unref: date=June 2008

Nettwerk is a large Vancouver, British Columbia based record label and music management firm. The label was founded in 1984 by Terry McBride, Mark Jowett, and Brad Saltzberg in McBride's small Vancouver apartment, initially to release albums by Jowett's band Moev. Saltzberg eventually sold his share of Nettwerk to Ric Arboit. Additional branches of Nettwerk exist in New York City, Los Angeles, London UK, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg, Germany.

Artists

The label specializes in alternative music acts, particularly in genres such as industrial music, electronica, and folk-rock, releasing albums by both Canadian and international artists in those genres.

Artists that have recorded on the label include the following:

• Aliqua
• Alpha
• Autour de Lucie
• Be Good Tanyas
• Bel Canto
• Boxcar
• BT
• By Divine Right
• Consolidated
• Delerium
• Doubting Thomas
• Econoline Crush
• Erin McKeown
• The Grapes of Wrath
• Great Lake Swimmers
• Guster
• HEM
• Jars of Clay
• Jenny Owen Youngs
• Jolie Holland
• Josh Rouse
• Ladytron
• Lava Hay
• Luce
• MC 900 Ft. Jesus
• Miranda Lee Richards
• Nataraj XT
• Nathan
• Po' Girl
• Ron Sexsmith
• Rose Chronicles
• Sarah McLachlan
• Severed Heads
• Single Gun Theory
• Sixpence None the Richer
• Skinny Puppy
• Sparrow Quartet
• Tara MacLean
• Tara Maclean
• The Hermit
• Trespassers William
• Uh Huh Her

Nettwerk managed artists

Nettwerk also manages a number of artists, including the Barenaked Ladies and Avril Lavigne, who do not release their records on the label. Other artists under Nettwerk Management include Kinky (band), The Pipettes, Leigh Nash, Anathallo, Dido, Bombay Bicycle Club, MC Lars, Fear of Music, Sixpence None the Richer, Treble Charger, All Saints, Brand New, State Radio, Robert Post, The Be Good Tanyas, The Old Crow Medicine Show, Gob, and The Format.

Nettwerk and the RIAA

Nettwerk has joined the fight against the RIAA by offering to pay the legal fees of a teenager in Texas who is being sued for downloading songs. They will also pay any fines if it loses the case. The label came in contact with the teen when she wrote to MC Lars (who is managed by Nettwerk) about his song "Download this Song."

Nettwerk further sells actual MP3 music files for singles and FLAC music files for certain albums from its artists, and artists it manages, directly from its Web site. While these files are generally priced at 99 cents as many online music files are (including those from iTunes and most songs from Amazon MP3), these files do not include any digital rights management. Hence, unlike files purchased from Napster but similar to iTunes Plus—unprotected songs purchased from iTunes—these files allow consumers the freedom to copy the songs they purchase to any other device of theirs.