THE HISTORY OF CUCA RECORDS, 1959-1973
A CASE STUDY OF AN INDEPENDENT RECORD COMPANY

by Sarah Filzen

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1998

Under the Supervision of Professor Victor R. Greene

The American recording industry has traditionally consisted of two types of companies, the so-called "majors" and the "independents." Cuca Records of Sauk City, Wisconsin conducted business from 1959 to 1973 as an independently owned and operated record company, or one that relied upon other firms to distribute and sell its recordings to the public. The independent status gave small businesses freedom but also presented inescapable distribution dilemmas which often resulted in their demise. However, the lack of extensive corporate structures also made independents into musical innovators; desperation and intense competition forced independents to find musical niches for their business. It is this innovation which makes independents important to the study of the overall music industry's history. However, scholars have rarely studied independents' histories because of the lack of available documented material; their single-owner structures and the majors' conglomeration of the industry beginning in the 1960's caused the independents to be overwhelmed and absorbed, making access to necessary business files impossible. Independent firms were caught within cycles of industry expansion and contraction and their histories reflected the pressures of the marketplace. The case study of Cuca Records examines the role of an independent within the context of recording industry history and demonstrates that technology, geography, local culture, and national economic trends all played profound roles upon the industry as a whole and shaped the experiences of an independent company attempting to compete in an often hostile and highly competitive business.