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In 1994, when Darcie and I were teenagers, we founded Polyvinyl Press, a photocopied fanzine that mainly covered the DIY music scene we loved in the Champaign-Urbana, IL area and the greater Midwest. We sold zines at local record stores, at whatever ramshackle tables we could find in the back of basement shows, traded zines with other zine writers, and sent them out one-at-a-time via mailorder. We made countless friendships with bands. Our philosophy was to spread the word about bands we loved. Furthering that idea, we decided to release a split 7” with the third issue of the fanzine. Within a year we’d issued Braid’s first 7” Rainsnowmatch and a 20-band compilation called Direction—and in 1996 Polyvinyl Records was born.
Our business structure was (and still is) very simple: we’d work on a 50/50 profit-sharing model with our artists. We admired Dischord and Touch and Go for championing this business model. It was a true partnership between the label and the band, instead of an adversarial relationship based on one side trying to get more than the other. We were artist-friendly because we were, well, friends with our artists. A partnership model was the perfect fit.
We never wrote a business plan or decided that we’d “start a record label.” We dropped out of college. We scraped together whatever resources we could to put out records. We worked hard and we learned as we went along. We kept our DIY mentality and we always tried to match the level of work and commitment of our bands.
Today, we are proud that Polyvinyl is still a 100% independently owned and operated company. We’ve grown steadily and organically: our catalog consists of over 400 releases from more than 100 artists. We’re proud of our Midwest roots. Polyvinyl HQ is located in Champaign, Illinois with additional staff in San Francisco, New York, Austin and elsewhere across the country.
We still work hard every day to tell the world about bands we love.
– Matt Lunsford, Co-Founder, Polyvinyl
Polyvinyl’s mission is to support passionate, independently minded artists in creating timeless work, growing their careers and reaching their highest potential.
Polyvinyl works hand-in-hand in fair partnership with artists. We advocate for them, guide them, and allow artists to retain creative freedom and control.
Polyvinyl maintains a creative, open workplace that nurtures and develops talented people who are fulfilled by supporting artists. We are always curious, learning, and willing to challenge our own assumptions.
Polyvinyl embraces our humble beginnings and DIY ethos by being positive, kind, and welcoming. We strive for uniqueness, individuality and inclusivity in our staff and artist roster.
Sometimes folks ask us to talk about what it's like to run a record label and other things we are more or less knowledgeable about. Here's a selection of several of those moments.
