Read on to find out why we have a few more copies of “One In A Thousand” available on vinyl now – including 20 copies of the “clear with black smoke” variant!

OR head to the shop to grab yours now.

I wrote a few weeks ago about how poorly “One In A Thousand” fared with being stocked in record shops. After printing 500 special (let it) snow white vinyl copies for shops, only 150 were required by my distributor.

As I don’t participate in the trend of introducing new vinyl variants late in a pre-order, effectively asking collectors to buy again, I had a moral quandary on my hands: hope the white vinyl would be in demand from shops later on, or offer it to fans?

I opted for the latter, wrote this piece to explain, and offered all existing vinyl customers money off if they did choose to add white vinyl to their order.

After all the release week hubbub, I asked my distributor which record shops did stock “One In A Thousand”, and wanted to take this opportunity to send heartfelt thanks to those who took a chance on our album:

Record Culture, Stourbridge
Longwell Records, Keynsham
Banquet Records, Kingston
Norman Records, Leeds
Juno Records
Rough Trade
Diverse Records, Newport

Thank you for championing new music!

WHERE SHOULD I BUY YOUR ALBUM?

Record shops are havens – I have such fond memories of browsing Andy’s Records in Bury St Edmunds as a teenager, picking up life-changing Feline singles from the bargain bin, nervously asking for the new “Skunk And Nancy” album at the counter and not being laughed at… I know many music supporters have their own such stories, and these bastions of culture are doing their best to cling on just like the rest of us.

However, in the interests of showing a bit of what goes on under the hood: “One In A Thousand” is released on my own label My Big Sister Recordings, and distributed by SRD. This means that when it’s sold anywhere other than direct to fan through my shop or Bandcamp, I get paid a chunk less. The record shop needs to be paid for their work, and my distributor needs to be paid for their work.

This works out fine if the shop attracts new people to the music, those who haven’t heard about it through my mailing list, videos or social media…but if you have heard about my music from me I would love it if you’d buy direct.

When I wrote my piece a few weeks ago I was disappointed with the stocking situation, but was very careful not to point fingers. The system doesn’t work, in my opinion, but I don’t “hate the player”, and I only work with people I respect and trust.

So it was quite a shock to discover that someone from a certain Glasgow based record shop, upon reading my post, decided to call up my distributor and accuse me of slagging off them *and* record shops, when I did neither.

If that’s the price of being honest on the internet, bring it on – I’m not playing any games, and I won’t shut up to keep the peace with people who behave in this fashion.

Here’s what I actually said:

Because we’ve chosen (couldn’t afford) not to pay (waste?!) upwards of £10,000 on PR and radio plugging to try and get glowing reviews and quotes (that don’t sell records), most shops are unwilling to take the risk – even on sale or return.

They don’t have the space, they don’t know (or care) who we are, and it doesn’t matter how good (we think) our album is. (It’s excellent, by the way…)

I get it. It’s tough times for everyone – and I’m thankful for the shops who have decided to take a chance on us.

In the days since our chart success, it’s been interesting to note the plethora of record shops who suddenly have “One In A Thousand” in stock (well, “dispatched when received from distributor”). Again, shops can’t stock everything, but it’s eye-opening to see how these things work.

I’ve also been alerted to some shops selling vinyl for way over the odds – £30-£45. This is not cool!

In my shop I sell records for £22, with 100% of the profits going to us, the people who made the music (after manufacturing costs, transaction fees, warehouse packing fees, Shopify fees etc).

Shops pay £12.99 per unit for vinyl, so these shysters are potentially earning more than we are for a direct sale.

No thank you!

Today I’ve requested all remaining vinyl copies back from my distributor to sell in my own shop. Running my own label is a major faff, but one of the benefits is choosing which music industry nonsense to participate in. I choose none of it!

We have fewer than 100 snow white records left, along with 20 x clear with black smoke records and 1 x classic black.

Thank you for supporting Obey Robots, Penfriend and independent artists everywhere. You’re the best.

“One In A Thousand” is available here.

Look what you did! Rat and I made an album we love, and we shared it with you.

This is what people power looks like:

Rat says: “thank YOU, for the support and for joining our Robot Army!”

I say…well, for once I’m speechless. This is going to take a little while to process!

THANK YOU SO MUCH. 

I’m going to keep sharing robot-shaped videos on my YouTube channel in the coming weeks, so do please subscribe here and (optionally) click the bell to get notifications.

Have the best weekend, enjoy “One In A Thousand”, and we’ll speak very soon.

SO MUCH LOVE
Laura xxx

PS your copy of “One In A Thousand” is waiting for you in the shop! Unless you’ve already picked it up, in which case – YOU DID DO THIS, THANK YOU!

WHAT THE HECK?!!! Let’s just look at this for a moment:

This is the sort of dream I never thought could come true. As a completely independent artist, producing music in my home studio and shooting videos in village halls with homemade robot costumes, it’s mind-blowing to see Obey Robots listed alongside Gorillaz, Gracie Abrams, P!nk and Adam Lambert.

All those major record labels with their big budget album campaigns and my DIY label My Big Sister Recordings just hanging out there in the midweek chart together. Why not, eh?
Dreams can come true…if you do something about them!

It took six independent albums, thousands of emails, blog posts, YouTube videos and social posts, hundreds of gigs and too many late nights at the computer to mention to get here, and of course Rat has had his own journey. Through the major label system, out the other side, and feet first back into making music and learning how much more hands-on things are when you choose to work outside the mainstream like me!

That’s just part of the story though.

None of this would have happened without the generous support of people who choose to pay for music in a culture that has made it optional.

More than anything else, it’s about the music. I think Rat and I have made something meaningful and beautiful, and as always I’ve tried to find ways to include music fans at every stage of the album-making and releasing process.

Receiving comments telling me this is the most excited some people have been about a new record in 20+ years is a huge compliment! It’s an honour to be part of the soundtrack to someone else’s life, and the outpouring of love for “One In A Thousand” is going to take some time to sink in.

When I asked Rat how he felt about this incredible result, he said:

“I was genuinely numb when you read the position out to me and it felt like I was mishearing words at the time. I can’t thank YOU the music buyers enough for all you have done to help us spread the word of the Robots.”

Hear hear. THANK YOU!!!

In the meantime, we’re on a mission to really “stick it to the man” and see if we can show those major labels what this passionate community of indie music fans can achieve.

Are you with us?
Can we keep this album in the Top 20 on Friday?

If you’d like to cast your vote for independently minded music-making and punk rock spirit, browse my shop for vinyl, CD, cassette, downloads, lyric books, pick tins, badges and tees.

All physical sales processed by Thursday lunchtime count towards the chart, with digital sales counted until midnight Thursday.

Thank you – and have a wonderful day!! You already made ours truly fantastic.