General Pants launches a record label

General Pants is branching out... to set up a singles only record label.

Called Major Label, artists on it will retain copyright, creative control and will receive all royalty income from sales.

To get this label up and running, General Pants will be asking their 700 staff around Australia to act as A&R Reps, street teams and publicists. If staff find an Aussie act they think is "worthy" of being released on Major Label, they can upload tracks to Major Label’s blog, and each month 3 singles will be chosen. The singles will be streamed on General Pants’ website and be made available to purchase through online retailers.

The campaign launches March 1. So if you get a 16 year old asking for your demo because they work for a record label... they might be telling the truth.

It's a great way to encourage staff retention. I'm sure that the majority of Gen Pants staffers also see themselves as wanna-be DJs, rockstars or music industry heroes. But there's no word yet on who will get final say on which 3 singles are going to be released each month. As it's a Peer Group initiative, I'm assuming that they will have a hand in the track selections, as they are also managing the artist liaison.