FAQS

Here are some frequently asked questions we are receiving after our press release announcing the formation of Broken Records.

1. Are you the same Broken Records who was around in the 80’s and early 90’s that was based in California and had the bands, “The Altar Boys,” “Crumbacher,” and other cutting edge artists on it?

No. That was a label founded in the 80’s by Chuck Fromm, Chuck Smith and the folks from Maranatha! Music that had a vision to bring cutting edge independent bands to the marketplace and help them get going in their music mission. From what Chuck has told me, the label was a non-profit label that ceased operation in the early 90s. Read the Wikipedia on the original Broken Records.

When I started my internet services company for Christian indie artists in 1997, I thought of the name, Broken Records, because of Psalm 51:17, which is, “A broken and contrite heart God will not despise.” I had never heard of the original Broken Records, and was not involved in the Christian Music Industry, aside from a year long stint as a keyboardist in the band, “Harvest,” who was on Benson Records at the time.

I did a domain name search and the brokenrecords.com domain name was available. In early 1997, I had a website designed at http://www.brokenrecords.com and started on my mission. I met and served over 800 indie artists for no charge from 1997-2000.

Interestingly, about 1 year after I started BrokenRecords.com, I heard from Chuck Fromm who wanted to know what I was doing using their label name and to consider ceasing and desisting. I met with Chuck in person, shared my vision, and he granted me permission to continue to use the name for my website. I had offered to give him the brokenrecords.com domain name if he wanted it, but he declined, since he shared with me his Broken Records label was not in operation in 1997. In 2000, I changed the name of my organization to Indie Heaven because it better reflected what I was doing, which was serving independent artists, and encouraging them not to get wrapped up in the CCM industry trappings. And here we are today. I’ve had the Broken Records domain name for years, and have waited for the right time to bring back the name I started my mission with. And, I’m not interested in wrapping artists up into contracts and taking from them. I’m doing the same thing, serving them. I am giving to give, and leavin’ the gettin’ up to the Lord. By the way, I have owned the federal trademark for Broken Records as a record label for several years.

2. How do I get signed to Broken Records?

Since our first press release on 05-12-2010, I have received many emails from artists I do not know asking me to consider them for Broken Records. That’s great, however… the first 5 artists we are partnering with have already been selected, and they know who they are. I will announce these 5 artists soon. They represent artists whom I have gotten to know over on my http://www.indieheaven.com website, and who are active on Indieheaven.

Let me explain something, the way it used to work with labels, was that they would find out about an independent artist who had something happening in their music mission. Nothing wrong with that, we’re the same way! They would find out about artists through scouts, head hunters, radio stations, bookstore people, pastors, etc.

The way I find out about artists is solely through my Indieheaven organization. See, it is quite easy these days to make up data, pad friends lists, create phony concerts, and it’s real easy to make good recordings. It’s difficult to know who is really doing what anymore. Labels would spend lots of time and money vetting and developing prospects, and 90% of the time, their investment would not be recouped. This is why label deals were so lopsided in the favor of the label. The 10% who did hit big, paid big time to make up for those who didn’t. And, once the artist star faded, the label would discard of the artist and the cycle would continue. The Christian music industry, for the most part copied the mainstream industry with their deals. At the time, there simply wasn’t another way for the record business model to work.

With Indieheaven, I provide indies a vehicle to sell their music, enter their concerts, and add their content. The Indieheaven community provides a great way for me to get to know artists, learn more about who they are, and what they are doing in their mission. I get to know not only their art, but their heart. And that is important to me! If I am going to invest my time and resources into artists, we need to really know one another and know this is something that is beneficial for everyone.

Consideration for being a Broken Records artist starts with the artist first signing up to Indieheaven and utilizing the tools and services Indieheaven provides. For more information, go to: Indieheaven Artist Signup.

3. So, how does the Broken Records business model work?

Broken Records represents the very first label that is 100% artist supported, yet who does not demand a percentage of the artists income. I’ll share more about our model soon. Stay tuned!
Keith Mohr
Broken Records