Other Record Labels

What does starting a record label actually look like?
James Nixon is documenting the entire process.
James is a pianist, working parent, and the founder of Fern Rose Records. What began with sharing piano ideas online eventually turned into a plan to record the music he plays for his family, press it to vinyl, and build an independent record label around it.
In this episode, we talk about why he decided to start a label, building an audience by being genuinely useful, documenting the process publicly, turning followers into supporters, manufacturing vinyl, funding a first release, and figuring things out as you go.
It’s a great look at what starting a small record label actually looks like when you’re right in the middle of doing it.
Learn more about Fern Rose Records at fernroserecords.com.
 
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace.
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What if releasing more music is actually more important than making every release perfect?
In this episode, I make the case for quantity over quality—and why independent artists and record labels may need to rethink the traditional album cycle altogether.
We’ll talk about release frequency, building a catalogue, perfectionism, streaming momentum, and why we’re probably not very good judges of which of our own songs are actually the “best.”
This isn’t an argument for making bad music. It’s an argument for making more music, releasing more often, and giving yourself more chances to connect with listeners.
Presented by Hellbender Vinyl - hellbendervinyl.com
 

Presented by Hellbender Vinyl - http://www.hellbendervinyl.com
Poison Furrows is an underground label releasing black metal, dark folk, dark ambient, dungeon synth, and other music from the darker corners of independent music.
In this conversation, we talk about building a label around personal taste, why physical formats still matter in niche music communities, and the different roles of cassettes, CDs, and vinyl. We also get into artist relationships, pressing records, finding new music, managing the cost and risk of physical releases, and why slowing down can sometimes be an important part of building a sustainable label.

What if the best way to figure out how to promote music is to look at how you discover music yourself?
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PRESENTED BY HELLBENDER VINYL
Vinyl pressing for independent artists and record labels.
hellbendervinyl.com
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In this episode, I share a simple exercise for reverse engineering the last few records you discovered — and using those discoveries to rethink how you promote your own releases.
We talk about the weird and unpredictable ways music finds us, why there probably isn’t one perfect marketing strategy, and why effective promotion is really a combination of low-stakes, mid-stakes and high-stakes actions happening at the same time.
Instead of searching for the one big promotional win, maybe the goal is simply to give your music as many opportunities as possible to bump into the right people.
 

This week I’m talking with Patrick McCarthy and Yosuke Kitazawa of Temporal Drift, celebrating five years of one of the most fascinating independent labels around.
PRESENTED BY HELLBENDER VINYL - http://hellbendervinyl.com
We talk about building a two-person label, reissues vs. new music, licensing, release schedules, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s incredible Surround, Les Rallizes Dénudés, and how they’ve built a catalogue that can stretch from beautiful environmental ambient music all the way to abrasive Japanese psych and noise — and somehow still feel like the same label.
And we try to tackle the interesting thought: Are we eventually going to run out of incredible forgotten records to rediscover?
Check out Temporal Drift: http://temporaldrift.today
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Presented by Hellbender Vinyl - http://hellbendervinyl.com

25 Ways to Sell More Vinyl — Sponsored by Hellbender Vinyl
Pressing vinyl is the exciting part. Selling every last copy? That can take a little more creativity.
In this episode, I share 25 simple, unique ways to sell more vinyl—from hand-numbering and local variants to golden tickets, bundles, influencers, listening parties, and more. None of these ideas will sell 1,000 records overnight, but if each helps move just one or two extra copies, suddenly those boxes in your garage start disappearing.
This episode is sponsored by Hellbender Vinyl, helping independent artists and record labels bring their releases to life on vinyl. www.hellbendervinyl.com
 

What if record labels become more important in the age of AI—not less?
In this bonus episode, I explore why trusted, human-curated indie labels could become a safe harbor for music fans in a world increasingly flooded with AI—and why now might be the perfect time to build yours.
Learn more about Labelmates here: http://otherrecordlabels.com/labelmates

What happens when you combine an enormous record collection, live radio, and the community of Twitch? In this episode, I sit down with Sam from Vinyl Junkies, the creator and host of a live vinyl stream that has grown into a remarkably active online community of music obsessives.
PRESENTED BY HELLBENDER VINYL - www.hellbendervinyl.com
 
Sam broadcasts regularly from a collection of more than 13,000 records, describing Vinyl Junkies as “Social Radio”: no algorithms, just records, music discovery, and real-time conversation.
We talk about Sam’s history as a record collector, how his collecting habits have evolved, and what inspired him to start broadcasting his records online. We also dig into why people keep showing up to listen together, what he has learned about the audience and community surrounding Vinyl Junkies, and why an old physical format seems to work so well on a platform like Twitch.
 
STREAM VINYL JUNKIES: https://www.twitch.tv/vinyljunkies
 
Download my FREE Vinyl Toolkit: http://otherrecordlabels.com/vinyl