:Discipline Global Mobile

File:Robert Fripp.jpg has called music "an industry founded on exploitation, oiled by deceit, riven with theft and fueled by greed".]]

Having been a professional musician since the mid-1960s (and the guitarist for King Crimson since 1969), by the late 1980s Robert Fripp found himself in conflict with his longtime record label E.G. Records and management company (E.G. Management) over royalties allegedly owed by E.G. to himself and to other band members. During this period, Fripp met and began working with producer and online developer David Singleton, initially on a Guitar Craft tour in 1990 and subsequently on the production of two albums – the League of Crafty Guitarists' Show of Hands and the eponymous album for the Fripp-and-Toyah-fronted group Sunday All Over the World. Fripp and Singleton's production partnership was sealed by work on two King Crimson boxed sets (1991's Frame by Frame and 1992's The Great Deceiver) and continues to the present day under the name of TonProb.

After seven years, Fripp and E.G. reached a settlement

{{harvtxt|Bruford|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=R4iW0tsxLqQC&q=EG%2C+Virgin%2C+EMI%2C+Fripp 142]}}

but the experience left Fripp determined to take control of his own work and financial affairs wherever possible. As part of this aim, he founded Discipline Global Mobile (DGM) as an independent music label in 1992, as a fifty-fifty partnership with Singleton.{{cite news|date=3 August 2012|time=7:27 pm|title=The day the music died: In a rare interview, prog rock legend Robert Fripp speaks about standing up to the music industry|first=Ludovic|last=Hunter-Tilney|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/f588e100-d7ee-11e1-9980-00144feabdc0.html#axzz22cThb6xb|newspaper=Financial Times|access-date=5 August 2012}}

{{harvtxt|Bambarger|1998}}

{{harvtxt|Atton|2001|p=39}}

DGM's mission statement consists of five "DGM business aims", as follows:

• "The first aim of DGM is to help bring music into the world which would otherwise be unlikely to do so, or under conditions prejudicial to the music and / or musicians.",{{cite web |url=http://www.dgmlive.com/about.htm |title=About DGM: DGM business aims |publisher=Discipline Global Mobile |access-date=25 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302061103/http://www.dgmlive.com/about.htm |archive-date=2 March 2012 }}

• "The second aim of DGM is to operate in the market place, while being free of the values of the market place."
• "The third aim of DGM is to help the artists and staff of DGM achieve what they wish for themselves."
• "The fourth aim of DGM is to find its audience."
• "The fifth aim of DGM is to be a model of ethical business in an industry founded on exploitation, oiled by deceit, riven with theft and fueled by greed."{{harvtxt|Bambarger|1998|p=86}}{{harvtxt|Atton|2004|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fZa_x8DEP_oC&q=%22Discipline+Global+Mobile%22%2C+copyright&pg=PA103 Chapter 6 "Fan culture and the Internet: Musicians and fanzines", p. 153]}}

File:John Paul Jones - 2010.jpg has recorded albums with DGM without signing a contract, stating that the relationship "is pure trust".]]

These aims were called "exemplary" by Bill Martin, who wrote that "Fripp has done something very important for the possibilities of experimental music" in creating DGM, and that DGM "has played a major role in creating favorable conditions for" King Crimson.{{harvtxt|Martin|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=APmUFlgm0R4C&q=Discipline+Global+Mobile 269]}}

Since at least the early 1960s, the recording industry has required artists to sign over copyrights and moral rights to their cover art, music, and lyrics. DGM rejects this practice, and since its 1992 founding has maintained its policy that its artists retain the copyrights and the moral rights to their works, be those works musical or visual art. Fripp wrote,

"The phonographic copyright in these performances is operated by Discipline Global Mobile on behalf of the artists, with whom it resides, contrary to common practice in the record industry. Discipline accepts no reason for artists to assign the copyright interests in their work to either record company or management by virtue of a 'common practice' which was always questionable, often improper, and is now indefensible."{{harvtxt|Kozar|2012|loc=[http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/150412-robert-fripp-an-appreciation/P1 "Fripp's aim was to move his music in new directions that others did not always understand", p. 2]}}

This extends even to DGM's knotwork corporate logo, the copyright of which is owned not by the company, but by its designer,{{harvtxt|Fripp|1998a|p=3}} Steve Ball.{{cite web |url=http://www.steveball.com/words/archive/2001/2001-10-01.htm#saturday |first=Steve |last=Ball |title=Saturday September 29 |department=Steve Ball diary |date=1 October 2001 |website=Steve Ball |access-date=25 March 2012}}

{{harvtxt|Ball|2001}} cites as the original inspiration for the first cover for Discipline a design by {{harvtxt|Bain|1973|loc=[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Art-Methods-Construction-Instruction/dp/0486229238/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332253259&sr=1-1#reader_0486229238 "Pictish knotwork borders from Gospels of Lindifarme and Book of Kells", p. 40]}}: {{cite book|first=George|last=Bain|author-link=George Bain (artist)|title=Celtic art: The methods of construction|year=1973|publisher=Dover Publications|location=Mineola, New York|isbn=0-486-22923-8|orig-year=1951|edition=Reprint of Constable Press|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/methodsofconstru00bain}}

DGM does not require that its artists sign written contracts.{{cite news|title=Been a long time: John Paul Jones hitting the road 19 years after Zeppelin's demise|newspaper=Rocky Mountain News|location=Denver, CO|date=22 October 1999|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67423491.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329183722/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67423491.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 March 2015|first=Michael|last=Mehle |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 April 2012}} Former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones said, "It's pure trust," and noted that "there are dangers on both sides. I could have a successful album and just sign with a major, or they could decide not to pay me." Jones explained that he was accustomed to "working in situations that do rely on trust and integrity, those old-fashioned words" because Led Zeppelin had no contract with its manager.{{cite news|first=Fiona|last=Shepherd|title=Recognise the face of bass? (Clue: Think Led Zeppelin)|newspaper=The Scotsman|publisher=ECM Publishers, Inc|year=1999|access-date=14 April 2012|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18707295.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611131837/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18707295.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2014 |url-access=subscription}} Another DGM band, alternative rock group {{anchor|Rosenbergs}}The Rosenbergs, opted to work with the label following conflicts with their previous label Universal Records, which had even demanded control of the band's domain name: in contrast, DGM had encouraged them to retain control of their own master recordings and provided them with funds for touring and promoting their album.{{harvtxt|Spellman|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=wAwFYg56rAYC&q=Discipline 87]}})

Royalties are paid above the prevailing rate, as announced at DGM's launch. In return, DGM artists are responsible for promoting their albums through concert tours and interviews.

File:Adrian Belew (2006).jpg has recorded several albums with DGM.]]

Discipline Global Mobile specializes in art rock, progressive rock, jazz, and assorted experimental and crossover music (the label has also released recordings of Renaissance lute music and mainstream alternative rock). DGM has released more than a hundred King Crimson recordings, including remastered albums with bonus tracks and DVDs with archival footage. In addition to King Crimson, DGM's current active roster includes assorted Robert Fripp projects and The Vicar (a songwriter project).{{cite journal|last=Cook|first=Richard|title=In praise of older men|journal=New Statesman|publisher=New Statesman Ltd|date=1 January 1996|access-date=14 April 2012|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-38146164.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921211726/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-38146164.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 September 2014 |url-access=subscription }} The label has previously released music by various Fripp-affiliated ensembles; The League of Crafty Guitarists, Les Gauchos Allemagnes, the California Guitar Trio and the Robert Fripp String Quartet (all of which stem from or are connected with Fripp's Guitar Craft courses){{cite journal|last=Molenda|first=Michael|title=California Guitar Trio: Paul Richards, Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya|journal=Guitar Player|publisher=NewBay Media LLC.|date=1 January 2000|access-date=14 April 2012|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-57893412|url-access=subscription}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• King Crimson (over 100 releases of archive material and additional releases outside of current major-label product)
• The ProjeKcts (King Crimson subgroups)
• Robert Fripp (solo releases, Soundscape recordings)
• Fripp & Eno
• The Vicar
• David Sylvian & Robert Fripp (reissues)
• Jakszyk, Fripp & Collins

• Adrian Belew
• BPM&M
• Bill Bruford (with Ralph Towner & Eddie Gomez)
• Bill Bruford's Earthworks
• Bruford Levin Upper Extremities
• California Guitar Trio
• Europa String Choir
• Robert Fripp String Quintet
• Tony Geballe
• Gitbox
• Trey Gunn
• Peter Hammill
• Steve Hancoff
• Jacob Heringman
• John Paul Jones
• Tony Levin
• Los Gauchos Alemanes
• Mr McFall's Chamber
• Bill Nelson
• Opus 20
• Juan Carlos Quintero
• The Rosenbergs
• Ten Seconds

According to a 1998 profile in Billboard magazine, Discipline Global Mobile had seven staff members in Salisbury, England, and three in Los Angeles, California. DGM "is actually housed in a dull pebbledash building in a village near Salisbury, south-west England".

Its label manager reported that the country with the largest market was Japan, where mail-orders accounted for only 10% of sales, but 50% of profits. In 1998, DGM was distributed in Japan by Pony Canyon; in the United Kingdom by Pinnacle; and in the United States by Rykodisc. Sound samples have been offered in addition to DGM's mail-order services. Free downloads from DGM have strengthened the relations between artists and fans.

In 2012, DGM's site had the following introduction: "The aim of DGM is to connect music, musician and audience in a way that supports the power of music, the integrity of the musician and the needs of the audience. DGM Live offers music for download with photographs, diary archives and audience commentary for browsing".{{cite web|url=http://www.dgmlive.com|title=Welcome to DGM Live|publisher=Discipline Global Mobile|access-date=25 March 2012}} DGM's successful transition to an age of digital distribution was called "unique" among music labels in 2009; this success was credited to its provision of legal, high-quality recordings of concerts, which effectively reverse-engineered the distribution-networks for unlicensed recordings ("bootlegs") of concerts.{{cite news |last=Anonymous |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-20648653.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523141855/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-20648653.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 May 2013|title=Jam and the joys of music distribution in today's world|newspaper=Belfast Telegraph|publisher=Independent News and Media PLC |date=18 August 2009 |access-date=14 April 2012|url-access=subscription}}

DGM publishes on-line diaries by Robert Fripp and David Singleton.{{Cite web |url=https://www.dgmlive.com/word |title=Word |website=DGM Live |access-date= 24 August 2019}} A moderated forum allows fans to ask questions or to leave comments. Together, the diaries and the fan forum display delayed dialogs in which the artists and fans discuss diary-entries and forum-postings. Fripp's public writing of his diary has challenged his readers to become more active listeners and intelligent participants in performances of music.{{harvtxt|Atton|2001|p=43}}

Fripp's diaries were internationally discussed following his publication of documents from a dispute with Grooveshark, an on-line distributor of music. Fripp and Singleton complained that Grooveshark had been continuing to distribute his music, even after repeated takedown notices and other complaints. Their correspondence with Grooveshark was published by Digital Music News{{cite news|title=Grooveshark Lawsuit Reveals Details of Universal Music Group's Allegations|first=Glenn|last=Peoples|date=21 November 2011|newspaper=billboard.com|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/1159821/grooveshark-lawsuit-reveals-details-of-universal-music-groups-allegations |access-date=5 February 2021}}{{cite news |first=Rochell |last=Abonalla |date=13 October 2011 |title=King Crimson Can't Get Their Music Off of Grooveshark. So They cc'd Digital Music News… |url=https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2011/10/13/cc/ |work=Digital Music News |access-date=1 February 2021}} and in his DGM diary.{{cite web |url=https://www.dgmlive.com/news/going-going-grooveshark-gone |title=Going, Going, Grooveshark Gone |first=Sid |last=Smith |date=1 May 2015 |website=dgmlive.com |access-date=22 Mar 2021}} Fripp's exchange with Grooveshark was included in a suit against Grooveshark by Universal Music Group, which was filed in November 2011.{{cite news|title=Sony and Warner are said to sue web music service|first=Ben|last=Sisario|date=14 December 2011|newspaper=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/business/media/sony-and-warner-are-said-to-join-suit-against-grooveshark.html?_r=1|access-date=30 May 2012}}[http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-57327815-261/lawsuit-claims-grooveshark-workers-posted-100000-pirated-songs/ Lawsuit claims Grooveshark workers posted 100,000 pirated songs]. Greg Sandoval, CNET, 21 November 2011

• Lists of record labels
• P. J. Crook (Painter owning copyrights to album covers)

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/76580/zeppelins-john-paul-jones-brings-the-thunder|last=Anonymous|first=Billboard|title=Zeppelin's John Paul Jones brings the 'thunder'|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Billboard.com|date=5 March 2002}}
• {{cite journal|first=Chris|last=Atton|journal=Popular Music|year=2001|volume=20|issue=1|pages=29–46|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S0261143001001295|title='Living in the Past'?: Value discourses in progressive rock fanzines|jstor=853693|s2cid=191358373}}
• {{cite book |first=Chris|last=Atton |title=An alternative Internet|year=2004|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|pages=138–154 and 107|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZa_x8DEP_oC&q=%22Discipline+Global+Mobile%22&pg=PA154|isbn=978-0-7486-1770-8|access-date=25 March 2012}}
• {{cite magazine|title=Fripp label does it his way: Guitarist follows own muse in business, too |last=Bambarger|first=Bradley |magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-AkEAAAAMBAJ&q=Fripp+label+does+it+his+way%3A+Guitarist+follows+own+muse+in+business%2C+too&pg=PA13|volume=110|pages=13 and 86|date=11 July 1998|issue=28}}
• {{cite book|title=Bill Bruford: The autobiography: Yes, King Crimson, Earthworks, and more|first=Bill|last=Bruford|author-link=Bill Bruford|publisher=Jawbone Press|year=2009|isbn=978-1-906002-23-7}}
• {{cite journal|last=Bruns|first=Axel|title=Fight for survival: The RIAA's sustained attack on streaming media|journal=M/C Journal |volume=6|year=2003 |url=http://eprints.qut.edu.au/192/1/Bruns_Fight.PDF|pages=1–6|issue=1|doi=10.5204/mcj.2142 }} "RIAA" abbreviates "Recording Industry Association of America".
• {{cite book|last=Fripp|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Fripp|chapter=Discipline Global Mobile: A small, mobile and independent record company|type=CD booklet|title=Space Groove|others=ProjeKct Two|publisher=Discipline Global Mobile|year=1998|pages=9–10|id={{AllMusic | class =album | id = r346912 | label = Space Groove | access-date =25 March 2012}} sku DGM9801. Cited by {{harvtxt|Bruns|2003|p=3}}|chapter-url=https://www.dgmlive.com|title-link=Space Groove}}
• {{cite book|last=Fripp|first=Robert|author-link=|type=Liner notes|chapter=CD booklet|pages=3 and 17|title=Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal|others=King Crimson|publisher=Discipline Global Mobile|chapter-url=https://www.dgmlive.com|year=1998a|id={{AllMusic | class =album | id = r365425 | label = Absent Lovers | access-date =25 March 2012}} sku DGM9804|title-link=Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hegarty|last2=Halliwell|date=25 August 2011|title=Beyond and before: Progressive rock since the 1960s|first1=Paul|first2=Martin|publisher=Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-4075-4|pages=xii+328}}
• {{cite news|issue=RiskTakers|title=Robert Fripp: An appreciation|first=Ron|last=Kozar|date=23 March 2012|journal=Pop Matters|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/tools/full/150412|access-date=12 April 2012}}
• {{cite book|first=Bill|last=Martin|title=Listening to the future: The time of progressive rock, 1968–1978|isbn=0-8126-9368-X|page=376|year=1997|publisher=Open Court}}
• {{cite book

| title=The musician's Internet: On-line strategies for success in the music industry

| last=Spellman|first=Peter

| isbn=978-0-634-03586-9

| lccn=2002283637

| series=Berklee Guide, and Music business

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wAwFYg56rAYC&q=Discipline

|year=2002

|publisher=Berklee Press, and Hal Leonard Corporation

|chapter=8 Signing a deal with off-line and on-line record labels

|page=124

|access-date=25 March 2012}}

• {{cite book|chapter=9 King Crimson IV and Andy Summers: 'Discipline: The band' and 'King Crimson born again' |title=Robert Fripp: From crimson king to crafty master|first=Eric|last=Tamm|author-link=Eric Tamm (musicologist)|chapter-url=http://www.progressiveears.com/frippbook/ch09.htm|year=2003|orig-year=1990|publisher=Faber and Faber (1990)|isbn=0-571-16289-4|edition=Progressive Ears|id=[http://www.erictamm.com/rf.zip Zipped Microsoft Word Document] |access-date=25 March 2012}}

• {{cite journal|last=Fripp|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Fripp|title=The new realism: A musical manifesto for the 80s|journal=Musician, Player and Listener|volume=22|date=January 1980|page=34|id=Cited in {{harvtxt|Tamm|2003}}}}
• {{cite journal|last=Fripp|first=Robert|title=The vinyl solution|journal=Musician, Player and Listener|volume=24|date=April–May 1980|page=24|id=Cited in {{harvtxt|Tamm|2003}}|author-link=Robert Fripp}}
• {{cite journal|last=Fripp|first=Robert|title=Bootlegging, royalties, and the moment|journal=Musician, Player and Listener|volume=32|date=April–May 1981|page=28|id=Cited in {{harvtxt|Tamm|2003}}|author-link=Robert Fripp}}
• {{cite journal|last=Kirk|first=Cynthia|title=Fripp 'anti-tour' unconventional, but artist says it proves point|journal=Variety|volume=296|date=8 August 1979|page=59|id=Cited in {{harvtxt|Tamm|2003}}}}
• {{cite magazine|last=Schruers|first=Fred|title=Robert Fripp's public Exposure: The return to 'an intelligent way of listening'|magazine=Rolling Stone|volume=296|date=26 July 1979|page=16|id=Cited in {{harvtxt|Tamm|2003}}}}
• {{cite book|title=In the court of King Crimson|first=Sid|last=Smith|publisher=Helter Skelter Publishing|year=2001|isbn=1-900924-26-9}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{Discogs label|24675}}
• {{cite web|first=Steve|last=Ball|title=steveball.com—the official steve ball website|url=http://www.steveball.com|publisher=steveball.com|date=21 December 2010|access-date=25 March 2012}}

{{Robert Fripp}}

{{King Crimson}}

{{good article}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:British independent record labels

Category:Business ethics organizations

Category:Online music stores of the United Kingdom

Category:Progressive rock record labels

Category:Record labels established in 1992

Category:Robert Fripp

Category:Music production companies