KEN NAVARRO
PRESIDENT POSITIVE MUSIC

Guitarist Ken Navarro felt chilled out of the record label scene, even though he was creating his own live buzz out of Washington D.C. In the spirit of D.I.Y, Navarro started Positive Music in 1990 and has helped other jazz artists develop their own recording identifies as well.

TAKING THE PLUNGE

"I closed my eyes, jumped in and learned as quick as I could. What initiated Positive Music is that I was looking for an outlet for my own music. Within The first few months it become obvious that to do things that would have impact on both radio and retail and be considered viable, I had to become an actual label by having numerous artists and releases. Now that we've built a catalogue, by the end of this year we'll have approximately 35 releases".

TEACHING ARTISTS

"I make it clear that while we're not a service label, we will go to the trouble of helping teach artists how the business end of things work. We're in it for the long run, more like a period of three. four or more records before everybody sees The benefit of all the work. However, there are a couple of artists we're negotiating with right now who are already established ".

POSITIVE RADIO

"We would not have been able to start Positive Music without the Jazz/A2 format. Radio is a key for us because it's such an effective way of debuting an artist nationally. We've had an awful lot of debut releases or so much time has lapsed since that artist's previous album, we often feel as if we're starting from square one. Radio has made it possible to let people know someone is out there and that a record exists. I would like to see major market radio be a little more open about what they play. An effort to keep a smooth sound seems to have overridden some of the progressive elements. But by the same token, the fact that people are becoming more focused on what they want to play, we do see The impact on sales."

RUNNING THE SHOP

We've been very conservative with how we've run things, but we've been expanding in terms of sales and marketing. We're financially sound and it's paid off. We're in the black for two and a half years running and we've done that without having a huge retail success. We've done it by making money on every release we've put out. Now we're ready for that big retail success! "

By Keith and Kent Zimmerman for Gavin, 1993.