Dogpatch Press

What if there was a convention for furry musicians? For BLFC 2018, a furry musical was created and performed there (and it wasn’t the first of its kind.) Imagine that kind of energy every year. Sustaining it would take a thriving scene with room for its own publishers.

But what is furry music? Why is it furry? A Dogpatch Press Q&A series asked musicians to explain. Some use animal themes or perform in fursuit. Some just share a social circle. Many music scenes work that way, so you don’t even need to ask why. A show takes a crowd after all. What kind of energy could they bring to a con? Furry DJ spots have a lot of competition, and musicians have played live for hundreds of fans at cons. Think: Matthew Ebel, NIIC The Singing Dog, or Fox & Pepper (who racked up $38,000 in crowdfunding for an album!) Some get lots of views, compose for films, and reach outside the fandom. FWA 2019 made brief crossover with mainstream act Mystery Skulls. Furry musicians are also collaborating to put out compilations.

That makes a scene with potential. Now they’re taking another step forward with a netlabel. So blow a horn and start a howl for FUZZNET MUSIC!

What’s a netlabel?

Traditional record labels are publishers that recruit artists, invest in development, handle legal matters like contracts and copyright, pay royalties, do marketing, get stuff on the radio, and maintain distribution as a brand. Getting a deal with one can make a music career. (Sometimes they’re also the villains in contract feuds, with artists from Prince to Kesha.) There were 6 “majors” in the 90’s and now there’s 3. It’s a sign of consolidation that threatens to melt all music into the term used by pros: “cack”. But small indie labels can carry a banner for a scene or sound.

If you throw away physical products and keep it digital, that’s a netlabel. Also get rid of most staff and finances so one person can run it. Netlabels.org links a 2011 article about their potential to democratize the music business. That’s an opinion from a time when people had rosy views about social media… before the rise of fake news, troll cyberwar, and Ted Nugent’s favorite president. In 2020, business might not seem so easy with Spotify taking over, but there’s still plenty of music supporters doing it for love. That’s what starts a furry netlabel.

A vision for how to benefit furry musicians.

“Music is one of, if not THE most underrated and ignored creative section of the furry community. This is explainable by the fact that from all categories of creativity, music is far away from what you think of first when thinking about furries. For the most part, if it weren’t for furry album covers, oddly fursona-like name or occasional lyrics, there isn’t anything to really connect the dots.” — Fuzznet.world

Connecting the dots is what a netlabel can do. Then DIY-ers don’t have to be so alone and their platform can be run by an insider.

Currently there are 25 artists on board for Fuzznet and the funding comes from Patreon. Who is the founder and what was the inspiration? 

“Hi! I’m Finn. A 22 year old raccoon from Germany, in the furry community since 2016. I’m super enthusiastic about it, since it has a very dear meaning to me and my life. I’d say I’m quite a nice chap with lots of emphasis on the “wholesome” vibe. I sure am a pretty positive person. I work in Marketing and Design, and worked in IT in the past which gives me a little background for the stuff I do.

Fuzznet Music is another branch of my already existing Fuzznet “brand”. Fuzznet itself is meant to be a growing hub for all things furry. I started with my own things like art and videos, and slowly expanded on it with blogs, curated projects, group chats and various little bits on Twitter. Now the music branch is the most recent and so far biggest project yet.

The inspiration behind it is the fact that any media in the fandom that isn’t visual (say Artworks and Animation) is kind of almost ignored or exists in the shadows. But there are a lot of incredibly talented furries making music, so this netlabel is meant to unite the talent under one roof with proper marketing and official distribution. Working together and releasing on unified platforms can benefit everyone on board better than being scattered all over. 🙂

We do have a Patreon! It’s the main Fuzznet Patreon that works as the main funding point for all my projects, including this one. It’s there to pay bills, hosting, time, marketing as well as fund future projects. I release my original designs and our team’s original sound files there.”

Check out music on Fuzznet and look for an extended Q&A with Finn soon. And how about some furry lyrics?

More:

• What is furry music? Q&A with musicians.
• The Furry Music Anthology releases “A Song Of Your Sona” and “New Horizons: The Anthrology Vol. II”
• The Forgotten History of the Furry Musical, Part 1: Yiff!/< furReality > and Part 2: Furry Tales
• Interview with LyricWulf, a top furry Youtuber who shares the positive power of music.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, please follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Use these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for anything — or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)