Some insiders to believe the reason for AMATO filing for liquidation is the continuous illegal downloads that are still a huge problem.
The music buying public ( when they do buy music ) do like to fall back onto these so called free alternatives when they can't get hold of a track or mix.
I also believe that this isn't helped by Nokia and Universals deal to let buyers of the new "comes with music" mobiles download unlimited tracks fro free for a year.
So who really wants to go back and then pay for a tune again ? It seems often its the industry thats devaluing the music its trying to sell.

Its especially hard for indie labels like us when piracy comes in a big wave but we also have to say that on a certain level it also seems to help our artists when they are being passed around online. That doesn't mean we agree that this is the best way to get "famous".
Fact is it is a problem and it will continue to harm labels and distributors.

Loosing AMATO is a big blow to us all as it was a very highly valued company even though we personally have not worked with Amato but we some of our friends have.
This is probably another big step into the digital direction as well .. while many still dream of Vinyl releases and only want to go that route i think its clear that this is a dream route for most especially newcomers.
Digital releases are becoming more popular everywhere not just with dance music fans but with DJ's as well, but many new artists have to come to terms that if they want to join a record label that getting a release out on vinyl or even CD might not be the first thing that they have in the shops.
Labels have to do a lot of number crunching to make sure a release on Vinyl make commercial sense or there is enough demand to make sure these copies fly of the counter.
Its time for many artists to realize that the classic way of the music industry ain't here no more and that a new era has begun.
Shame is that this always comes with casualties like the mighty AMATO.

We at Mode2 are all sad to see them go, it's the end of an era we will all be sad to see go away.
Thanx guys for all the hard work and the great music you have put out there.

Big Shouts from all of us.
Drew@Mode2

Tags: Mode2, amato, kompakt, 2020 vision, cr2, digital downloads