Shifty Records in Apartheid South Africa: Innovations in Independent Record Company Resistance

Abstract

In 1980s South Africa the profit-making motives and generally cumbersome nature of major record companies limited their ability to release music which seriously criticised apartheid (especially in light of the censorship practices of the SABC and, to a lesser extent, direct state intervention). However, independent record companies had the potential to resist these forces given the way they were able to operate in a more innovative way than the majors because of their more immediate modus operandi. Certainly, the operation of independent record company Shifty Records varied significantly from the majors. Shifty’s musicians were given substantial freedom with respect to the production of their material while Shifty Records made use of a number of strategies which made it possible for the company to operate within a very restrictive and censorial environment. These included securing foreign funding, using a mobile studio, putting together innovative compilation albums and supporting the alternative Afrikaans Voëlvry tour. This enabled Shifty to record a variety of musicians who otherwise would not have been recorded. This paper explores the development of Shifty Records and how it positioned itself as a resistant independent record company in opposition to both the majors and the state.