WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.480 Welcome to your custom deep dive. We've pulled 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:06.059 together your requested sources today to explore 00:00:06.059 --> 00:00:09.660 a really fascinating microhistory of the modern 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:12.019 music business. Yeah, and it's a very revealing 00:00:12.019 --> 00:00:14.960 one. It really is. So if you're intrigued by 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:18.059 the business of the vinyl revival or the history 00:00:18.059 --> 00:00:20.839 of the Liverpool music scene or honestly just 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:23.100 the brutal realities of independent record labels, 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:25.519 you are absolutely in the right place. Oh, sure. 00:00:26.180 --> 00:00:28.780 Today, we are looking at the rise and fall of 00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:31.320 a Liverpool music empire, all through the lens 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.420 of a single iconic location. We're talking about 00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:37.579 Jacaranda Records. Our mission today is to understand 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:40.740 what happens when a historic music venue, the 00:00:40.740 --> 00:00:43.600 actual 1958 launch pad for the Silver Beatles, 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.899 no less attempts this massive, wildly ambitious 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:49.320 expansion into the modern record industry. And 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:51.600 we mean massive. Yeah, we're talking immersive 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.140 audio, a vinyl pressing plant, the whole nine 00:00:54.140 --> 00:00:57.049 yards, only to see... that specific grand experiment 00:00:57.049 --> 00:00:59.850 dissolved by 2025. It is a story of incredible 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:02.429 vision but also the friction between grand ambition 00:01:02.429 --> 00:01:05.390 and industry reality. It's a remarkable case 00:01:05.390 --> 00:01:07.849 study really. We're looking at a juxtaposition 00:01:07.849 --> 00:01:10.549 that is almost perfectly balanced in its extremes. 00:01:10.829 --> 00:01:12.870 How do you mean? Well on one side of the ledger 00:01:12.870 --> 00:01:16.310 you have this staggering long -term success in 00:01:16.430 --> 00:01:19.549 retail and live hospitality. We are talking about 00:01:19.549 --> 00:01:22.730 a physical space that hasn't just survived, but 00:01:22.730 --> 00:01:26.230 has actively thrived for decades. It's seamlessly 00:01:26.230 --> 00:01:29.269 adapted to modern consumer demands. And then 00:01:29.269 --> 00:01:32.010 on the exact other side of the ledger, you have 00:01:32.010 --> 00:01:35.390 the rapid, highly publicized failure of this 00:01:35.390 --> 00:01:37.829 utopian record label. Which is wild when you 00:01:37.829 --> 00:01:40.069 think about it under the same brand. Exactly. 00:01:40.349 --> 00:01:43.250 It forces us to ask some very difficult questions 00:01:43.250 --> 00:01:45.170 about the nature of the music business today. 00:01:45.909 --> 00:01:48.209 Because cultural capital, historical significance, 00:01:48.689 --> 00:01:51.890 and even a booming retail arm... they do not 00:01:51.890 --> 00:01:54.590 automatically grant you the technical or financial 00:01:54.590 --> 00:01:58.069 capacity to conquer music manufacturing. Or artist 00:01:58.069 --> 00:02:00.069 development, for that matter. Precisely. Okay, 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:02.150 let's unpack this. Because to really understand 00:02:02.150 --> 00:02:05.290 the sheer scale of the ambition behind Jacaranda 00:02:05.290 --> 00:02:08.469 Records, you have to understand the literal physical 00:02:08.469 --> 00:02:11.050 ground they are standing on. Yeah. You can't 00:02:11.050 --> 00:02:12.629 separate the business from the building. You 00:02:12.629 --> 00:02:14.539 really can't. We're talking about a location 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:17.919 that holds layers upon layers of musical archaeology. 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:21.879 The story begins at the flagship venue, the Jacaranda, 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:26.800 which is situated at 21 to 23 Slater Street in 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:28.900 Liverpool. Right, right in the heart of it. Opened 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:32.819 in 1958 by a guy named Alan Williams. Now, for 00:02:32.819 --> 00:02:35.919 anyone who studies music history, 1958 in Liverpool 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:38.819 is essentially the big bang of modern guitar 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:42.139 pop. Absolutely. The post -war context of Liverpool 00:02:42.139 --> 00:02:44.379 is critical here. Set the scene for us a bit. 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:47.460 Well, it was a bustling seaport, you know. While 00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:49.599 the rest of the UK was relying on the BBC for 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:52.419 this heavily curated, honestly somewhat sterile 00:02:52.419 --> 00:02:55.740 entertainment, Liverpool had an edge. The merchant 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:58.259 sailors. Exactly. You had merchant sales coming 00:02:58.259 --> 00:03:00.500 back in the United States with armfuls of American 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:02.879 R &B, blues, and early rock and roll records. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.800 And Alan Williams opens the Jacaranda right in 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:08.199 the middle of this exact cultural crucible. Which 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:10.620 is just perfect timing. It is. But what I find 00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:13.020 fascinating is that the Jacaranda wasn't conceived 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:16.379 as this pristine, high -end establishment. It 00:03:16.379 --> 00:03:18.740 was a raw, functional incubator. Yeah, it was 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:21.419 rough around the edges. Very. It functioned as 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:23.659 a rehearsal space and a stage for a group of 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:27.240 local kids. Specifically, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:29.759 George Harrison, and Stuart Sutcliffe. Which 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.340 is just insane to think about. Right. And this 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:34.879 was the era when they were performing under the 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.860 name The Silver Beatles. I want you, the listener, 00:03:38.340 --> 00:03:41.479 to just build a vivid picture in your mind for 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:44.659 a second. Close your eyes and imagine the sensory 00:03:44.659 --> 00:03:46.900 experience of walking into that space today. 00:03:47.150 --> 00:03:49.990 It's powerful. You are a young, hungry musician. 00:03:50.689 --> 00:03:52.650 You've got your guitar case in your hand. You 00:03:52.650 --> 00:03:54.650 walk off Slater Street, and you head down those 00:03:54.650 --> 00:03:57.569 stairs into the basement to play a Tuesday night 00:03:57.569 --> 00:03:59.909 gig. Just a standard Tuesday night. Right. And 00:03:59.909 --> 00:04:02.370 as you navigate those tight stairs, you are brushing 00:04:02.370 --> 00:04:05.909 past walls that still, to this day, feature the 00:04:05.909 --> 00:04:08.030 original murals painted by Stuart Sutcliffe and 00:04:08.030 --> 00:04:10.810 John Lennon. The actual paint strokes. Yes. You 00:04:10.810 --> 00:04:14.050 are inhaling the same damp cellar air. You are 00:04:14.050 --> 00:04:16.389 setting up your amplifiers in the exact same 00:04:16.430 --> 00:04:19.490 physical dimensions where the founders of modern 00:04:19.490 --> 00:04:22.029 pop music figured out how to harmonize. How to 00:04:22.029 --> 00:04:24.810 fight. Yeah, how to fight and how to be a band. 00:04:25.029 --> 00:04:28.250 If we connect this to the bigger picture, we 00:04:28.250 --> 00:04:30.569 really have to confront the psychological weight 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:33.149 of that legacy. It's got to be heavy. It's immense. 00:04:34.129 --> 00:04:36.470 Operating a modern business or even just playing 00:04:36.470 --> 00:04:40.129 a gig in a space literally painted by John Lennon 00:04:40.129 --> 00:04:42.990 before he became the John Lennon is a massive 00:04:42.990 --> 00:04:45.680 psychological burden. I can imagine. It acts 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:48.639 as an incredible double -edged sword. On one 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.980 side, it sets an impossibly high, almost crushing 00:04:51.980 --> 00:04:55.579 bar. The ghosts of the greatest pop songwriters 00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:58.779 of the 20th century are quite literally embedded 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:01.600 in the architecture. So how do you just strum 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:03.720 a generic four -chord indie song in that room 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.399 without feeling entirely inadequate? Exactly. 00:05:06.699 --> 00:05:09.100 But on the flip side, it serves as the ultimate 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:11.660 tangible inspiration. It strips away the myth 00:05:11.660 --> 00:05:14.399 -making. Right, it grounds it. It proves that 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:16.199 world -changing art doesn't descend from Mount 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:18.439 Olympus. It starts in a cramped, sweaty basement 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:20.920 in Liverpool. I look at it as a form of cultural 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:23.100 validation and tell every kid who walks in there, 00:05:23.459 --> 00:05:25.920 hey, they started here with nothing, just like 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:29.220 you. But there's another layer to this 1958 origin 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:33.240 story that I find almost spooky. It's the cyclical 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:36.319 nature of the building's identity itself. You 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.839 are referring to Sid's Disc Den. Yes, Sid's Disc 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.319 Den. Because long before Alan Williams bought 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.139 the building, long before there was a coffee 00:05:44.139 --> 00:05:46.199 bar, long before the Silver Beatles were making 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:49.139 noise in the basement, the 1950s iteration of 00:05:49.139 --> 00:05:52.540 this exact space was a jazz record store called 00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:55.660 Sid's Disc Den. The historical poetry of that 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:58.220 detail is really remarkable. It means that the 00:05:58.220 --> 00:06:01.860 foundational DNA of 21 to 23 Slater Street was 00:06:01.860 --> 00:06:04.360 rooted in the retail exchange of physical music. 00:06:04.500 --> 00:06:06.620 It was a shock first. It was a place where people 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:09.519 gathered to discover jazz, to socialize over 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:12.060 vinyl, and to physically purchase art. Yeah. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:14.139 The building begins its life as a record store. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.459 It transforms into an incubator for live rock 00:06:16.459 --> 00:06:19.060 and roll. And then, as we will see, it attempts 00:06:19.060 --> 00:06:21.300 to synthesize both of those identities decades 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:23.519 later. It's like the architecture itself just 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.060 demands that music be sold within its walls. 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:28.259 That's a great way to put it. Which brings us 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:30.660 hurtling forward into the modern era. We're going 00:06:30.660 --> 00:06:33.459 to jump from the black and white echoes of 1958 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:36.860 all the way to 2014. A very different landscape. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:39.699 Very different. A man named Graham Stanley takes 00:06:39.699 --> 00:06:42.319 over as the managing director of the Jacaranda. 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:45.759 Right. And Stanley looks at this historic, slightly 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:48.459 weary venue, which he puts through a major refurbishment 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:51.300 in 2014, by the way. Yeah, it needed it. It did. 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:53.639 And he decides to lean heavily into that latent 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:56.560 DNA we were just talking about. By June 2015, 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:59.540 he opens the Jacaranda Records Store right on 00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:02.019 the first floor of the Slater Street venue. We 00:07:02.019 --> 00:07:04.620 really need to pause here and examine the macroeconomic 00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:07.019 timing of this decision. OK, let's do it. Because 00:07:07.019 --> 00:07:09.480 Graham Stanley, taking over in 2014 and opening 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:12.519 the record store in 2015, this places him squarely 00:07:12.519 --> 00:07:14.939 at the critical inflection point of the 2010's 00:07:14.939 --> 00:07:17.480 vinyl revival. Right. That timing is not an accident. 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:20.060 Not at all. To understand why this matters, we 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:21.779 have to look at the landscape of music consumption 00:07:21.779 --> 00:07:25.230 at that exact moment. The early 2010s were defined 00:07:25.230 --> 00:07:27.970 by the rapid ascension of streaming platforms. 00:07:28.269 --> 00:07:31.370 Spotify, Apple Music. Exactly. Physical media 00:07:31.370 --> 00:07:34.149 was widely considered a dying format. The CD 00:07:34.149 --> 00:07:36.850 market was in free fall, and even digital downloads 00:07:36.850 --> 00:07:39.089 via iTunes were being completely cannibalized 00:07:39.089 --> 00:07:41.209 by subscription streaming. Everyone thought physical 00:07:41.209 --> 00:07:43.490 music was just over. The narrative was that the 00:07:43.490 --> 00:07:45.790 future was entirely invisible and stored in the 00:07:45.790 --> 00:07:49.370 cloud. Precisely. But there was a counter movement 00:07:49.370 --> 00:07:52.360 brewing underneath all of that. The vinyl revival 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:55.420 started as a very niche, underground phenomenon. 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:58.279 Driven by the purists. Yeah, driven by audiophiles 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:00.560 and collectors who were pushing back against 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:03.019 the sterile, hyper -compressed nature of digital 00:08:03.019 --> 00:08:06.100 MP3s. They wanted the warmth of analog sound. 00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:10.100 The ritual of it, too. Exactly. But by 2014 and 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:13.660 2015, that niche trend was rapidly breaking into 00:08:13.660 --> 00:08:16.019 the mainstream. It was no longer just for the 00:08:16.019 --> 00:08:18.500 hardcore Crete diggers and those dusty, intimidating 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:20.720 underground shops. Right. It was becoming trendy 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.079 again. A broader demographic was beginning to 00:08:23.079 --> 00:08:26.000 romanticize the format. Stanley recognized that 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.040 the cultural pendulum was swinging back toward 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:30.839 tangibility, and he positioned Jacaranda perfectly 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:33.289 to catch that momentum. But I do want to push 00:08:33.289 --> 00:08:35.490 back on the idea that this was just a simple, 00:08:35.950 --> 00:08:38.809 obvious business move. Merging a record store 00:08:38.809 --> 00:08:42.230 with a historic bar seems like a logistical nightmare. 00:08:42.490 --> 00:08:44.950 Oh, it is an incredibly difficult operational 00:08:44.950 --> 00:08:48.429 puzzle. You are attempting to run two fundamentally 00:08:48.429 --> 00:08:51.470 opposed business models under one roof. Right. 00:08:51.710 --> 00:08:53.629 Let's break down the economics and the logistics 00:08:53.629 --> 00:08:56.610 of both for a second. On the hospitality side, 00:08:56.789 --> 00:08:59.470 You're managing a 60 -year -old property that 00:08:59.470 --> 00:09:02.169 hosts live music and serves alcohol. Which is 00:09:02.169 --> 00:09:05.190 chaotic. Highly chaotic. The economics of a bar 00:09:05.190 --> 00:09:07.470 rely on high volume, fast turnover, late night 00:09:07.470 --> 00:09:11.179 hours, and crowd control. It is a messy, loud, 00:09:11.580 --> 00:09:13.659 and inherently unpredictable environment. You're 00:09:13.659 --> 00:09:16.059 dealing with broken glasses, sticky floors. And 00:09:16.059 --> 00:09:18.100 just the general unpredictability of a late night 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:19.980 Liverpool crowd. Right. And then you look at 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:23.440 the retail side. Exactly. The retail side, specifically 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:26.279 a vinyl record store, requires an entirely different 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:28.600 operational mindset altogether. Because the product 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.960 is so fragile. Yes. Vinyl records are fragile, 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:34.919 expensive, temperature sensitive pieces of inventory. 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:38.299 They require careful curation, specialized supply 00:09:38.299 --> 00:09:41.279 chains, meticulous inventory tracking. And a 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:44.039 chill environment. A calm, brise -friendly environment, 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:47.240 yes. You are dealing with highly discerning customers 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:49.840 who care about the condition of the cardboard 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.620 sleeve and the specific pressing of the record. 00:09:52.789 --> 00:09:56.990 So trying to synthesize the rowdy, high -volume 00:09:56.990 --> 00:10:00.929 energy of a historic live music venue with the 00:10:00.929 --> 00:10:03.889 delicate, hyper -organized nature of a boutique 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:07.070 vinyl shop is like trying to mix oil and water. 00:10:07.330 --> 00:10:09.809 It's incredibly tough. And yet they made an emulsion 00:10:09.809 --> 00:10:12.250 out of it. They didn't just survive, they thrived. 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:15.820 By 2020, Jacaranda Records was actually shortlisted 00:10:15.820 --> 00:10:18.340 for Music Week's Independent Retailer of the 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:21.120 Year Award. That is a massive industry cosign. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:23.500 It really is. It proves that this wasn't just 00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:26.200 a gimmick for tourists looking for Beatles memorabilia. 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:29.460 They were functioning as an elite, highly respected 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:31.919 independent record store on a national level. 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:34.320 Which is no small feat. And to prove its longevity, 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:37.480 that specific retail store celebrated its 10 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:40.500 -year anniversary in July 2025. Surviving for 00:10:40.500 --> 00:10:42.500 a decade in modern retail is an achievement in 00:10:42.500 --> 00:10:45.820 itself. But surviving for a decade, selling a 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:49.019 legacy physical format in an era where every 00:10:49.019 --> 00:10:51.720 recorded sound in human history is available 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:55.120 for free on a smartphone that is a minor miracle. 00:10:55.500 --> 00:10:57.919 So why did it work? We really have to ask why. 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:01.879 I don't believe It was purely due to their inventory 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:04.419 selection, as good as it might have been. It 00:11:04.419 --> 00:11:07.200 succeeded because Jacaranda wasn't selling a 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:11.039 piece of plastic. They were monetizing a deeply 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:14.639 resonant physical experience. I want you, the 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:16.340 listener, to think about this in the context 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:18.419 of your own life. Why do you still go out of 00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:21.000 your way to buy a physical book or a vinyl record 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.279 or print photographs? It's the tactile connection. 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:26.080 Exactly. We crave a tactile connection to the 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.700 art we love. When a customer walks into Jacaranda 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:31.500 Records and buys an album, they aren't just engaging 00:11:31.500 --> 00:11:34.220 in a sterile commercial transaction, they are 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:36.980 engaging in a ritual. A very specific ritual. 00:11:37.100 --> 00:11:38.659 They are flipping through... the racks in the 00:11:38.659 --> 00:11:40.700 exact same building where the Liverpool music 00:11:40.700 --> 00:11:43.080 scene was birthed. They are buying a physical 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:45.299 artifact in the house that Alan Williams built 00:11:45.299 --> 00:11:47.720 above the stage where Lennon and McCartney cut 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:50.500 their teeth. They are purchasing a tangible connection 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:53.100 to the mythos of the city. It is the commodification 00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:56.279 of aura. The philosopher Walter Benjamin talked 00:11:56.279 --> 00:11:59.639 about the aura of a work of art. The unique presence 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:03.110 of an original time and space. Okay, I like that. 00:12:03.809 --> 00:12:06.789 Digital streaming strips music of its aura. It 00:12:06.789 --> 00:12:10.169 makes it ubiquitous and cheap. Jacaranda restored 00:12:10.169 --> 00:12:12.429 the aura by placing the transaction within a 00:12:12.429 --> 00:12:15.649 cathedral of musical history. Wow. Yeah. However, 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:18.549 Graham Stanley was not content to merely operate 00:12:18.549 --> 00:12:21.710 a successful heritage retail shop. He was looking 00:12:21.710 --> 00:12:23.710 at the broader ecosystem of the city. He wanted 00:12:23.710 --> 00:12:26.649 more. He understood that to truly solidify their 00:12:26.649 --> 00:12:29.120 position, they needed to control the flow of 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:31.179 the culture itself. Which brings us to their 00:12:31.179 --> 00:12:33.519 live music footprint, because the retail store 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.240 was really just one piece of a much larger puzzle. 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:38.860 Graham Stanley also operates a company called 00:12:38.860 --> 00:12:42.000 Out of Phase Events, which functions as a booking, 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:45.419 promotion, and marketing agency. This is a critical 00:12:45.419 --> 00:12:47.460 pivot point in the narrative. Tell me why. Because 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:49.519 if you own a historic venue, you control the 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.000 stage. If you own a record store, You control 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.460 the distribution of the final product. But if 00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:56.659 you own a booking and promotion agency, you control 00:12:56.659 --> 00:12:58.700 the talent pipeline. You become the gatekeeper. 00:12:59.100 --> 00:13:01.879 Exactly. Yeah. By establishing out of phase events, 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.840 Stanley was no longer just passively providing 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:08.220 a space for bands to play. He was actively curating 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:10.980 the local music economy. He was deciding who 00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:14.250 gets heard. Yes. He was booking the acts, marketing 00:13:14.250 --> 00:13:16.850 the shows, and deciding who received the spotlight. 00:13:17.009 --> 00:13:18.950 And once you control the pipeline, you need more 00:13:18.950 --> 00:13:21.809 pipes. The original Slater Street basement is 00:13:21.809 --> 00:13:24.629 legendary, but it has severe physical limitations. 00:13:24.710 --> 00:13:27.289 It's tidy. Right. You can only fit so many people 00:13:27.289 --> 00:13:31.899 into a 1950 cellar. So. In May 2018, they make 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:34.419 a massive move. They expand beyond their historic 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:36.779 home and open a space called Jacaranda Phase 00:13:36.779 --> 00:13:39.399 One on Seal Street. A very smart move. It was 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:43.320 designed as a 180 capacity live music venue that 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:45.840 also functioned as a record store. They essentially 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.279 took the hybrid DNA of Slater Street and cloned 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:50.820 it in a new location. What stands out about Phase 00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:53.320 One is the terminology they used to describe 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:56.039 it. It was initially billed as a pop -up. Right. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:58.940 In the modern retail and hospitality lexicon, 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:02.830 a pop -up implies something ephemeral. It is 00:14:02.830 --> 00:14:05.549 a temporary activation, usually lasting a few 00:14:05.549 --> 00:14:07.769 weeks or maybe months. Just to test the waters. 00:14:08.129 --> 00:14:10.250 Exactly. Yeah. It's designed to capitalize on 00:14:10.250 --> 00:14:13.210 a fleeting trend, test a market or generate short 00:14:13.210 --> 00:14:15.970 term hype without the crushing burden of a long 00:14:15.970 --> 00:14:18.450 term commercial lease. But this pop up lasted 00:14:18.450 --> 00:14:20.909 for five years. Yeah, that's the thing. It ran 00:14:20.909 --> 00:14:24.009 from May 2018 all the way to New Year's Eve in 00:14:24.009 --> 00:14:26.750 2023. A pop up that sustains itself for half 00:14:26.750 --> 00:14:30.179 a decade is an oxymoron. It is no longer a pop 00:14:30.179 --> 00:14:32.559 -up. It is a permanent fixture of the community 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:34.620 that simply happens to have a flexible lease. 00:14:34.740 --> 00:14:37.159 That's true. The fact that Phase One survived 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:39.639 for five years proved something vital about the 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:41.960 Jacaranda business model. It proved that their 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:44.080 success wasn't entirely dependent on the ghosts 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:46.519 of the Silver Beatles. Oh, right. It wasn't just 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.740 the history selling the records. Precisely. The 00:14:49.740 --> 00:14:53.139 hybrid concept itself, a curated record store 00:14:53.139 --> 00:14:55.879 seamlessly integrated with a 180 capacity live 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:59.960 room, was highly viable. deeply desired by the 00:14:59.960 --> 00:15:02.679 Liverpool public, even when completely removed 00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:05.100 from the historical gravity of the original Slater 00:15:05.100 --> 00:15:07.600 Street address. It proved the concept was portable. 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:09.960 They had successfully decoupled their business 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:12.200 acumen from their historical crutch. That's a 00:15:12.200 --> 00:15:14.919 huge milestone for any heritage brand. And because 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:17.019 they proved it worked on Seal Street, they decided 00:15:17.019 --> 00:15:19.659 to take an enormous, highly calculated risk. 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:23.480 In January 2024, they relaunched the phase one 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.360 concept, but they moved it to the Baltic Triangle. 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:29.399 A very vibrant area. Yeah, specifically taking 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:32.059 over a space in the Canes Brewery Village. They 00:15:32.059 --> 00:15:34.360 rebranded it as Jacaranda Baltic and they didn't 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.240 just move, they leveled up. They really did. 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:39.659 They expanded into a 400 capacity basement performance 00:15:39.659 --> 00:15:42.179 space while maintaining a ground level record 00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:44.330 store. We need to analyze. the mathematics of 00:15:44.330 --> 00:15:46.409 this expansion. Let's do it. Because moving from 00:15:46.409 --> 00:15:49.850 a 180 capacity room to a 400 capacity room is 00:15:49.850 --> 00:15:52.330 not just a linear step up. It is an entirely 00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:54.549 different stratosphere of the live music business. 00:15:54.809 --> 00:15:58.190 Break that down for us. Why is 400 such a terrifying 00:15:58.190 --> 00:16:00.720 number for an independent promoter? Well, In 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:04.100 the live music touring circuit, a 180 capacity 00:16:04.100 --> 00:16:05.940 room is generally considered a developmental 00:16:05.940 --> 00:16:09.059 space. It is for local bands bringing their friends 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:12.480 or deeply underground touring acts. The stakes 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.879 are lower. The financial overhead is relatively 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:18.360 low, yes. If you only sell 80 tickets, the room 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:20.960 still looks half full, the bar makes enough to 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.259 cover the sound engineer, and you survive to 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:26.519 fight another day. But 400 changes the game entirely. 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:30.580 Completely. A 400 capacity venue places you squarely 00:16:30.580 --> 00:16:32.679 in the crosshairs of national and international 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:35.960 touring agencies. To fill a 400 cap room, you 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:38.360 cannot rely on local bands selling tickets to 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:40.500 their cousins. No, you need names. You have to 00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:43.139 book established mid -tier touring acts, and 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:45.480 these acts require significant financial guarantees 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:47.779 upfront. You have to pay them regardless of who 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:50.440 shows up. Exactly. They require complex technical 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:53.019 riders, advanced lighting rigs, higher security 00:16:53.019 --> 00:16:55.279 staffing, and aggressive, expensive marketing 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:57.960 campaigns. So the math gets scary fast. If you 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:00.460 book a band into a 400 cap room and you only 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:03.019 sell 80 tickets, you don't just have a quiet 00:17:03.019 --> 00:17:05.779 night. You take a devastating financial loss. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:08.500 You lose money on the guarantee. You lose money 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:11.099 on the staffing. And the bar takes a massive 00:17:11.099 --> 00:17:13.759 hit. It is a high wire act without a net. It 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.819 truly is. The risk profile increases exponentially. 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:20.839 Therefore, the fact that Graham Stanley and his 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.859 team successfully executed this jump to Jacaranda 00:17:23.859 --> 00:17:27.839 Baltic in 2024 indicates a massive amount of 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.920 confidence in their operational capacity. And 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:32.440 it shows profound health in the Liverpool live 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:35.339 music ecosystem. They were consistently pulling 00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:38.059 the numbers required to justify a 400 cap room. 00:17:38.140 --> 00:17:40.180 Which is incredibly impressive. So let's take 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:42.740 a wide angle look at the empire they had successfully 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:45.140 built by this point. It is a masterfully constructed 00:17:45.140 --> 00:17:48.190 trifecta. First, you have the retail arm. They 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:49.910 are selling the physical culture through the 00:17:49.910 --> 00:17:51.829 stores on Slater Street and the Baltic Triangle. 00:17:52.269 --> 00:17:54.569 Second, you have the hospitality arm. They are 00:17:54.569 --> 00:17:57.309 hosting the culture in these historically significant 00:17:57.309 --> 00:18:00.190 and newly scaled venues. And third, you have 00:18:00.190 --> 00:18:03.349 the promotional arm. They are booking and driving 00:18:03.349 --> 00:18:06.710 the culture via out of phase events. It is a 00:18:06.710 --> 00:18:10.349 brilliant, self -sustaining loop of music discovery 00:18:10.349 --> 00:18:13.430 and consumption. It is a highly optimized engine 00:18:13.430 --> 00:18:16.960 for presenting music. But human ambition is a 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.420 dangerous thing. Oh is. When you build an engine 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:21.900 that runs perfectly, the natural instinct is 00:18:21.900 --> 00:18:24.400 to try and build the fuel as well. They had mastered 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:26.960 the presentation and distribution of art. The 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:29.480 next fatal step was deciding they needed to manufacture 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:31.079 it. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:34.140 Because in November 2018, right as they are proving 00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:37.039 the phase one pop -up model on Seal Street, a 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.740 British music producer named Ray Mia approaches 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:41.680 Graham Stanley. And this changes everything. 00:18:41.869 --> 00:18:43.990 Completely. They don't just decide to casually 00:18:43.990 --> 00:18:46.650 put out a few local 7 -inch singles. They decide 00:18:46.650 --> 00:18:49.190 to form a proper record label, Jacaranda Records. 00:18:49.690 --> 00:18:52.390 But the vision they outline is utterly staggering. 00:18:52.609 --> 00:18:54.349 Staggering is the right word. They want to build 00:18:54.349 --> 00:18:57.970 an entirely enclosed global music hub. And the 00:18:57.970 --> 00:19:00.549 two pillars of this vision were an immersive 00:19:00.549 --> 00:19:04.930 audio recording studio and a massive, fully operational 00:19:04.930 --> 00:19:08.190 vinyl record pressing plant. Just massive infrastructure. 00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:11.460 And by February 2019, just three months after 00:19:11.460 --> 00:19:14.279 that initial conversation, they had already begun 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:16.460 construction on the immersive audio facility. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:19.519 The sheer audacity of this plan cannot be overstated. 00:19:19.980 --> 00:19:22.900 We are looking at an attempt at total vertical 00:19:22.900 --> 00:19:26.119 integration on an independent level. Let's dissect 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:28.359 the concept of vertical integration for a minute. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:31.240 Sure. In a traditional supply chain, different 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:33.680 companies handle different stages of a product's 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.509 life. A band writes a song, a separate studio 00:19:36.509 --> 00:19:39.150 records it, a separate label funds it, a separate 00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:41.869 factory manufactures the vinyl, a separate distributor 00:19:41.869 --> 00:19:44.390 ships it, and a separate retail store like Jacaranda 00:19:44.390 --> 00:19:46.750 sells it. Everyone has their specialty. Exactly. 00:19:47.589 --> 00:19:50.309 But Ramia and Graham Stanley looked at that sprawling, 00:19:50.750 --> 00:19:53.450 complex global supply chain and decided they 00:19:53.450 --> 00:19:56.069 were going to do every single piece of it themselves 00:19:56.069 --> 00:19:59.049 under one roof in Liverpool. It is essentially 00:19:59.049 --> 00:20:01.589 the Motown model. Barry Gordy did this in Detroit 00:20:01.589 --> 00:20:04.509 in the 1960s. He had the recording studio, the 00:20:04.509 --> 00:20:07.029 songwriters, the pressing facilities, the charm 00:20:07.029 --> 00:20:09.650 school for the artists, the management and the 00:20:09.650 --> 00:20:11.650 distribution all contained within the Hitsville 00:20:11.650 --> 00:20:14.990 USA ecosystem. I understand the romantic comparison 00:20:14.990 --> 00:20:17.670 to Motown, but I really have to push back on 00:20:17.670 --> 00:20:20.130 it strongly. Why is that? Attempting the Motown 00:20:20.130 --> 00:20:23.569 model in 1960s Detroit is fundamentally different 00:20:23.569 --> 00:20:27.430 from attempting it in 2018 Liverpool. Barry Gordy 00:20:27.630 --> 00:20:30.609 was operating in an era of centralized media. 00:20:31.190 --> 00:20:33.529 Meaning fewer gatekeepers. Meaning if he could 00:20:33.529 --> 00:20:35.750 leverage his network to get a song at a few major 00:20:35.750 --> 00:20:38.109 regional radio stations, he had a guaranteed 00:20:38.109 --> 00:20:40.809 pipeline to millions of consumers. He controlled 00:20:40.809 --> 00:20:42.589 the monopoly on the local means of production 00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:45.470 and the distribution channels were highly concentrated. 00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:49.380 Where as in 2018? In 2018, the landscape is infinitely 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:52.019 fragmented. We're talking about the algorithmic 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:54.619 era. You are not competing for a slot on a local 00:20:54.619 --> 00:20:57.099 radio station. You are competing against 40 ,000 00:20:57.099 --> 00:20:59.920 new tracks uploaded to Spotify every single day. 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:02.839 Yeah, that is a sobering statistic. You are fighting 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:05.940 the opaque algorithms of global tech conglomerates. 00:21:06.140 --> 00:21:08.599 Attempting to build an enclosed physical ecosystem 00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:11.819 to combat a decentralized digital reality is 00:21:11.819 --> 00:21:14.140 an incredibly fraught strategy. It's an uphill 00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:16.779 battle before you even pour the concrete. Exactly. 00:21:17.299 --> 00:21:19.859 But beyond the conceptual flaw, we have to look 00:21:19.859 --> 00:21:22.980 at the staggering logistical and financial realities 00:21:22.980 --> 00:21:25.380 of the infrastructure they actually proposed. 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:28.220 Let's start with the immersive audio recording 00:21:28.220 --> 00:21:30.980 studio. Yeah, for someone who isn't an audiophile, 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:33.900 what exactly does immersive audio mean in the 00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:36.940 context of 2018, and why is it so hard to build? 00:21:37.740 --> 00:21:39.740 When we talk about standard music production, 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:43.740 we're usually talking about stereo sound. a left 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:46.539 channel and a right channel. Your brain perceives 00:21:46.539 --> 00:21:49.619 a flat left to right sonic image. Like a standard 00:21:49.619 --> 00:21:52.299 pair of headphones. Right. Immersive audio, often 00:21:52.299 --> 00:21:55.019 associated with formats like Dolby Atmos, completely 00:21:55.019 --> 00:21:57.579 shatters that paradigm. It treats individual 00:21:57.579 --> 00:22:00.500 sounds not as channels, but as independent 3D 00:22:00.500 --> 00:22:02.539 objects that can be placed literally anywhere 00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:04.680 in a spherical space around the listener. That 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:06.980 sounds amazing, honestly. It is. You can place 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:08.700 the vocal directly in front of the listener's 00:22:08.700 --> 00:22:11.359 nose, the drums behind their head, and a guitar 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:13.460 solo floating above them. What does it take to 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:15.759 build a room that can actually mix that? It requires 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:18.079 an astronomical amount of capital and acoustic 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.380 engineering. You cannot just throw 12 speakers 00:22:21.380 --> 00:22:23.930 into a room and call it immersive. The acoustic 00:22:23.930 --> 00:22:25.509 treatment of the room must be mathematically 00:22:25.509 --> 00:22:28.630 flawless to prevent phase cancellation and unwanted 00:22:28.630 --> 00:22:32.789 reflections. You need highly specialized proprietary 00:22:32.789 --> 00:22:36.529 hardware and software arrays. In 2018, immersive 00:22:36.529 --> 00:22:38.930 audio was largely the domain of massive film 00:22:38.930 --> 00:22:42.289 mixing stages in Hollywood, or elite, multi -million 00:22:42.289 --> 00:22:45.369 dollar facilities earned by major labels. For 00:22:45.369 --> 00:22:47.730 an independent record store in Liverpool to attempt 00:22:47.730 --> 00:22:50.450 to build an immersive audio facility on an independent 00:22:50.450 --> 00:22:52.910 budget is a testament to an almost terrifying 00:22:52.910 --> 00:22:55.869 level of ambition. They wanted to leapfrog standard 00:22:55.869 --> 00:22:57.910 recording studios and jump straight to the bleeding 00:22:57.910 --> 00:23:00.359 edge of audio technology. And if that wasn't 00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:02.500 ambitious enough, we have the second pillar of 00:23:02.500 --> 00:23:05.880 their plan, the record pressing plant. This is 00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:08.359 the part that genuinely blows my mind. The listener 00:23:08.359 --> 00:23:10.859 really needs to grasp the logistical nightmare 00:23:10.859 --> 00:23:13.759 of manufacturing physical vinyl. It is arguably 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:16.859 one of the most difficult, archaic and temperamental 00:23:16.859 --> 00:23:19.279 manufacturing processes still operating in the 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:21.460 modern world. Let's spend some time breaking 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:24.480 down exactly what Ray Mia and Graham Stanley 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.740 were signing up for when they said they wanted 00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:28.960 to build a pressing plant. Please do because 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:31.160 I think most people assume you just plug a USB 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:34.059 drive into a machine and a record pops out. Nothing 00:23:34.059 --> 00:23:36.599 could be further from the truth. Pressing a vinyl 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:38.980 record is closer to medieval alchemy than modern 00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:41.299 tech manufacturing. First you have the machinery 00:23:41.299 --> 00:23:44.539 itself. In 2018, there were very few companies 00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:47.119 manufacturing new vinyl pressing machines. So 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:49.799 what did everyone use? Most existing plants were 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:52.359 using refurbished, heavily modified hydraulic 00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:55.660 presses from the 1970s. These machines weigh 00:23:55.660 --> 00:23:58.960 literal tons. They require massively reinforced 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.759 concrete floors just to hold their weight without 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:03.839 cracking the foundation. And they require extreme 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.079 temperature fluctuations, right? Precisely. To 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:09.240 press a record, you take raw PVC plastic pellets, 00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:11.779 often called biscuits, and you have to heat them 00:24:11.779 --> 00:24:14.240 using extreme high pressure industrial steam. 00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:16.859 The press clamps down with immense hydraulic 00:24:16.859 --> 00:24:19.220 force, stamping the physical grooves into the 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:22.519 hot plastic. Then, instantly, the machine must 00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:26.019 flush the molds with freezing chilled water to 00:24:26.019 --> 00:24:28.460 cure the plastic before the press opens. That 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:31.240 sounds intense. It is. This means a pressing 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:34.220 plant requires a massive industrial grade boiler 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:37.880 system to generate the steam and a massive industrial 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:40.259 grade chilling tower to generate the cold water. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:43.400 You are essentially building a heavy industrial 00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:45.740 chemical plant. So you need specialized engineers 00:24:45.740 --> 00:24:47.839 just to keep the building from exploding. Literally, 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:50.519 yes. You are dealing with highly pressurized 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:53.240 steam lines. Furthermore, the global supply chain 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:56.180 for raw PVC pellets is notoriously volatile. 00:24:56.420 --> 00:24:58.740 Let alone the chemicals for the stampers. Right. 00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:00.859 The materials used to create the metal stampers, 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:03.200 the lacquers, the silvering chemicals, the electroplating 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:06.619 baths, involve highly toxic, heavily regulated 00:25:06.619 --> 00:25:09.720 substances. Which explains the massive bottlenecks 00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:12.460 during the vinyl boom. There is a reason why, 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:15.200 during the peak of the vinyl revival, there were 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:18.039 multi -month bottlenecks in the industry. The 00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:20.460 barrier to entry for manufacturing is incredibly 00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:23.500 high. The expertise required to master a record 00:25:23.500 --> 00:25:26.460 for vinyl, cut the lacquer, create the stampers 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:28.799 and dial in the hydraulic pressure of the machines 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:32.019 is a dying, highly specialized art form. And 00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:34.779 Jacaranda Records, an entity born from a retail 00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:38.000 store and a live venue, looked at that terrifying, 00:25:38.299 --> 00:25:41.099 toxic, heavy industrial nightmare and said, yeah, 00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:42.960 we should build that from scratch in Liverpool. 00:25:43.380 --> 00:25:45.220 It highlights a fundamental misunderstanding 00:25:45.220 --> 00:25:48.400 of core competencies. Graham Stanley understood 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.480 how to sell a record to a customer. He understood 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:53.680 how to book a band. Better than almost anyone. 00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:57.420 Yes. But the leap from retail curation to heavy 00:25:57.420 --> 00:25:59.960 industrial manufacturing is a chasm that cannot 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:02.700 easily be crossed with mere enthusiasm and historical 00:26:02.700 --> 00:26:05.259 legacy. They were attempting to be the cutting 00:26:05.259 --> 00:26:08.579 edge digital laboratory and the grimy heavy industrial 00:26:08.579 --> 00:26:10.640 factory at the exact same time. And they were 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:13.180 bringing artists into this highly volatile ecosystem. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:15.740 Let's look at the human element of this ambition. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:19.019 Because by the summer of 2019, the label begins 00:26:19.019 --> 00:26:21.839 building its roster. They sign a Runcorn Act 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:25.259 named Spilt and a Liverpool based act named Shards. 00:26:25.660 --> 00:26:28.599 And by the end of 2019, they sign a singer songwriter 00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:31.980 named Amy Stephen. That's a solid start. It is. 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:34.819 But they didn't just sign these artists to a 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:37.079 standard modern indie deal where you put out 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:39.759 an EP and see how it goes. They sign these acts 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:42.200 to 10 year contracts. What's fascinating here 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:45.460 is the sheer anachronism of a 10 year contract. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:47.839 In the context of the modern music industry, 00:26:48.299 --> 00:26:50.819 a decade long commitment is practically unheard 00:26:50.819 --> 00:26:53.119 of. Let's break down why that is so shocking. 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:55.640 How does an independent contract usually work 00:26:55.640 --> 00:26:57.660 today? Well, in the current digital landscape, 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:00.299 the music industry is obsessed with mitigating 00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:03.019 risk and maximizing immediate return. Labels 00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:04.819 are looking for virality. They want the sure 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:07.460 thing. They scour TikTok and algorithmic playlists 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:09.539 for songs that are already trending independently. 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:11.839 When they sign an artist, they typically offer 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:14.119 a very short -term deal. Like a single or an 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:17.970 EP. Perhaps a single album or just an EP with 00:27:17.970 --> 00:27:20.049 options for the label to extend if it becomes 00:27:20.049 --> 00:27:22.950 a hit or drop the artist immediately if it fails. 00:27:23.789 --> 00:27:25.630 The attention span of the consumer is measured 00:27:25.630 --> 00:27:28.369 in seconds. If a single underperforms in its 00:27:28.369 --> 00:27:31.569 first week, the label often cuts its losses and 00:27:31.569 --> 00:27:33.829 moves on to the next viral trend. So the idea 00:27:33.829 --> 00:27:36.210 of signing an unknown local act for 10 years 00:27:36.210 --> 00:27:39.069 is the exact opposite of the current industry 00:27:39.069 --> 00:27:41.970 playbook. It is a complete rejection of the algorithmic 00:27:41.970 --> 00:27:45.329 model. It is the throwback to the 1970s. Think 00:27:45.329 --> 00:27:47.430 about the classic artist development model of 00:27:47.430 --> 00:27:49.769 the 20th century. Give us an example. Look at 00:27:49.769 --> 00:27:52.069 an artist like Bruce Springsteen. His first two 00:27:52.069 --> 00:27:54.049 albums didn't set the world on fire commercially, 00:27:54.869 --> 00:27:57.500 but Columbia Records believed in him. They invested 00:27:57.500 --> 00:27:59.900 the time and capital to let him develop his sound, 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:02.960 tour relentlessly, make mistakes, and grow into 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:05.319 the artist who eventually delivered Born to Run 00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:08.140 on his third try. That is the romantic view of 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:09.980 a 10 -year deal. It sounds beautiful, really. 00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:12.039 It says, we believe in you. We are not going 00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:13.619 to drop you if your first single doesn't chart. 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:16.180 We are going to build a career together. It is 00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:19.559 deeply romantic. And autistically, it is arguably 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:21.900 the most ethical and supportive way to nurture 00:28:21.900 --> 00:28:25.279 talent. However, from a strictly business perspective, 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:27.700 especially for an independent startup label, 00:28:28.539 --> 00:28:31.220 it is an immense, almost suffocating financial 00:28:31.220 --> 00:28:33.839 liability. Why is it such a burden? Think about 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:36.240 the cash flow required. When you sign an artist 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:38.940 to a 10 -year deal, you are legally obligating 00:28:38.940 --> 00:28:42.000 yourself to fund their career for a decade. You 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.660 are on the hook for recording advances, studio 00:28:44.660 --> 00:28:46.970 time, which remember they were trying to do in 00:28:46.970 --> 00:28:49.109 a hyper -expensive immersive audio facility. 00:28:49.569 --> 00:28:52.630 Right. Marketing budgets, tour support, PR campaigns, 00:28:53.009 --> 00:28:55.170 and physical manufacturing costs for multiple 00:28:55.170 --> 00:28:57.849 album cycles. And if the band breaks up in year 00:28:57.849 --> 00:29:01.009 three? Then you have a massive legal and financial 00:29:01.009 --> 00:29:03.690 mess. If the band's sound falls out of cultural 00:29:03.690 --> 00:29:06.390 favor in year four, you are still obligated to 00:29:06.390 --> 00:29:08.619 fund them. You are locking up your available 00:29:08.619 --> 00:29:10.720 capital in long -term high -risk investments 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:13.160 with no guarantee of a return. It's extremely 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:15.400 dangerous. You're acting like a major label with 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:17.799 deep corporate pockets, but operating with the 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:19.799 fragile cash flow of an independent enterprise. 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:22.200 The pressure on both the label and the artists 00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:25.019 must have been immense. And when we look at the 00:29:25.019 --> 00:29:27.220 timeline provided in the sources, there is a 00:29:27.220 --> 00:29:29.849 very telling gap. Yes, there is. We have these 00:29:29.849 --> 00:29:32.630 massive structural announcements and these decade 00:29:32.630 --> 00:29:36.089 -long signings happening in 2018 and 2019, but 00:29:36.089 --> 00:29:38.410 their flagship release, a compilation album titled 00:29:38.410 --> 00:29:41.150 Tales from the Jackarondo Volume 01, does not 00:29:41.150 --> 00:29:44.529 actually come out until 2022. That three -year 00:29:44.529 --> 00:29:47.569 gap is highly significant. While the specific 00:29:47.569 --> 00:29:49.910 day -to -day operations of that period aren't 00:29:49.910 --> 00:29:52.369 exhaustively detailed in the sources, a three 00:29:52.369 --> 00:29:54.690 -year delay between signing acts to a 10 -year 00:29:54.690 --> 00:29:58.150 deal and releasing a compilation implies massive 00:29:58.150 --> 00:29:59.990 operational friction. Well, getting anything 00:29:59.990 --> 00:30:02.490 built takes time. If you are trying to build 00:30:02.490 --> 00:30:04.869 an immersive studio and source heavy machinery 00:30:04.869 --> 00:30:06.910 for a pressing plant from scratch, you are going 00:30:06.910 --> 00:30:09.970 to hit delays. Undoubtedly. The friction of attempting 00:30:09.970 --> 00:30:12.569 to build physical infrastructure while simultaneously 00:30:12.569 --> 00:30:14.869 trying to manage the creative output of multiple 00:30:14.869 --> 00:30:17.430 artists is immense. It's too many spinning plates. 00:30:17.750 --> 00:30:20.930 But when 2022 finally arrives, it appears the 00:30:20.930 --> 00:30:23.589 creative dam breaks. They release the compilation. 00:30:23.769 --> 00:30:27.089 Tales from the Jacaranda Volume 01. It features 00:30:27.089 --> 00:30:30.150 the original 2019 Chinese Bilt, Shards, and Amy 00:30:30.150 --> 00:30:33.029 Stephen, but it also showcases a broader roster. 00:30:33.210 --> 00:30:36.410 Yeah, we see newer acts like Dust Monk, The Phil 00:30:36.410 --> 00:30:39.349 Jones Experience, and later that same year, in 00:30:39.349 --> 00:30:41.750 late 2022, they sign another act called Waiting 00:30:41.750 --> 00:30:44.650 Till Marriage and release their debut single. 00:30:44.890 --> 00:30:46.730 For a brief moment, it looks like the Empire 00:30:46.730 --> 00:30:48.730 is fully operational. They have the historic 00:30:48.730 --> 00:30:50.789 pedigree, they have the award winning retail 00:30:50.789 --> 00:30:52.750 store, they have the expanding live venues, they 00:30:52.750 --> 00:30:55.329 have the immersive studio ambitions, and they 00:30:55.329 --> 00:30:57.769 have a diverse roster of artists releasing physical 00:30:57.769 --> 00:31:00.730 product. Ramia and Graham Stanley's utopian vision 00:31:00.730 --> 00:31:03.200 really seems to be materializing. right then. 00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:06.339 It is the apex of their ambition. But the higher 00:31:06.339 --> 00:31:08.519 you build a structure without a solid foundation, 00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:11.160 the more spectacular the collapse. Which brings 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:14.180 us to the final sobering chapter of the Jacaranda 00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:18.359 Records label. The collapse is abrupt, definitive, 00:31:18.660 --> 00:31:22.400 and structurally devastating. By 2025, an application 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:24.819 for the dissolution of Jacaranda Records limited 00:31:24.819 --> 00:31:27.319 the specific corporate entity housing the record 00:31:27.319 --> 00:31:29.619 label was submitted. And just like that, it's 00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:32.750 over. The label was officially closed. The dream 00:31:32.750 --> 00:31:35.450 of the global music hub, the immersive audio 00:31:35.450 --> 00:31:38.069 dominance, the pressing plant, and the romantic 00:31:38.069 --> 00:31:41.259 10 -year artist contracts it all dissolved. It 00:31:41.259 --> 00:31:43.940 vanished. In fact, one of the primary source 00:31:43.940 --> 00:31:46.660 articles maps out this exact trajectory and asks 00:31:46.660 --> 00:31:49.700 a haunting, incredibly blunt question. Jacaranda 00:31:49.700 --> 00:31:51.960 Records wanted to change the industry. How did 00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:54.380 it go so wrong? This raises an important question. 00:31:54.500 --> 00:31:57.259 How can a single brand identity be simultaneously 00:31:57.259 --> 00:32:00.859 so wildly successful and so fundamentally unsuccessful? 00:32:01.079 --> 00:32:02.740 It's a paradox. We have to look at the timeline. 00:32:03.099 --> 00:32:05.640 In the exact same year 2025 that the record label 00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:08.259 formally applied for dissolution, the Jacaranda 00:32:08.259 --> 00:32:11.299 retail record store on Slater Street was triumphantly 00:32:11.299 --> 00:32:13.579 celebrating its 10 -year anniversary of unbroken 00:32:13.579 --> 00:32:16.900 success. And just one year prior to the dissolution, 00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:21.319 in 2024, They successfully and aggressively expanded 00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:24.720 their live venue footprint to the 400 capacity 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:27.940 Jacaranda Baltic space. It is a profound paradox. 00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:30.960 How do you reconcile a booming hospitality and 00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:34.160 retail sector with a bankrupt production sector 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:36.759 under the exact same brand? You reconcile it 00:32:36.759 --> 00:32:39.740 by understanding the brutal, uncompromising economics 00:32:39.740 --> 00:32:42.420 of core competencies. We discussed this earlier, 00:32:42.420 --> 00:32:45.759 but the dissolution makes it starkly clear. The 00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:48.380 business of facilitating culture is fundamentally 00:32:48.380 --> 00:32:50.279 different from the business of manufacturing 00:32:50.279 --> 00:32:52.579 culture. Break that down. What is the difference 00:32:52.579 --> 00:32:55.440 in risk? The venues and the retail stores are 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:58.480 facilitators. When Jacarona Baltic hosts a touring 00:32:58.480 --> 00:33:01.440 band, they are facilitating an event. The risk 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:03.920 is relatively contained. They sell tickets, they 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:05.680 sell beer, they pay the band their guarantee, 00:33:05.859 --> 00:33:07.920 and the night ends. The math is predictable. 00:33:08.180 --> 00:33:10.160 Even if it's a tight margin, it's a known margin. 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:12.500 Exactly. When the Jacaranda record store buys 00:33:12.500 --> 00:33:14.839 100 copies of the new Taylor Swift album wholesale 00:33:14.839 --> 00:33:17.519 and sells them retail, they are facilitating 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:19.640 a transaction. The margins are small, but they 00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:22.779 are known. The label was attempting to manufacture 00:33:22.779 --> 00:33:26.279 the culture from scratch. producing music, funding 00:33:26.279 --> 00:33:29.079 artists for a decade, building cutting edge audio 00:33:29.079 --> 00:33:31.400 laboratories, and attempting to operate heavy 00:33:31.400 --> 00:33:34.339 industrial pressing machinery. These activities 00:33:34.339 --> 00:33:37.700 carry massive, compounding, uncontrollable risks. 00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:39.660 You're throwing money into a void, hoping it 00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:42.039 sings back. You are sinking hundreds of thousands 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:44.460 of dollars into unproven artistic commodities 00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:47.359 and highly volatile manufacturing supply chains. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:50.700 Graham Stanley and his team possessed a genius 00:33:50.700 --> 00:33:53.640 level understanding of how to host a crowd, curate 00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:56.470 a vibe, and honor the legacy of Alan Williams. 00:33:57.309 --> 00:33:59.710 But they lacked the specialized institutional 00:33:59.710 --> 00:34:02.470 capital required to survive the brutal realities 00:34:02.470 --> 00:34:04.750 of music production and manufacturing. I want 00:34:04.750 --> 00:34:06.809 you to apply this to your own life for a moment. 00:34:07.089 --> 00:34:08.550 Have you ever been really good at something, 00:34:08.630 --> 00:34:11.190 maybe a hobby or a small project, and you decided 00:34:11.190 --> 00:34:13.769 to aggressively expand it into areas you didn't 00:34:13.769 --> 00:34:16.190 fully understand simply because you were confident 00:34:16.190 --> 00:34:18.369 in your initial success? It's a common trap. 00:34:18.550 --> 00:34:21.460 It is. The story of Jack Renner Records is a 00:34:21.460 --> 00:34:23.920 masterclass in the dangers of expanding beyond 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:26.780 your core competency. They knew exactly how to 00:34:26.780 --> 00:34:29.340 sell the vinyl. They had absolutely no business 00:34:29.340 --> 00:34:32.320 trying to press the vinyl. It is a story of incredible 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:35.320 vision, colliding with the harsh, unforgiving 00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:38.300 realities of a spreadsheet. They attempted to 00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:40.840 build a monolithic, self -contained industry 00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:43.659 within Liverpool, a city that is historically 00:34:43.659 --> 00:34:47.440 famous for its organic, decentralized, and often 00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:50.610 chaotic musical exports. It just didn't fit the 00:34:50.610 --> 00:34:53.820 city's vibe maybe? Perhaps not. The failure of 00:34:53.820 --> 00:34:56.000 the label does not diminish the nobility of their 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:58.880 ambition, but it serves as a stark warning about 00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:01.480 the sheer difficulty of independent vertical 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:03.800 integration. So as we wrap up this deep dive 00:35:03.800 --> 00:35:05.820 into the archives, let's take a moment to survey 00:35:05.820 --> 00:35:07.659 the incredible journey we've mapped out today. 00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:10.780 We started all the way back in 1958, breathing 00:35:10.780 --> 00:35:13.420 the damp cellar air and feeling the psychological 00:35:13.420 --> 00:35:15.780 weight of John Lennon and Stuart Secliffe's paint 00:35:15.780 --> 00:35:18.199 on the walls of a Slater Street basement. A lot 00:35:18.199 --> 00:35:20.570 of history in that room. We watched Graham Stanley 00:35:20.570 --> 00:35:23.150 brilliantly read the cultural tea leaves in 2014, 00:35:23.730 --> 00:35:26.630 writing the crests of the 2015 vinyl revival, 00:35:27.150 --> 00:35:30.349 to turn a historic bar into a nationally recognized 00:35:30.349 --> 00:35:33.389 retail space. We saw them dream impossibly big 00:35:33.389 --> 00:35:36.650 in 2018, launching a utopian label with visions 00:35:36.650 --> 00:35:39.349 of immersive audio, pressing plants, and radically 00:35:39.349 --> 00:35:42.329 romantic 10 -year artist deals. And we saw the 00:35:42.329 --> 00:35:44.570 limits of that dream. And finally, we witnessed 00:35:44.570 --> 00:35:47.530 the quiet dissolution of that specific manufacturing 00:35:47.530 --> 00:35:50.670 dream in 2025, even as their foundational live 00:35:50.670 --> 00:35:53.130 venues and retail stores continue to thrive and 00:35:53.130 --> 00:35:55.730 expand. The autonomy between their failures and 00:35:55.730 --> 00:35:57.909 their successes is really the defining feature 00:35:57.909 --> 00:36:00.150 of this entire narrative. So what does this all 00:36:00.150 --> 00:36:03.230 mean? For me, it means that failure in one specific 00:36:03.230 --> 00:36:05.650 arena, the dissolution of the record label, absolutely 00:36:05.650 --> 00:36:08.289 does not negate the resounding continued success 00:36:08.289 --> 00:36:10.469 of the broader enterprise. Not at all. The venues 00:36:10.469 --> 00:36:13.650 are packed. The artists are still playing. The 00:36:13.650 --> 00:36:16.289 record store just celebrated a decade of defying 00:36:16.289 --> 00:36:19.969 digital gravity. Jacaranda remains a vital beating 00:36:19.969 --> 00:36:22.769 heart in the Liverpool music scene. They swung 00:36:22.769 --> 00:36:24.679 for the fences. with the label and they struck 00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:27.300 out, but they are still playing in the major 00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:29.420 leagues when it comes to keeping physical retail 00:36:29.420 --> 00:36:32.059 and live music alive. I agree and I think there 00:36:32.059 --> 00:36:35.139 is a profound lasting lesson here about the nature 00:36:35.139 --> 00:36:37.619 of music consumption in the 21st century. I'm 00:36:37.619 --> 00:36:38.960 gonna leave you with this final thought. Go for 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.719 it. We exist in an era where digital streaming 00:36:41.719 --> 00:36:45.079 has made music invisible, weightless, and practically 00:36:45.079 --> 00:36:48.480 infinite. The art form has been reduced to data 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:51.130 stored in the cloud. Because music is everywhere. 00:36:51.489 --> 00:36:53.570 It runs the risk of meaning nothing. It becomes 00:36:53.570 --> 00:36:56.889 wallpaper. Exactly. In that context, physical 00:36:56.889 --> 00:36:59.969 spaces like Jacaranda spaces, where you can actually 00:36:59.969 --> 00:37:02.050 smell the cardboard sleeves and the hot vinyl 00:37:02.050 --> 00:37:04.769 of a new record, where you can feel the physical 00:37:04.769 --> 00:37:07.730 vibration of a kick drum rattling your ribcage 00:37:07.730 --> 00:37:10.710 in a 400 capacity room, and where you can literally 00:37:10.710 --> 00:37:13.329 trace the history of the medium painted onto 00:37:13.329 --> 00:37:16.460 the basement walls. Those spaces are becoming 00:37:16.460 --> 00:37:19.039 the true premium product of the music industry. 00:37:19.179 --> 00:37:22.059 That is so true. The grand, ambitious record 00:37:22.059 --> 00:37:24.199 label that wanted to change the industry may 00:37:24.199 --> 00:37:26.780 have collapsed under its own weight. But perhaps 00:37:26.780 --> 00:37:29.260 the tactile physical community that Jacaranda 00:37:29.260 --> 00:37:31.980 successfully built and maintained is what will 00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:34.039 actually change the industry in the long run. 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:37.179 The cloud is infinite, but the basement is real. 00:37:37.309 --> 00:37:39.590 The cloud is infinite, but the basement is real. 00:37:39.829 --> 00:37:42.150 I love that. Take that thought with you the next 00:37:42.150 --> 00:37:44.250 time you walk into your local record shop. Thank 00:37:44.250 --> 00:37:46.250 you for joining us on this custom exploration 00:37:46.250 --> 00:37:47.170 and take care.