Dave Heckman, 68, of Philadelphia, an digital, industrial and darkwave audio entrepreneur who owned the music retailer Electronic Underground, and the founder and president of Metropolis Records, died Friday, July 29, of cardiac arrest at Pennsylvania Clinic.

Despite the fact that he did not perform an instrument or sing himself, Mr. Heckman had a enjoy and an ear for unbiased new music, and his dedication and ability as an entrepreneur led him to open Electronic Underground on Fifth Road amongst South and Lombard Streets in 1991, and discovered Metropolis Information in 1993 in the back of the retailer and basement of his home.

He went on to increase Metropolis to include 12 entire-time personnel, a distribution warehouse in Essington, and virtually 1,300 releases. He obtained the catalogs of several other labels, and represented far more than 200 artists from close to the earth, including bands this sort of as Belgium’s Entrance 242, Canada’s Entrance Line Assembly, Germany’s KMFDM, and England’s Bauhaus.

“I’m proudest about having little bands that sell 1,000 copies and turning them into a band that sells 30,000 to 50,000,” he informed artdesigncafe.com in 2010.

By 2000, Metropolis experienced turn out to be North America’s most noteworthy distributor of electronic, darkwave, and industrial audio and artwork, and environment-huge individuals credited Mr. Heckman with supplying audio they usually located challenging to come across.

“Metropolis produced it achievable to wander into a small file retail store on the other facet of the world and uncover the music you required to listen to,” a lover wrote in an on line tribute. A further mentioned: “Dave, we never fulfilled, but you actually aided young me come across an identity.”

Audio writers termed his impact “unparalleled” and his achievements “staggering.” He was hailed as “one of Philadelphia’s paragons of independent songs and an avatar of the darkwave/electronic scene” by A.D. Amorosi in Dosage magazine, and Gail DeLong, his spouse and company associate, said: “He was way ahead of the curve.”

In a 2008 job interview with Igloo journal, Mr. Heckman stated the high-quality of music he distributed was just as critical as the amount of income. “We’ve of course put out a great deal of releases,” he claimed. “But…