Lame-O Records Makes It Fun, Keeps It Relevant

No frills, back-to-basics, hard-hitting. These are all things you could use to describe the punk rock scene — and also a recent email that I received from punk record label Lame-O Records. In a community that typically spits in the face of commercialism, somebody's gotta make and sell the records, and Lame-O does a pretty good job of it, staying true to the aesthetic and values embodied by the artists they represent.

Their first-ever newsletter looks like something that was put together by someone who's running a business out of a studio apartment — which might make seasoned email marketers cringe, but will resonate with punks around the country. Intentional or not, the somewhat sloppy design plays right into Lame-O's hand. After all, even the punks need marketing, whether they know it or not.

Jeremy Zimmerman is the Editorial Assistant at Direct Marketing IQ. Reach him at jzimmerman@napco.com.

As soon as it lands in your inbox with the subject line “WELCOME FRIENDS,” you know it’s going to be good. For those that don’t feel like the label’s communications are a good fit, they present the unsubscribe option right beneath the header image: “IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE A PART OF THE VERY COOL GROUP YOU'RE ALREADY A PART OF... UNSUBSCRIBE BY REPLYING TO THIS EMAIL WITH THIS PHRASE: ‘Take your corporate bullshit outside my inbox.’” This self-parodying humor is exactly the kind of thing that makes people like me want to read on — and more importantly, not unsubscribe.

Even though it might not use a one-click unsubscribe, it's still complying with relevant anti-spam laws by giving the reader an option. As long as Lame-O is properly removing and scrubbing their lists, this is a perfectly acceptable option — and makes things more interesting than a boring "Unsubscribe from this email" hyperlink.

The email continues, telling about new Lame-O artist Lithuania. With quirky, conversational copy, the reader is drawn into hearing about the band and their forthcoming record. Telling about tour dates and a new single from the album, the copy does what it needs to and stops short of tripping over itself. There’s even a video for the new single which plays right inside the email, if you’re using a client like Gmail. “That’s the video. Right there. Look up.” urges some tongue-in-cheek copy on the next line.

There’s only a handful of clickthrough links in the email, really, and the primary one takes you to the vinyl section of Lame-O’s site. The site shares the spartan design and DIY aesthetic, letting the content — in this case, the different records that they have available for sale — do all of the necessary talking for it. When it comes to content, they’ve got plenty. For a small operation, they’ve put out a lot of successful albums. Even though the entire email might seem a bit unorthodox to seasoned email marketers, Lame-O knows their target market, and proves that there’s strength in weakness.

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Up the Punx: Lame-O Records Makes It Fun, Keeps It Relevant