Venerable “indie” (they own publishing rights to some High School Musical songs, which is very un-indie) label Downtown records has signed a distribution deal with Fontana and Interscope that will increase the visibility and distribution of acts like Cold War Kids, Amanda Blank, Eagles of Death Metal, and Kid Sister.
The new deal ends Downtown’s alliance with Atlantic Records (except for pre-exisiting deals involving Gnarls Barkley and Kevin Michael), and will last for three years.
Some of the smaller groups on Downtown (like Santogold, Justice, and Brett Dennen) will still be distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance, instead of Interscope.
The first album under the new deal is Cold War Kids forthcoming Loyalty to Loyalty, due out on September 23. [Billboard]
