In , Standby was offered to me by an old management client and that started the label side of things. How did StandBy Records come to fruition? He had started Standby in Toledo, Ohio and had a handful of bands signed in In mid , I decided to buy Standby and we went out, secured distribution, signed more bands and went full time. How did you discover Black Veil Brides? Neil: The band was originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. I dug the new song. The song was great and I reached out to his Dad who managed the band.
Andy and I spoke on several occasions via the phone and discussed his outlook on music, his vision for his band, etc. The rest is history. How did Jason Flom become involved with the band? They balked. Andy had a huge following already online and it was growing exponentially every day.
We had the band poised to go into the studio and record We Stitch These Wounds and we started fielding emails and calls from a few majors. We put out the record and it debuted at number 1 on the Independent Charts on Billboard. At that time we had more labels asking about the band and if they were available.
I got a call from Jason Flom who seemed, genuinely, the most interested in the band. We still have the band under contract and could have blocked any and all comers and just make them stay with Standby. We wanted and needed a partner, long term, with a larger label that understood we were a smaller indie with a bigger vision. Many unsigned artists reading this site want to know: Does Standby Records accept unsolicited material? Neil: We do, just email info standbyrecords.
What advice would you give to people wanting to start working the music industry? Neil: Tony Brummel gave me great advice. I sacrificed time with my family, a marriage, a credit score, etc. If you truly have a passion for music you will work through anything. A lot of kids now are asking whether they should go to school like a Full Sail for things like management, etc.
I can tell you I hire people based on work ethic and hunger. If you are willing to work 24 hours a day and actually learn, then that is more important than book smarts. What advice would you give upcoming indie label owners? Neil: The label side of things are in a quandary at this time. I was lucky enough not to have started in relying on the physical world as a label.
Those labels that did are having a hard time making the change to the digital world. I would say, find bands you love, start small and brand your label. If you have the resources to put a team around you make sure they are in it for the long haul and hungry. Most importantly, get a good attorney to insure your agreements are in order and you are protected. What were the integral parts of StandBy Records success? But overall, I think the brand of Standby is the ultimate success. We are building the Rock and Roll 2.
We are looking at the big picture and I think that message is getting out and part our success. I also think the honesty in which we run the label and the closeness to our bands is a huge part of the success. Ask bands like Modern Day Escape, they have full access to me and I think that allows bands a breather. If they need something, we find it. That is a huge part of Standby. Music sales have grown.
Do you see this as an ongoing trend? Neil: Being a label owner for only 4 years our sales have continually gone up. The world will continue to grow bigger by population and more music will be made so in the case of numbers, it will always grow. That could be a game changer. Maybe everything will just be in the cloud and there will be no ownership. I can only hope that our brand and our bands make people want to be part of the ownership type of the music world. Neil: I heard, or read that, but then I saw them deny those rumors.
Also, CDs still do amount for over half of all sales, so they would be shooting themselves in the foot for not producing a physical CD. Is this a good thing for the music industry? Neil: Competition is best in my opinion. That makes capitalism work. It also makes bands and labels work harder. If it ultimately boils down to one or two labels, I think that will hurt. One will have a majority market share, the other will always be second. That is why I like seeing a lot more indies gaining momentum.
Some labels choose to not ingest their releases on Spotify. How do you feel about this strategy? We appreciate you giving us an ear to blast music in. One Love! Enlarge Black Collar Workers. Sponsored Links from Across the Internet. Related Articles Black Collar Workers 0. Black Collar Workers 0. Viral Vomit 0.
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