Editing Dischord Records

{{Short description|American independent record label}}
{{Redirect|Dischord|similarly-named articles|Discord (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox record label
| name        = Dischord Records
| image       = DIS logo m.png
| founded     = {{start date|1980}}
| founder     = [[Ian MacKaye]]<br/>[[Jeff Nelson (musician)|Jeff Nelson]]
| genre       = {{flatlist|
*[[Punk rock]]
*[[hardcore punk]]
*[[post-hardcore]]
*[[indie rock]]
*[[emo]]
}}
| country     = United States
| location    = [[Washington, D.C.]]
| website     = {{URL|dischord.com}}
}}

'''Dischord Records''' is a Washington, D.C.–based [[independent record label]] specializing in [[punk rock]]. The label is co-owned by [[Ian MacKaye]] and [[Jeff Nelson (musician)|Jeff Nelson]], who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''[[Minor Disturbance]]'' by their band [[the Teen Idles]].{{sfn|Azerrad|2001|p=132}}{{sfn|Blush|2001|p=138}}<ref>Heller, Jason (November 18, 2014). [http://www.avclub.com/article/where-start-righteous-noise-dischord-records-209345 "Primer: Where to Start with the Righteous Noise of Dischord Records"]. ''[[The A.V. Club]]''. Retrieved May 20, 2018.</ref> With other independent American labels such as [[Twin/Tone Records|Twin/Tone]], [[Touch and Go Records]], and [[SST Records]], Dischord helped to spearhead the nationwide network of underground bands that formed the 1980s [[indie rock]] scene.<ref name="Spin_21-1">Dolan, Jon (January 2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=fyLttHWpa9EC&pg=PA53 "The Revival of Indie Rock"]. ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' 21 (1): 53.</ref> These labels presided over the shift from the [[hardcore punk]] that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging.<ref name = "Reynolds 2006">{{cite book | last = Reynolds | first = Simon | title = Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 | url = https://archive.org/details/ripitupstartagai00reyno | url-access = registration | publisher = Penguin Books | date = 2006 | isbn = 978-1-1012-0105-3}}</ref>

The label is most notable for employing the [[do it yourself]] ethic, producing all of its albums and selling them at discount prices without finance from major distributors.{{sfn|Cogan|2008|p=82}} Dischord continues to release records by bands from Washington D.C., and to document and support the Washington D.C. music scene.{{sfn|Cogan|2008|p=83}} As of October 2016, the label employs four people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P_Vv0Bng9k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/4P_Vv0Bng9k| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Creative Time Summit DC - Do It Yourself - Keynote: Ian MacKaye|last=Creative Time|date=October 25, 2016|access-date=April 9, 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Dischord was a local label in the early days of hardcore, and is one of the more famous independent labels, along with the likes of [[Alternative Tentacles]], [[Epitaph Records]], [[SST Records]], and [[Touch and Go Records]].{{sfn|Cogan|2008|p=82}}

The logo of the label was created by Nelson, who has an [[associate degree]] in advertising design.<ref name="Spin_19-5">Beaujon, Andrew (May 2003). [https://books.google.com/books?id=CleCKauyN34C&pg=PA86 "Out of Step with the World"]. ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' 19 (5): 86.</ref>

==History==
Influenced by existing labels like [[Dangerhouse Records]],<ref name="diffuser">{{cite web|last=Stafford|first=James|title=The Roots of Indie: Dischord Records|url=https://diffuser.fm/the-roots-of-indie-dischord-records/|publisher=[[Diffuser.fm]]|date=March 18, 2015|access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref> MacKaye and Nelson took up residence in the now known "Dischord House" and ran the label out of its premises.<ref name="diffuser"/>

Dischord's first release was ''[[Minor Disturbance]]'' by [[Teen Idles]]<ref name="npr">{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Christopher|title=A New Generation of Punk at Dischord Records|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4813825|publisher=[[NPR]]|date=August 24, 2005|access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref> released in 1980.<ref name="guardian">{{cite web|last=Finn|first=Craig|title=The Faith and Void: the glorious Dischord of 1980s harDCore punk |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/27/faith-void-dischord-washington-hardcore-punk|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=October 27, 2011 |access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref> The band members cut, folded, and glued the record packaging themselves to keep costs down.<ref name="npr"/> The label's first [[Twelve-inch single|split 12"]] was ''[[Faith / Void Split]]'' by the bands [[The Faith (American band)|the Faith]] and [[Void (band)|Void]].<ref name="guardian"/>

Dischord limits itself to bands from [[Post-hardcore#The Washington D.C. scene|the D.C. scene]]. The label offers the same basic deal to all artists: Dischord fronts a certain amount of money to record and manufacture<ref name="spin"/> and once those costs are recouped, the label's distributor takes 30 percent of the profit<ref name="washingtonpost">{{cite news|last=Segal|first=David|title=The Dischord Label: The Perfect Pitch of Principles|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1995/07/03/the-dischord-label-perfect-pitch-of-principles/7d035db4-8bd0-44f1-87ae-93208a15f13c/?noredirect=on|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=July 3, 1995|access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref> and the band and label split the remainder.<ref name="spin">{{cite web|title=Dischord Records: Out of Step with the World |url=https://www.spin.com/2003/06/dischord-records-out-step-world/|publisher=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=June 13, 2003|access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost"/>

{{quote|"We don't use contracts, lawyers, any of those kinds of things", MacKaye says. "We are partners – they make the music, and we make the records."<ref name="npr"/>}}

Jeff Nelson has claimed the venture was never intended to be profit-making but was instead simply a way to get their friends albums in fans’ hands.<ref name="washingtonpost"/>

In spite of criticism over the years about how the label is run, MacKaye claims everything works and will continue to operate in the same fashion of no contracts or lawyers.<ref name="bray">{{Cite web|last=Bray|first=Ryan|title=Buttholes and lawyers: How a lawsuit threatened the indie music model|url=https://www.avclub.com/buttholes-and-lawyers-how-a-lawsuit-threatened-the-ind-1798246800|work=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=May 2, 2016|access-date=January 26, 2020}}</ref>

{{quote|"From the beginning of this label, people have said that the way we do things is unsustainable, unrealistic, idealistic, and we were just dreaming", he said. "Well, the dream is now 35 years old, so they can go fuck themselves."<ref name="bray"/>}}

In 2017, they put their catalog on [[Bandcamp]] for free streaming or purchase.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Josh|title=DC's Legendary Punk Label Dischord Records Makes Its Entire Music Catalog Free to Stream Online|url=http://www.openculture.com/2017/08/dcs-legendary-punk-label-dischord-makes-its-entire-music-catalog-free-to-stream-online.html|publisher=Open Culture|date=August 3, 2017|access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref>

In May 2021, it was announced that Dischord would be re-releasing the label's first six 7" records in a remastered box set.<ref name="dischord200">{{cite web|last=Minsker|first=Evan|title=Minor Threat, Government Issue Reissues Coming in First Six Dischord Records Box Set|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/minor-threat-government-issue-reissues-coming-in-first-six-dischord-records-box-set/|work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=May 15, 2021|access-date=May 15, 2021}}</ref> With the catalog number "Dischord 200", it consisted of singles and EPs by [[Minor Threat]], [[Government Issue]], Teen Idles, [[State of Alert|SOA]], and [[Youth Brigade (Washington, D.C. band)|Youth Brigade]].<ref name="dischord200"/>

==Roster==
{{Further|List of Dischord Records bands|Dischord Records discography}}
Bands such as [[Minor Threat]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=142}} [[Government Issue]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=147}} [[The Faith (American band)|the Faith]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=146}} [[Void (band)|Void]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=150}} [[Iron Cross (American band)|Iron Cross]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=147}} [[Embrace (U.S. band)|Embrace]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=157}} [[Rites of Spring]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=157}} [[Nation of Ulysses]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=157}} [[Scream (band)|Scream]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=148}} [[Soulside]], [[State of Alert|S.O.A.]], [[the Teen Idles]], [[Gray Matter (band)|Gray Matter]], [[Jawbox]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=157}} [[Marginal man|Marginal Man]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=157}} [[Shudder to Think]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=157}} [[Dag Nasty]],{{sfn|Blush|2001|page=157}} [[Lungfish (band)|Lungfish]] and [[Fugazi]]{{sfn|Cogan|2008|page=82}} have released records on Dischord.

Additions to the Dischord roster as of the late 1990s and 2000s include [[Q and Not U]],{{sfn|Cogan|2008|page=82}} [[Beauty Pill]], Antelope, [[Soccer Team (band)|Soccer Team]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Cohen|first=Matt|title=Listen: Soccer Team, 'Too Many Lens Flares' |url=https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/blog/13082303/listen-soccer-team-too-many-lens-flares|work=[[Washington City Paper]]|date=October 1, 2015|access-date=January 22, 2020}}</ref> [[French Toast (band)|French Toast]], [[Faraquet]], [[Black Eyes (band)|Black Eyes]], [[The Aquarium (band)|the Aquarium]], [[Title Tracks]], Edie Sedgwick, [[Slant 6]], and Andalusians. Many of these acts, notably Q and Not U and Black Eyes, are influential and experimental [[post-hardcore]] bands.

==Legacy==
Dischord Records influenced many other labels such as [[Simple Machines]],<ref name="spin"/> Lovitt Records and [[DeSoto Records]].<ref name="spin"/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References and bibliography==
*{{cite book|last=Azerrad|first=Michael|title=Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991|url=https://archive.org/details/ourbandcouldbeyo00mich|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|isbn=0-316-78753-1|location=New York}}
*{{cite book|last=Blush|first=Steven|author-link=Steven Blush|title=American Hardcore: A Tribal History|year=2001|publisher=Feral House|isbn=978-0-922915-71-2|editor=George Petros|editor-link=George Petros|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/americanhardcore00stev}}
*{{cite book|last=Cogan|first=Brian|title=The Encyclopedia of Punk|year=2008|publisher=Sterling|isbn=978-1-4027-5960-4|location=New York}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.dischord.com/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040214023523/http://www.southern.com/southern/label/DIS/ Dischord Records Profile by Southern Records]
* [http://www.pluginmusic.com/features/label.php?page=dischord Dischord Records Label Spotlight] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217163845/http://www.pluginmusic.com/features/label.php?page=dischord |date=February 17, 2009 }}
* Heller, Jason (November 18, 2014). [http://www.avclub.com/article/where-start-righteous-noise-dischord-records-209345 "Primer: Where to start with the righteous noise of Dischord Records"]. ''[[The A.V. Club]]''.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American independent record labels]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1980]]
[[Category:Post-hardcore record labels]]
[[Category:Punk record labels]]
[[Category:Hardcore record labels]]
[[Category:Indie rock record labels]]
[[Category:Music companies based in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Alternative rock record labels]]
[[Category:1980 establishments in Washington, D.C.]]