The Cartel (record Distributor) - Richard Scott and Tony K

Richard Scott and Tony K

Disputed: see talk:

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.

The Cartel regional distribution structure included Backs (Norwich), Fast Forward (Edinburgh), Nine Mile (Leamington Spa), Probe (Liverpool), Revolver (Bristol), Red Rhino (York) and Rough Trade (London).

The late 70’s & 80’s 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.

By 1984 the Cartel had enough success with bands like Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, Pigbag, The Smiths, Vice Squad and many others to move to a large warehouse in Kings Cross, London. This was the peak of the Cartel's influence. Not only were they an effective distributor, but they were having an influence on the music itself, and the rise of "indie". As more of the mainstream retailers began to take product from the Cartel, this gave more exposure to independent labels' releases through these high-street shops. As many of them were the same shops who returned sales figures to the chart pollsters, indie releases featured more highly in the charts.