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How to Run an Indie Label: The man who discovered Oasis tells the story of Creation Records
A no-holds-barred rampage through gigs, clubs, boardrooms, drugs and booze, mad scenes, brilliant signings, machine gun quotes and a resilient wild spirit.
Music is like no other business.
It's about being at the right place at the right time, following your nose and diving in feet first. It's about being plugged into the mystical electricity and about surfing on the wild energy. It's about how to fuck up and how to survive and be sustained by the holy grail of the high decibel.
No-one captures this wild feral spirit better than Alan McGee whose helter-skelter career through music has made him a major force. Wilder than his bands, more out of control than his most lunatic singer, more driven than his contemporaries and closer in spirit to the rock'n'roll star he could never be himself, McGee was always in a rush. Creation would sign people and not just the music. McGee understood that running an indie label is mainly about the charisma, the game changers, the iconography and the story. It's about never being boring.
His ability to start a raw power ruckus brought the visceral danger back to a moribund mid-eighties music scene. His nose for danger and his ear for classic guitar rock'n'roll brought us The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fanclub and Ride before topping out in the nineties with the biggest band in the world, Oasis.
By no means a conventional instruction manual or business book, How To Run an Indie Label tells you everything you need to know about how to be a creative force.
Music is like no other business.
It's about being at the right place at the right time, following your nose and diving in feet first. It's about being plugged into the mystical electricity and about surfing on the wild energy. It's about how to fuck up and how to survive and be sustained by the holy grail of the high decibel.
No-one captures this wild feral spirit better than Alan McGee whose helter-skelter career through music has made him a major force. Wilder than his bands, more out of control than his most lunatic singer, more driven than his contemporaries and closer in spirit to the rock'n'roll star he could never be himself, McGee was always in a rush. Creation would sign people and not just the music. McGee understood that running an indie label is mainly about the charisma, the game changers, the iconography and the story. It's about never being boring.
His ability to start a raw power ruckus brought the visceral danger back to a moribund mid-eighties music scene. His nose for danger and his ear for classic guitar rock'n'roll brought us The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fanclub and Ride before topping out in the nineties with the biggest band in the world, Oasis.
By no means a conventional instruction manual or business book, How To Run an Indie Label tells you everything you need to know about how to be a creative force.
- GenresMusic
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 3, 2025
I’m a big fan of many of the bands that were on the Creation label and have a huge admiration for Alan McGee’s ability to spot talent and his antiestablishment ethic. I was therefore really looking forward to reading this book.
Having finished it my overwhelming feeling is one of disappointment. I don’t feel I know a great deal more than I did before. The book really needs some editing there’s lots of overlaps between chapters and repetition even between paragraphs on the same page.
I was hoping to learn more about some of the bands and artists that were on the label, but didn’t achieve fame to the extent of Oasis. In a 300 page book there was one fleeting reference to Momus, for example. I understand that Primal Scream and Oasis were massive bands for the label, but their stories tend to better known and tend to dominate the narrative.
I suspect that Alan McGee is a far more interesting bloke than comes across in the pages of this book; which is a real shame.
Having finished it my overwhelming feeling is one of disappointment. I don’t feel I know a great deal more than I did before. The book really needs some editing there’s lots of overlaps between chapters and repetition even between paragraphs on the same page.
I was hoping to learn more about some of the bands and artists that were on the label, but didn’t achieve fame to the extent of Oasis. In a 300 page book there was one fleeting reference to Momus, for example. I understand that Primal Scream and Oasis were massive bands for the label, but their stories tend to better known and tend to dominate the narrative.
I suspect that Alan McGee is a far more interesting bloke than comes across in the pages of this book; which is a real shame.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2024
With thanks to the author, publishers W.F. Howes Ltd., and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
Really enjoyed this behind-the-scenes view of what it took to run Creation, one of the most successful British record labels of the 80s and 90s. I didn’t know much about Alan McGee before reading this, apart from his involvement with Oasis which I heard the Gallaghers brothers speak about in a few interviews. One story stands out, where Noel talked about Oasis getting deported from the Netherlands quite early in their time with the label for getting drunk and generally causing mayhem on the ferry ride travelling to do a gig over there. Noel called McGee to tell him what had happened and said his respect for McGee was cemented by his one-word response, “Brilliant”!
This tallies completely with the impression given of McGee’s relationships with his bands in this book, where he connected with them on an artistic level rather than a business level and gave them the freedom to express themselves without limits to get the best out of them. The book captures the no-holds-barred party culture of the time, with McGee in the centre of it all, and taking it as far as any of his artists ever did.
The flow of the story felt a little disjointed at times, with the narrative jumping between timelines quite frequently, and sometimes sounding a little repetitive. This is a small criticism though and overall, with a nod to the narrator Russ Bain, this was a fantastic listen.
Really enjoyed this behind-the-scenes view of what it took to run Creation, one of the most successful British record labels of the 80s and 90s. I didn’t know much about Alan McGee before reading this, apart from his involvement with Oasis which I heard the Gallaghers brothers speak about in a few interviews. One story stands out, where Noel talked about Oasis getting deported from the Netherlands quite early in their time with the label for getting drunk and generally causing mayhem on the ferry ride travelling to do a gig over there. Noel called McGee to tell him what had happened and said his respect for McGee was cemented by his one-word response, “Brilliant”!
This tallies completely with the impression given of McGee’s relationships with his bands in this book, where he connected with them on an artistic level rather than a business level and gave them the freedom to express themselves without limits to get the best out of them. The book captures the no-holds-barred party culture of the time, with McGee in the centre of it all, and taking it as far as any of his artists ever did.
The flow of the story felt a little disjointed at times, with the narrative jumping between timelines quite frequently, and sometimes sounding a little repetitive. This is a small criticism though and overall, with a nod to the narrator Russ Bain, this was a fantastic listen.
September 3, 2024
This refers to the audio book version, which I reviewed for Netgalley
For the most part I really enjoyed this. The narrator was excellent and the listening process was very immersive. It helped that McGee talks about bands from key periods of my own life and listening to the inside take on things was highly enjoyable. The narrative became a bit fractured in places because he does hop around the time scales rather. For a while I was confused because he talked about going to rehab in 1994 and then talked about being permanently drunk in the late Nineties and it wasn't until nearly the end when he briefly addressed this. Some sections, because of the way that the chapters were organised, were a little repetitive, but otherwise this was cracking, and listening to it as Oasis announced their comeback was timely and entertaining.
For the most part I really enjoyed this. The narrator was excellent and the listening process was very immersive. It helped that McGee talks about bands from key periods of my own life and listening to the inside take on things was highly enjoyable. The narrative became a bit fractured in places because he does hop around the time scales rather. For a while I was confused because he talked about going to rehab in 1994 and then talked about being permanently drunk in the late Nineties and it wasn't until nearly the end when he briefly addressed this. Some sections, because of the way that the chapters were organised, were a little repetitive, but otherwise this was cracking, and listening to it as Oasis announced their comeback was timely and entertaining.
November 11, 2024
The book seemed like it had never been read by an editor prior to publication. A quarter of its modest page count(the font size is gigantic btw) is repetition of the same information, again and again. There is little to guide you, if your goal with picking up this book is to start up any kind of indie label/brand, McGee's advice basically boils down to - The media landscape has changed so ignore the previous chapters, and it is always best to just go with your gut- and something about making sure to be at the right place at the right time. Sure there are some great war stories scattered throughout the book, but this should have been an article in Mojo, not a standalone book.
February 8, 2025
For a short book, it is probably longer than it should have been. Some cracking stories in here, from a legend, the best one in the epilogue! I reckon if you drank a shot every time the terms "outsider', "biggest band in the world" or "supernova", you would probably have consumed more alcohol than Keith Moon did in the entirety of his life.
January 5, 2025
This is such a great book, a whirlwind conversation as though you have met him in the pub over a couple of pints and asked him, “So how did it all go then?”. Great sound bites quotes and anecdotes from someone who is uncompromising and ‘Walks his talk’. Brilliant!
February 8, 2025
Some interesting and funny tales from McGee but the book is a bit rambly and all over the place and could have done with some editing. Not a lot new here that wasn't in his last book - Creation Stories
November 12, 2024
The book got slightly repetitive with similar stories and anecdotes being repeated.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews