cover designs. It's amazing how much quality music is housed on the label for free download, that easily compares to the likes of Ad Noiseam, Hymen or Merck.

A soft spot for experimental electronic music is required to appreciate most of the music on there, as it varies from dark brooding ambient to mathematical chaotic breakcore, but if you're looking for music in that direction and you haven't heard about the Entity label before, I can only recommend to check their releases. I promise to review some of my favorite releases in the future, but for now I leave you with a little nudge to check out their site and do some digging yourself.

The Entity netlabel