How This UK Indie Label Sold 25K Records For 1 Band First Week

About this episode

Ari interviews Mark Orr about the evolution of independent labels and their strategies in the modern music industry.

This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari sits down with Mark Orr, the founder of Lab Records, to explore how independent labels are evolving in today’s music industry.  From deal structures and artist ownership to marketing strategies and physical releases, Mark shares a transparent look into how his label has operated and adapted over nearly two decades. They dive into how indie deals have shifted to become more artist-friendly, how Lab approaches partnerships like distribution with ADA, and why physical products like vinyl and limited editions are more important now than ever. Mark also breaks down how to build a lean team, when to outsource, and how to create meaningful fan engagement in a crowded digital landscape. Whether you’re on the artist or label side of the business, you won’t want to miss this episode. https://www.instagram.com/labrecords https://labrecs.com/   Chapters 00:00 - Lab Records Origin 05:00 - Building a Lean Team 09:25 - Streaming & Fan Engagement 13:23 - Pitching Artists vs Majors 16:07 - Modern Deal Structures 21:19 - Artist Power Shift 26:19 - Marketing in 2020s 31:42 - Physical Sales Comeback 36:21 - Touring Builds Fanbase 45:50…

People in this episode

Host: Ari Herstand

Guest: Mark Orr

Topics covered

• independent labels
• artist ownership
• marketing strategies
• physical releases
• fan engagement
• music industry evolution

Keywords

• indie label
• record sales
• artist-friendly deals
• marketing
• fan engagement
• physical products
• vinyl
• lean team
• music industry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lab Records, ADA, Ari’s Take, Brassroots District

Books & works: How to Make It in the New Music Business

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