Record sales are down, music piracy is alive and well, and the death rattle for the traditionally distributed album started shakin' some time ago. Suffice to say, an independent record label can consider itself fortunate if the doors remain open for business these days. And while reaching the 10-year mark isn't exactly an anomaly; it's nonetheless an impressive feat--particularly when said label is not only in business, but also profiting.

Enter Sam Valenti IV and his Ghostly International label, who recently celebrated a decade's worth of making and releasing music worldwide with parties in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the latter of which is a center of longstanding support for the label.
"San Francisco was one of the first cities to embrace [Ghostly] and its artists," says Valenti. "[It's] always been a great city to play in."

Valenti founded the label in 1999 in his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan after meeting producer and DJ Matthew Dear at a party. The two discovered a mutual affinity for electronic music that soon led to the label's first release, Dear's "Hands Up for Detroit" single.

Since then, Ghostly has let loose ample releases from techno artists like Tad Mullinix, Solvent, and Legowelt, but the label was not bred to sit solely under the electronic music umbrella.

"The idea was received well, but it took a minute for the industry and fans to realize that a label could do these different styles of music," explains Valenti. "There were some people who didn't like the approach, but once they realized we were sincere about it and kept standards high, some changed their tune."

Ghostly's catalog now includes everything from avant-garde hip-hop by Mullinix, weirdo-pop by London-based outfit, The Chap, and straightforward indie-rock courtesy of Midwest Product--not to mention the glitchy, beat-driven sounds of recent signee Michna.

"You really learn a lot when building from the ground up and it revolves around the support of a strong cast of characters," says Valenti.

Being an initial supporter of the label, it makes sense that San Francisco is also home to some of those characters. Ryan Bishop and Ryan Fitzgerald--who collectively produce as Broker/Dealer-- first brought their minimal techno sounds to Ghostly in 2004, with the "Opening Night/After Hours" single. More recently, Scott Hansen joined the crew and continues to record ambient IDM (intelligent dance music) under his Tycho guise.

One of Ghostly's most prominent artists is the San Francisco-based and highly prolific Christopher Willits, an innovator of avant-garde indie rock and an undisputed genius when it comes to pulling curious sounds out of otherwise ordinary instruments.

"The music and art I make is really diverse, so it's always been a challenge to find a label that not only gets it all, but has the brains and flexibility to promote it properly," says Willits. "Ghostly--although still finding its strength in diversity--has done this well."

Willits is right in professing he's found an apt home at Ghostly. This is, after all, a label that hands out free MP3s the way meter maids on Haight Street give parking tickets, collaborates with TV networks instead of major labels, and has released compilations on USB drives instead of CDs.

"We've tried to embrace the changes with starting a digital label and encouraging thoughtful piracy," nods Valenti. "Being mindful of the entire music landscape instead of just record sales is important to be able to sustain."

With no lavish plans for the next decade, Valenti & Co. simply hope to see Ghostly continue to float-on unrestricted from genre and classification--ever diversifying their roster and defining themselves as a culture brand, rather than your run-of-the-mill label.

"I'd love to see it continue to thrive and expand in the right directions," says Valenti.

"[With] Ghostly Stores in Tokyo, L.A., N.Y.C., and of course, Ann Arbor."