Leaving Records Opens All Genre, a Different Kind of Listening Space
The independent label has launched a free web platform linking its catalogue, always-on radio and community tools.
Illustrative photo: Danny Greenberg / Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/n-iS58QUWTA
Los Angeles imprint Leaving Records has introduced All Genre, a free-to-use platform that combines on-demand catalogue listening with radio, conversation and local cultural information. Users can explore two listening rooms, round-the-clock streams, a forum, live chat and an event calendar.
The model is notable because the main experience is open without a subscription. Support is voluntary. According to the label, half of the contributions from supporters will be allocated to artists they actually listen to, with the remainder funding the label, the platform and future music activity.
The launch arrives with exclusive and rare listening material, including a Daedelus mix and archived mixes by Dntel. Leaving Records, founded by Matthewdavid in 2009, has long treated ambient, experimental music, jazz and beat culture as connected conversations rather than rigid categories.
All Genre will be judged by whether listeners and artists continue to use it after the announcement, not just by its feature list. Still, it offers a timely independent alternative to the idea that discovering music must happen through an algorithmically ranked feed.