As a Creative Commons record label, we believe in free and open source software and processes. We therefore use free and open source software as much as we are able as well as actively contributing back to the community.

Ribcage is our homegrown record label management tool, that operates as a plugin for WordPress. It allows us to manage our artists, their releases and the downloads these entail. Everything you see on this site is run using Ribcage.

We are currently re-writing the code completely for a version 2.0 which we will release under the GPL. We are intending to bootstrap this in a rapid development way and have created WordPress Abstract, a series of object-orientated utility libraries to make rapid development easier (for example the creation of custom post types). We envision this to be released in June 2012. We welcome contributions to development through Github.

The current version, which is not fully ready for production use outside of our own site (though some do) can be downloaded from our Github repository, which is also the best place to see ongoing development.

Anyone who can install WordPress and the Ribcage WordPress plugin can pretty much make their own record label that runs along similar lines to Records On Ribs. We hope this will democratise music production and distribution to a previously unprecedented extent.

We have also made additions to the code base of the WordPress plugin Events Manager to accommodate our use and developed a command line interface to SoundCloud to facilitate mass uploads. The WordPress theme for this site is also open source.

Ribcage Features

  • Management of artists, releases, reviews associated with those releases and press cuttings associated with artists. Upload artwork easily via your browser and have it resized.
  • Supports uploads of MP3, Ogg Vorbis and FLAC files for releases – checks tags are correct and zips into release packages.
  • Artists can list their upcoming gigs and other events.
  • RSS feeds for individual artists’ releases and releases for the label as a whole.
  • Press areas for hosting one sheets and high quality artwork.
  • Widgets for recent and forthcoming releases.
  • Integration with Paypal for donations and purchases of physical versions of the releases.
  • Every element of the plugin is themable to integrate seamlessly with your WordPress theme.
  • Flash MP3 player as well as releases and individual tracks streamable as M3U and XSPF.
  • Tracks downloads of releases and provides detailed statistics.
  • Integrates with an external Bittorrent tracker (for example Clearbits).
  • Interfaces with the Musicbrainz database to ensure data is consistently accurate throughout the internet, including on Last.fm
  • Microformats throughout – hAudio, hReview, hProduct, hCalendar.
  • Loads of other highly advanced functions.

You can also contact us if you are interested in learning more about Ribcage.