The Sub Pop Story

MEMORANDUM

TO: Everyone

FROM: Sub Pop Records

DATE: April 2, 2008

SUBJECT: World Domination

Mission Complete

JP/cmn

Uh. OK. Well, maybe that’s overstating the case. (Sub Pop has, ahem, been known to do that.) But really, did anyone expect a little label like Sub Pop to see its 20th birthday? To not only last this long, but to release five of its six best-selling CDs in the years since 2001?

“Sub Pop was the grunge label, right?” That’s right—the original home to Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney, incredible bands all. Bands whose members even, on occasion, wore flannel shirts. And 15 years after the rest of America draped itself in fashionable, grungy flannels (and then promptly took them to the thrift stores where they always belonged), Sub Pop is again one of the top music companies in the land, with artists racking up Saturday Night Live appearances and Grammy nominations.

In fact, while much of the music industry has been desperately trying to put the brakes on declining sales, Sup Pop has been giving away music by top-sellers and working with unorthodox business models.

Seriously, who’d’ve thought it? Other than the humble founders of Sub Pop, that is?

SUB POP ROCK CITY

It was Soundgarden that brought Sub Pop label chiefs Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman together in Seattle in 1987.

Poneman, a music promoter and DJ on public radio station KCMU, was a quiet observer, thoughtful, analytical, Pavitt says. By contrast, Pavitt wore his passion for Northwest rock and punk on his sleeve. “There was always something on the tip of his tongue that he was enthusiastic about,” according to Mark Arm, singer and guitarist…

READ MORE »

• Sub Pop channel on Youtube
• Sub Pop on Flickr
• Sub Pop on Facebook
• Sub Pop on MySpace
• Sub Pop on Twitter

Full Lengths

SP20: Casual Nostalgia Fest

Sub Pop 1000

RELATED

John Peel Sub Pop Sessions

Afternoon Delight

Badlands - A Tribute to Bruce Springsteens Nebraska

Various Artists - Songbook of Songs

Give The People What We Want- Songs Of The Kinks

Hype Soundtrack

Sub Pop 200

Acquired Taste DVD

Sub Pop Video Network Volume 1

The Grunge Years

Terminal Sales Vol. 5: Mixed Nuts

Barely Real (REISSUE)

The White Birch (REISSUE)

Frigid Stars (REISSUE)

Pyramid Shirt

The Invisible Way

Follow the links for QuickTime videos.

• Sub Pop - SP 22 Birthday (MOV)
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ALL DATES »

• Promo Photo - Sub Pop logo (JPG)
• Promo Photo - SP20_logo (PDF)

• Bio - The Sub Pop Story (bio)

• Cover - SP20: Casual Nostalgia Fest
• Cover - Sub Pop 1000

• Press - SP20 press kit
• Press - Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival announcement (DOC)
• Press - Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Festival Announcement (PDF)