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We first heard the
news on August 11, but not wanting to spread false rumors we held off
saying anything until we could verify what we were told. Our attempts to
contact and elicit comment from WSD failed, and additional sources have
since confirmed the sad demise of the company. World Serpent were for a
long time one of our most important suppliers. During the '90s their
fortunes flew high, but messy personal politics lead to the departure of
several important acts, including Boyd Rice, Death In June, Lustmord and
Der Blutharsh. The company survived, but with the general downturn in
music sales over the last few years their fortunes began to decline, and
many more bands found themselves released and unexpectedly homeless.
Nearly all of the artists complained privately of non-payment of royalties. The
Legendary Pink Dots aired their grievances on their website in March,
announcing the severing of ties with WSD because there hadn't been any
accounting of sales in more than a year, and no payment had reached them
since August, and then only under great pressure. In recent months several
key acts released albums through other labels, and WSD let many crucial
titles go out of print. Their last release, Cabal, by Carter Tutti, was
due to be made available in June, but copies were never delivered, and the
CD languishes in a distribution limbo. We mourn the passing of such a
pivotal supplier, but we regret even more the situation their bands find
themselves in. Coil in particular must find it ironic to have given World
Serpent reissued versions their earliest releases, two of which bore the
words "Stevo, Pay Us What You Owe Us", a reference to the Some Bizzare
label founder who they claimed went out of business owing them thousands
of pounds.
World Serpent have not provided any comment at this time.