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Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers The Great Escape 2014
Tru Thoughts founder to inspire future music entrepreneurs at TGE:DIY
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 16 April 2014
With the full convention schedule for this year’s Great Escape going live later today, CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke has been chatting to Robert Luis, co-founder of seminal Brighton record company Tru Thoughts.
As the label celebrates its fifteenth anniversary, Luis will headline this year’s TGE:DIY programme for the grass roots music community, chatting to Cooke about what its like running a popular indie label, and inspiring the next generation of music business entrepreneurs.
Having launched in 1999, Tru Thoughts has operated throughout a revolutionary period in the record industry. Commenting on how that has impacted his business, Luis notes: “When we started out, we knew most people would be enjoying the music by downloading it illegally, so we have always been in a world of being cautious with finances and budgets… we are still the same today but have a bit more budget than we did in 1999!”
As for whether these shifts in the music business mean that Tru Thoughts is working with artists on revenue streams beyond recordings, Luis says yes, though possibly not for the reasons we’d assume. He goes on: “Nowadays from speaking to most mid-size to large independents you end up being involved in lots of aspects of artist careers, but not officially. We help artists get gigs and give plenty of advice but we do flag up to artists that we are their record label and publisher and not managers. As an independent you have to sometimes do things that managers or agents would normally do for the good of the music”.
And as for tips for budding label owners, Luis concludes: “Ask for advice from people who actually run a record label, even if they’re not working in the genre of music you are doing. If possible, try to get at least your first three releases sorted out before releasing any music, so you can keep a regular flow of music being released. An I’ve probably got a book’s worth of other advice to add to this too”.
Some of which will no doubt be dished out when Luis takes to the TGE:DIY stage on Saturday 10 May at The Basement in Brighton. The Great Escape’s DIY programme is open to all convention delegates, but standalone tickets are also available for just £15 here.
Meanwhile read the full interview with Luis here.
