In this column I interview Rayny Forster who owns and maintains Moshpit Tragedy Records, a punk and metal label based in Canada since 6/6/06. His record label does things a bit differently, and is growing in popularity.

On your website it says yours is the first label in the music industry “to fully adopt a pay-what-you-want (even nothing for most titles) download concept.” Could you explain in more detail what this means?

I believe there may have been another label that dabbled for a short while with the pay-what-you-want structure around the same time that I started to, only they did not offer a free download option.  So I’m not totally sure if I was the first, but I was the first  to offer free downloads for all my releases.  More recently, some of the other labels I carry decided upon a minimum fee, but all the titles on the Moshpit Tragedy imprint always have been, and will continue to be available for free, or donation.

What do you dislike the most about traditional record labels?

I have no issue with labels who function in a conventional manner, so long as they treat the artists and consumers fairly.   The problem lies with those who treat music as a commodity, another product that has no soul or artistic integrity, which is used to further dumb down the poor saps who buy into it all.  Even if there was absolutely no money left in music due to illegal downloading, I think it would be worth self-financing just to see the commercial labels go away, taking their artists and bullshit videos with them.

What are your views regarding the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)?

This is yet another frightening example of big money industries and corporations exercising their control over government puppets.  I am not a fan of those who pirate the work of others for profit, but if they start censoring the internet, it won’t stop at piracy.  The bill consists of  vague wording which would make it possible to shut down any website, without proof or legal process, under the “good faith belief” that the target site has infringed copyright.  Perfectly legal websites that are deemed political, controversial, or a threat to a certain agenda could be shut down and that would be that.  The bottom line is that freedom of information is at stake, and without it, we are doomed.  Luckily, many of the spineless senators who supported this have caved due to the wide backlash that is occurring.  If it even makes it that far, I think there is also a chance Obama could veto it for now if he wants to get re-elected, but don’t let him fool you, he’s in bed with some very evil people.

Financially, is your label managing to stay afloat? Have there been times when you were worried you wouldn’t be able to continue?

Since I don’t press any physical records, the only mandatory cost is web hosting, so it’s no problem unless traffic increases to the point where I can’t afford the bandwidth.  Even that is unlikely because donations do seem to increase with exposure.  The only thing that worries me in that respect are things like what you just mentioned, SOPA or whatever they may throw at us in the future.  I don’t know if Moshpit Tragedy would even appear on their radar, but if it did, I don’t doubt they would shut me and probably even sites like Bandcamp and Spotify down, even if we are a mere thorn in their side.  Of course, at that point I would be less concerned about this sort of thing and more worried about what may come next for all of us on a much larger scale.  I try not to dwell on these thoughts for now, but it is important to be aware, now more than ever.

What are your personal metal music preferences, and why?

I grew up on stuff like Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, but later came to identify with the punk side of things as well.  For heavy music, I am into hybrid genres like grindcore, sludge, thrash, etc.  I prefer forward thinking, original music and ideas, and I have to like each band that we work with enough to keep on my own mp3 player.  If you ask any of my friends, they will probably tell you I have the strongest taste in music out of anyone they know, in the way that I either love something or I hate it.  If you put on some chuggy open-chord metalcore in your car, I will probably just get out and walk.

I think lots of metal listeners would support your pay-what-you-want concept. Do you have any banners they could put on their website if they want to show support?

I wasn’t sure if too many people would do such a thing, but its probably a good idea, so I have made one design available on the main page of my site, with more to come.  Post them and join the music revolution!

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Do you have any final words you’d like to say to the metal community?

No, but this guy does.