Other Record Labels

Email marketing might be the most boring topic in the music industry… and also the most profitable.

PRESENTED BY LANDR - get.landr.com/otherrecordlabels

In this episode, Scott breaks down why email lists remain the most powerful marketing tool for record labels and indie artists — even in a world obsessed with TikTok, reels, and algorithms.

While platforms come and go, email has quietly remained the most reliable way to reach fans, sell records, and stay top of mind.

Scott explains why email consistently outperforms social media in ROI and conversions, and walks through the five simple steps any label can use to start building an email list today.

If you run a record label or release music as an independent artist, this might be the most important marketing strategy you're overlooking.

Step 1. Gather Any Email Address You Have

Step 2. Get New Emails

Step 3. Get an Email Tool

Step 4. Create an Email Schedule

Step 5. Stay Consistent And Grow Slow

 

***Get FREE Email Marketing Resources at http://otherrecordlabels.com/emailmarketing

“Here’s some weird fruit. Trust me — once you bite into it, you’ll love it.”

What if your record label operated like a farmers market for strange, exotic fruit?

PRESENTED BY LANDR - get.landr.com/otherrecordlabels

In this episode, I sit down with Aaron of Weird Fruit Records, a Santa Cruz-based label born out of pandemic farming, unconventional recording spaces, and a love for music that’s just a little… weird.

We talk about:

Why “weird” is a compliment

Recording inside hollowed-out redwood trees

Building a label around production and collaboration

The per-project label model (instead of restrictive long-term deals)

Balancing artistry, engineering, and marketing

Why some music needs to slow down before it’s released

This is a conversation about creativity without handcuffs — and how to introduce listeners to music they didn’t know they were ready for.

In this episode, I break down four deceptively simple rules inspired by Make Your Own Rules by Andrew Huang — rules that every creative entrepreneur, indie artist, and record label owner needs to understand:

Do things you want to do

Don’t do things you want to do

Do things you don’t want to do

Don’t do things you don’t want to do

Confusing? Good.


PRESENTED BY LANDR: landr.com/otherrecordlabels

 

These four ideas will completely reshape how you prioritize your time, evaluate opportunities, set boundaries, and build something truly original.

If you run a label, make records, or consider yourself DIY — this episode is about the daily decisions that quietly determine your long-term success.

 

Book Recommends: http://otherrecordlabels.com/books

“Twenty years as an artist prepared me to serve other artists better.”

This week on Other Record Labels, Scott sits down with Chris Kelly, founder of Alt Dub Records, a UK-based dub techno label that’s been quietly selling out vinyl releases and building serious momentum in under two years.

Presented by LANDR - landr.otherrecordlabels.com

 

Chris is an artist-first label owner with decades of experience in sound, design, and culture — and it shows. In this wide-ranging, unplanned conversation, we dig into Chris’s musical roots, his obsession with imperfection, how strong branding and genre focus fuel demand, and why patience (especially with vinyl) is one of the hardest skills to learn as a label owner.

www.altdub.com

bandcamp.altdub.com

Why aren’t your records selling?

This week, I’m breaking down five common reasons your CDs, tapes, vinyl (and even your streams) might be stuck… and what to do about it.

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Presented by LANDR - http://landr.com/otherrecordlabels

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No, I’m not promising you’ll magically sell out overnight. But I do believe in the compound effect: a bunch of small 1% improvements that add up—going from no sales → a few sales → more sales → “okay wait… this is working.”

Everything in this episode comes from a mix of my own experience, the labels I’ve interviewed and learned from, and one underrated perspective: I’m also a buyer. I’m constantly checking out new music, adding albums to Apple Music, ordering on Bandcamp, digging through stores… and I can’t tell you how often a label makes it weirdly difficult to even listen to the music, let alone buy it.

So here are the five reasons your records aren’t moving:

You make it really hard
If people can’t instantly hear what you do and instantly find where to buy it, you’re losing them. Fast.

You’re not asking (explicitly)
Press is great—but are you actually selling to retailers, distros, and your buyer list? One post isn’t a campaign.

Your package is unappealing
Artwork, presentation, bundling, and the whole campaign vibe matter more than most labels want to admit.

Your pricing structure is off
Too high, too low, shipping friction, perceived value—pricing is psychology and math.

Your music is bad (or not interesting yet)
Sometimes it’s not ready. Sometimes it’s the wrong fit. Sometimes it’s “good” in the worst way: forgettable. Let’s talk about aiming for interesting.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, this episode is meant to give you practical tweaks you can make immediately—without turning your label into some salesy corporate robot.

Listen now and pick one change to implement this week.