There is a crisis in the record industry. Like any other multinational concern, only the strong survive and punk rock is the industry in peril. In these label days only the best-known brands can hope to stay alive: every day we see lesser known label and their music go under for want of an image known to the kids. A spokesman for the industry said "There just isn't enough space in these punks' brains for that many labels. Christ, once you've got shoes, clothes, watches, fizzy pop burgers, consoles, and skateboards, there really is little room left for recorded musical products. Basically, Fat Wreck got there first and everything else just isn't selling."
However, there is an olive branch for the musical underclass — "FAT WRECK FRANCISE" is the latest indusry brainchild designed to help sales filter down to less worthy music. Basically how it works is that any label can become a Fat Wreck Franchise and use Fat's buyer-friendly logo on CDs, shirts, and gig flyers in a hope to sell some shit. Another spokesman said "Naturally Fat Wreck will be keeping a close eye on who actually gets the franchises. We owe it to the kids. A potential franchisee will not be able to use any FWC logo until the cheque has been cashed." A third spokesman was about to say something about songs, but then didn't.
