The Cartel (record distributor)

The Cartel was a co-operative record distribution organisation in the United Kingdom, set up by a number of small independent record labels to handle their distribution to record shops. Pooling their resources in this way allowed them to compete with the larger distribution operations of the major record labels, and also to gain access to the larger shop chains.

The association of regional distributors included some of the most notable labels of the 1980s UK post-punk and indie scene: Rough Trade, Backs, Fast Forward, Nine Mile, Probe, Revolver and Red Rhino.

The 1980s music scene in the UK saw a growth in small independent record labels or "indies", often formed by bands themselves, or by local record shops. The cost of technology and studio time was falling, making it possible to produce an album for a budget that didn't need the backing of an established label. Recording, publishing and pressing a record was now accessible to small labels, but distributing them into the shops was still difficult. The market at this time was based on vinyl, both albums and singles being important. Most record shops were still independent, i.e. local, rather than national chains. This required a wholesale distribution network that had national reach to these individual shops.

Regional distributors appeared, offering pressing and distribution deals to the small labels that would reach all of the shops in a region. Shops preferred to deal with only a handful of distributors and so the small distributors agreed to also distribute each other's stock, segregating the market by the geography of the shops, rather than by the content or particular labels. This was the beginning of the idea behind the Cartel.

The architect of the Cartel was Richard Scott of London's Rough Trade.

Tony Kostrzewa (always known as "Tony K") of York's Red Rhino label. Tony K, who had a long career in music retail and publishing had started Red Rhino as a record shop in 1977, then made its first release as a label in 1979. By this time Rough Trade were already operating as a distributor which included supplying Red Rhino's shop. Tony became the General Manager of the Cartel, amongst his vast number of other projects.

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