Record label thrives in Delphos

1. When you are looking for an artist what do you look for? One of the things we look for is originality. We want folks that are not sound-alike. We want what is new. We’re always looking for very talented artists that have a different style of singing. What the industry is looking for right now is songwriter-artist. It saves the labels a lot of hassles when it comes to big major deals. They want the entire master, they want to license it and release it and go on to the next client.2. Is there a particular sound you look for in a new artist? I tend to lean more toward vocal ability. When you think about R & B groups like say the Isleys. When you hear a song on the radio you know it’s the Isley Brothers. If you hear Al Green, you know it’s Al Green. We look for what is not like everybody else but different than everybody else.3. Why establish your label, New Experience Records, in Delphos? The reason for that is because over the years between living in Delphos, Lima and Fort Wayne, [Ind.,] I have seen so much talent. The thing that’s bad is they have no avenue. They have no means whatsoever to get their music out other than the local band scene or the local karaoke scene. We want to provide an avenue where, hey, if you’ve got talent, you’ve got what it takes we can help you management-wise. We can shop you to other labels. This business has always been about who you know. They want people that are trained. They want people who have educated themselves on the business.4. Your label recently signed a distribution deal with Sony BMG. What will that enable your label to accomplish? I hired an agent. He shopped my CD to between 15 and 20 labels. I got eight to nine responses. One was Hollywood Records, one was Def Jam and then I got an offer from Hollywood and another label. What they did, I had to sit down and decide, I’m going to be managing artists, I’m going to be shopping artists and trying to get deals and performing myself. It basically says we believe enough in you to make your own talent, to create your own artist. We’re in a position to provide distribution and manufacturing for retail and sale. They offered to promote the CD, basically all I had to do was deliver the master to Sony. They handle the publicity. All I had to do is focus on performing and managing artists I already had signed.5. What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing a career in the music business? I would say definitely educate yourself on the business. There are a lot of pros and cons. There’s enough material out there, read it and read it and read it until you understand everything in it. It’s going to break down what management does. It’s going to break down what publishers do. When someone like me comes along that has the connections you’re going to understand fully what the publishing contract means.