From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nettwerk
Founded	1984
Genre	Alternative music, Electronic music
Country of origin	Canada
Location	Vancouver, British Columbia
Official website	http://www.nettwerk.com/

Nettwerk is a large Vancouver, British Columbia based record label and music management firm. The label was founded in 1984 by Terry McBride, Mark Jowett, and Brad Saltzberg in McBride's small Vancouver apartment, initially to release albums by Jowett's band Moev. Saltzberg eventually sold his share of Nettwerk to Ric Arboit. Additional branches of Nettwerk exist in New York City, Los Angeles, London UK, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg, Germany.

Notable artists who have recorded on the label include Skinny Puppy, Sarah McLachlan, HEM, Jenny Owen Youngs, Single Gun Theory, Econoline Crush, MC 900 Ft. Jesus, Consolidated, Ron Sexsmith, Delerium, Sixpence None the Richer, BT, The Grapes of Wrath, Guster, Josh Rouse, Autour de Lucie, Lava Hay, Boxcar, Nathan, Tara MacLean, The Hermit, Rose Chronicles, By Divine Right, Doubting Thomas, Great Lake Swimmers, Trespassers William, Severed Heads, and Jars Of Clay (as of 2007 under the Gray Matters imprint).

The label specializes in alternative music acts, particularly in genres such as industrial music, electronica and folk-rock, releasing albums by both Canadian and international artists in those genres.

Nettwerk also manages a number of artists, including the Barenaked Ladies and Avril Lavigne, who do not release their records on the label. Other artists under Nettwerk Management include Leigh Nash, Anathallo, Dido, ProZac, MC Lars, Sixpence None the Richer, Treble Charger, All Saints, Brand New, State Radio, Robert Post, The Be Good Tanyas, The Old Crow Medicine Show, gob, and The Format.

Nettwerk has joined the fight against the RIAA by offering to pay the legal fees of a teenager in Texas who is being sued for downloading songs. They will also pay any fines if they lose the case. They came in contact with the teen when she wrote to MC Lars (who is managed by Nettwerk) about his song, "Download This Song".

Nettwerk further sells actual MP3 music files from its artists and artists it manages directly from its website. While these files are generally priced at 99 cents as most online music files are, they do not include any digital rights management. Hence, unlike files purchased from iTunes or Napster, these files allow consumers the freedom to copy the songs they purchase to other devices of theirs.

Nettwerk states on its website:

Litigation is destructive, it must stop .... as per Nettwerk copyrights, we have never sued anybody and all our music is open source to encourage fans to share it with others and help us promote our Artists. As per those Artists we manage on other labels (Majors), we take issue with those labels claiming that litigating our fans is in our interest, as it clearly is not.

Nettwerk is one of the first major music companies to abolish DRM releasing songs in the unrestricted MP3 format. Many songs are available on Nettwerk's own store as well as Puretracks, a Canadian music download site. Nettwerk is also the first major music company to have their music listed on Amie Street.

• List of record labels

• Official site
• Save the Music Fan
• No Suit Required article in Wired magazine
• Music mogul wants to change how music is sold Canada.com, December 2nd 2006