Week #2 // Putyouon Music Group: "Record Label" vs. "Label"

+ more insight from the upcoming curators guide

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Last week I said:

“Next week I’m gonna break down the difference between a label and a record label, and how I’m applying this thought process to Putyouon Music Group.

So lets get into it.

In the infant stages of building putyouon, I realized pretty quickly that solely music discovery isn’t a sustainable business. So many companies have gone under after relying on this, haven’t migrated from being a hobby for the founders, or had to rely on ads and pay to play to survive. So I have always been focussed on building out putyouon with multiple revenue streams that have the potential for scale that doesn’t involve nickel and diming artists:

• putyouon Radio (sponsors and partnerships)

• playlist parties and pop ups (sponsors and partnerships)

• merch drops (hats and hoodies)

• consulting (content and playlist building)

The next (and biggest) move for building a sustainable music business is to get into the record side of the music industry. But I hated how (most) record labels were operating. Then I came across a blog post that would change the way I thought about labels, how they operate, and how I plan on leading a shift to the future label model. It was by the founder of Kickstarter, Yancey Strickler. He said:

I was reading a book called Our Band Could Be Your Life by the journalist Michael Azerrad. The book lovingly tells the origin stories of indie rock and punk rock in America… On this reading I was especially struck by the record labels — classic indie labels like Touch & Go, Dischord, K Records, Matador — and how much they did with just one person or a tiny team. They found and signed artists. They provided artists with creative, financial, and production support. They physically manufactured and distributed records. They helped them go on tour. They promoted their work and the larger scene.

When I read this I immediately connected the dots to how this describes what putyouon embodies. I went and downloaded the audio book of This Band Could Be Your Life and listened to the whole book that week.

I came to the realization that I want to operate putyouon like the punk rock labels in the 70’s and 80’s. Underground shows (playlist parties + pop ups). Full service promotion (the putyouon platform), distribution (label partner), and creative (me, the artist, and other creators). A small team (I’ve been a one man band for four years, and just recently hired a Head of Events and Partnerships) hand packing my way to helping artists grow and investing in their success.

Today we associate record labels with major labels and their poor reputation of corporate feel, predatory 85-15 deals (85% of the share in revenue goes to the label), and shelving artists. But projects like putyouon is distinct from the 20th century labels we’re used to. And on top of that, today a LOT of labels really… don’t do much (but some do a great job). They hope their artists have a viral moment on TikTok, put money into influencers and hope something pops off, and if it doesn’t they say they tried but “the music just isn’t connecting”.

Record Label: Company who invests money and resources into as many artists as possible to market and develop their craft in hopes of 10% of their artists popping off and paying for the 90% who don’t.

“Sign 30 artists in the first 3 months, one will work, and 29 will stop calling” - Actual quote form a record label exec who I will not name

Label: A broader name engrained in the culture that builds a movement and valued brand within music that has multiple cultural outputs (not just simply records but cultural outputs like content, events, art, and inspiration), works with a small batch of artist that they can directly impact, moves quickly and efficiently, has a community who trusts them, and is just simply… cooler.

So how does this all connect?

Label Partner

When I became an A&R at TH3RD BRAIN (3B) in 2021- it was my first time working in the music industry. It was such an eye opening opportunity. I realized a lot of things, but the most important thing I learned was how impactful myself and other curators were to artists. One high performing post and playlist add by me had a good chance of do more for a record than a 5k marketing budget.

And if there was a time that a budget was deployed that would perform better than my efforts- 9/10 times it came from another creator. I knew 2 things:

• I’m going to create a way to find and empower new and future music curators (this was when I planned my creation of the Music Curator Guide. Get yours here)

• I’m going to build a creator led, content driven label

• I’m going to open the eyes of artists who realize that success can come from a smaller team that is directly impacting their career vs outsourcing ($$) this impact

So many creator entrepreneurs are crushing it in their respective fields. Skincare, Beverages, Clothing, workout supplements. But when it comes to the record industry, no one has done a great job yet. I want to be the first. And then show other music curators how to do the same.

When working at 3B, I was seeing in real time the impact curators had on the music industry. Fun fact: I first posted about stutter house when talking about my artist Angrybaby’s first release with 3B “Hold You” and it did so well that I created a playlist for it, continued to post about this new style of music, promoted countless new artists, changed some careers, and a new genre was born… thats MASSIVE value to Angrybaby and what helped his career start to bubble. See where I’m going with this?

So I knew that this would result in me running my own label one day. It was too obvious. What if there were 5 more of me at the label? We would be COOKING. So, I quit.

But I didn’t leave 3B. I negotiated a joint venture with them where I could build a roster of artists I loved with my A&R skills I learned from my 2.5 years at 3B.

In a later post I’ll break down my exact game plan on Putyouon Music Group in greater detail- but I know I wont try and sign 100 artists. I will have a small roster of artists I can focus on simultaneously and can help organically grow and empower through my network and foundation I’ve built. I believe artists should be signing to people who can immediatly impact their careers. Who have a trusted reputation of music and the artists they are promoting… i.e music curators.

So with the upcoming release of the Music Curator Guide, I want to cultivate a much bigger group of creators who are helping push along the modern way music is discovered and enjoyed, and how the future labels are built. In the guide I talk about The Value Of Curators and Their Playlists in chapter 4.

Like mentioned before, the music industry is changing very fast. Music curators are the new radio DJ’s. The new YouTube Channels. The new Music Blogs. “Tastemakers” if you will. In fact, in 2020 a headline that would change my life from Rolling stone read: “The Future of Music Journalism… is on TikTok”- Rolling Stone Magazine

They went on to talk about how artists were blowing up during quarantine by what they referred to as “TikTok music blogs” - or - music curators as we now call them.

-Music Curator Guide

This will be a massive unlock for people interested in starting their journey into being a curator. But the first couple chapters are meant to break down the shift that has happened the last three years in music, and why curators are

the biggest shift in the music industry since streaming.

-Music Curator Guide

Next week I’m going to talk about what we’re cooking up with events and the music club, and why everyone is throwing pop ups nowadays. I’m gonna show you the playbook on why pop ups are the most valuable thing artists can be doing in today’s music climate. And how you can come to all of them if you’re in the music club.

-Steve