Sympathy for the Record Industry

No bands are currently signed on Sympathy for the Record Industry.

Band	Genre	Country	#

Band	Album	Type	Year	Catalog	Format	Description

Description

American independent label owned by Long Gone John (John Edward Mermis). Sub-labels included the one-release Decrepit Vinyl Records and Sweet Virginia Records of Long Beach, California.

When the band The Lazy Cowgirls, who were also Mermis' personal friends, couldn't find a label to support their then-new live album, John volunteered to release it himself. He established the label's name and motto ("We almost really care") and set out releasing of a series of 7-inch singles. By 2006, the label had released the recordings of over 550 bands, including Hole, The White Stripes, The Donnas, The Electrocutes, Buck, Billy Childish, The Dwarves, The Gun Club, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Inger Lorre, Man or Astro-man?, April March, Motel Shootout, The Muffs, The Mumps, The Pooh Sticks, The Red Aunts, Redd Kross, Rocket from the Crypt, Scarling., Suicide, Jack Off Jill, Turbonegro and The Von Bondies.

On July 20, 2007, Long Gone John announced via his Myspace blog that he was selling the label for "$625,000.00 or $700,000.00 if I don't like you."

In September 2011, John decided to start releasing records once again. He signed a distribution deal with Independent Label Distribution, then immediately put out a full-length lp as well as three singles by The Ettes. The company also began distributing new releases as well as many older ones from the label's catalog.

As of August 2019, the label has become dormant or has been shut down.