Zappa the Entrepeneur

Zappa's role as an entrepeneur is of particular interest to me, because I am in the process of entering the world of the music industry myself right now. I think I will attempt to do some more in depth research on this topic as a central focus point for my final paper... For this post I am going to talk about Zappa's attempts at running his own music label.

It seems obvious to me that Zappa did not like the major labels. From his "Warner Brothers Sucks" campaign to the censorship he received on some albums (Punky's Whips, We're Only In It For the Money) Zappa obviously struggled with being locked into dealings with the larger corporate complex. However they were a necessary evil, distribution without them being next to impossible.

Without the distribution networks established with retailers by major labels, Zappa could never have placed his records onto store shelves. Even though he eventually was able to establish an independent mail-order method of distribution for some of his later material, the initial surge to get his music out there required the infrastructure of a major label.

I'm interested in what can be learned from Zappa's struggles by someone with similarly non-mainstream artistic values operating in today's digital realm. I'm curious how Zappa would have proceeded in this era of digital distribution. What would he have done with a world wide network where the cost of distribution is practically nothing, and accessible to anyone with a broadband internet connection? I wonder if he still would have utilized major labels as a source of financial backing and marketing clout for his ventures, or if he would have perhaps been able to realize his vision of a truly independent artistic outlet.