Hello! Welcome to the 251/Dissonance Records MySpace Page. Please feel free to also visit the 251/Dissonance Records Website/Online Store .
My name is Ryan Byrne , and I'm the founder/owner of 251/Dissonance Records. 251 Records and Dissonance Records function mostly as small vanity labels for the various musical projects that I am involved in. But I also do some small-scale sales/marketing/promotion work for other small indie-label and unsigned artists/bands.
I run my little business part-time from my home in Nashville, Tennessee, and borrow a little "office space" at my parents' business, Byrne Auto Center & Corner Store, in Gorham, New Hampshire, where they are nice enough to receive my mail and store and ship product for me.
Though 251 Records and Dissonance Records are technically two separate entities (see bios below) specializing in different genres of music, I basically operate them together as one business with different departments for efficiency's sake.
Following is a brief bio for myself, as well as a separate bio/history for both 251 Records and Dissonance Records.
About Ryan Byrne
Ryan Byrne is a bassist/vocalist/songwriter/saxophonist residing in Nashville, Tennessee. A New Hampshire native, Ryan enjoys keeping close ties to the people and music of the Granite State. His primary musical engagement these days is that of bassist for Stephen Cochran & The New Country Outlaws. He is a founding member of veteran New Hamphire powerpop/punk/rock'n'roll band, Nostalgic Distortion , and has also performed and recorded as a solo artist.About Dissonance Records
Dissonance Records was co-founded in 1995 by Ryan Byrne and John Girouard as the vanity recording label and merchandising arm of their Plymouth, New Hamphsire-based indie-rock band, Nostalgic Distortion. Within a short time they had established a business relationship with about 25 independent and small-chain music retailers throughout their home state, creating a distribution route that was serviced on a regular basis. To offset the cost of distributing their own product, Dissonance began to distribute product under contract for other small labels and unsigned artists. Ryan and John built attractive counter-top racks to display their products and acquired prime retail spots next to the registers in their partner stores. Ryan drove from store to store and provided rack-jobber/merchandising services and John handled most of the paperwork on the business end. Dissonance began to gain some local/regional brand name recognition and used that recognition to reach an agreement with another local band to release their debut CD on the Dissonance label. In 1997, John had to part ways with Nostalgic Distortion and eventually with Dissonance so as to be able to focus on other aspects of his life. Ryan and John dissolved the official "partnership" status of the small business so that Ryan could legally re-register it as a sole-proprietorship, but the two remain good friends to this day.
A lot of changes have turned the world of music retail upside down since 1995. A great majority of the independent music stores that Ryan used to drive around to have succumbed to the increasing pressure of the ever-tightening stranglehold of the corporate music-retail giants. Now some of those same music-retail giants have been slayed by a combination of big-box-retailers/mass-merchants who keep reaching farther into the music retail and distribution chain and, of course, the digital music revolution.
Dissonance Records continues to operate not only as the vanity recording label and merchandising arm of Nostalgic Distortion, but also to a small extent in the marketing/sales/promotion of musical recordings/merchandise for other small indie/vanity labels and unsigned artists. Due to the lack of independently-owned Mom & Pops record stores that used to be its main distribution partners, Dissonance now concentrates on the online-sales aspect of the business.
About 251 Records
251 Records was originally formed in 2003 as the vanity label for Ryan Byrne's solo folk/rock CD-single, "Good Night Boss", a musical tribute to the loss of New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain. Ryan has now expanded the role of 251 Records to small-scale marketing/sales/promotion services for musical recordings/merchandise for other small indie/vanity labels and unsigned artists representing rock/country/folk genres.
CDS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE THROUGH 251/DISSONANCE RECORDS
The CDs listed below are available for purchase from the 251/Dissonance Records Online Store (www.251dissonancerecords.com).
AVAILABLE CD TITLES AND PRICES
For more information about or to purchase any of the following CDs, please visit the 251/Dissonance Records Website/Online Store (251dissonancerecords.com).
Byrne, Ryan "Good Night Boss"..................................................$3.99
Heavens To Murgatroid "Cyclop Pop".........................................$12.00
Heavens To Murgatroid "(Self-Titled)"........................................$12.0 0
Nostalgic Distortion "Bad Little Monkey".....................................$10.00
Nostalgic Distortion "The Spaghetti Accident?"..............................$8.00
October Sons, The "Paint The Town October" ............................$10.00
October Sons, The "Sessions" ..................................................$6.00
Peters, Chris "All The More We Know".........................................$9.00
Various Artists "PLAYhahd Volume 3: Swallow Our Bliss"..............$12.00
Shipping Fees/Info
$1.00 Per CD Flat Rate!
Sales/Shipping rates and service apply to the Continental U.S.A. only. All items will be shipped from one of the 251/Dissonance office/storage locations (Gorham, NH or Nashville, TN) and sent via USPS First Class mail or UPS. Most items will ship within 1 to 3 business days, but please allow 2 to 3 weeks to receive your order before calling to inquire about lost orders/shipments. If you have not received your order after 3 weeks then please call or email us at the contact info provided below.
Contact Us
*For Customer-Service Issues (such as lost or damaged orders/shipments)*To Inquire About Having Your Music Sold through 251/Dissonance Records
*Or For Any Other Questions That We May Help You With,
Please Contact Us At:
Email:
[email protected]
Voice Mail:
(615) 594-2209
(Please leave a message as calls are screened. Calls regarding legitimate business concerns or customer service issues will be returned.)
Website:
251dissonancerecords.com
MySpace:
myspace.com/251dissonancerecords
Snail Mail:
251/Dissonance Records
C/O Byrne Auto Center & Corner Store
114 Main St.
Gorham, NH 03581