Fish / Weltschmerz ‘charts’ at Number 2

The final solo album from Fish, ‘Weltschmerz’, would stand at Number Two in the UK midweek charts, behind IDLES and ahead of the likes of Prince, Michael Kiwanuka, Machine Gun Kelly and Deftones, if the charts were actually based on proper sales.

Chart rules require distribution through specific official channels, while Fish has created, marketed and distributed the album from his home in Scotland through a self funding model.

Fish says: “I’ve been operating as an independent artist since the mid 90’s and we have adjusted to living without the machinery of the major music business with our small cottage industry since then, constantly adjusting and refining how we sell and send albums out to fans.

“With a retail sector in tatters and particularly at this moment in history when there’s little footfall in stores, having a mail order set up operating out of the studio where we live has been a life saver.

“We were nervous at the pre-ordering and servicing of my new and final studio album ‘Weltschmerz’ due to the huge global interest and had taken on the services of leisure management system provider Fuse Metrix to create new software to deal with the ever more complicated postage and customs demands worldwide.

“All copies of the album are packed and mailed out by myself, my wife Simone and a small team of helpers.

“Perhaps some might find it highly unusual for an artist to be so hands on but the music industry has substantially changed since I signed to EMI back in 1982 and I realised a long time ago that I had to evolve and become a lot more self-sufficient if I was to continue my career.

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“Being able to maximise my earnings and simultaneously keep the operating costs you’d normally associate with a big record company to a minimum has meant I don’t have to rely on crowdfunding schemes and can have the resources to support the writing, recording and manufacture of albums with the quality of ‘Weltschmerz’, as well as pay for outside press and promotion agencies to let people know of its existence.

“It’s a lot of work and a lot of organisation but the levels of satisfaction are immense. I’m proud that as an independent operation based in Scotland with a small dedicated and enthusiastic team and with tremendous support from my fans – who are incredibly engaged with me through social media – that we have managed to achieve the equivalent of a ‘phantom’ number 2 midweek position for the ‘Weltschmerz’ album in the UK national charts.

“It’s disappointing that it won’t be officially recognised but we know ourselves what we have achieved and in amongst the ‘forest’ of cardboard packaging strewn throughout our house there are people with big smiles today!!”

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