“I spoke to a few others who have experience in the record label business,” Scott says, “and made the decision that I would create a platform for these musicians.”
So far, Scott has signed two artists to the label: Juno Uno, whom she describes as a “captivating character that creates dreamy synth-pop sounds combined with classic singer-songwriter elements,” and the store’s manager, Bayleigh Cheek, “a quiet storm of a human that mixes haunting vocals with raw and bold instrumentation.”
Independent record labels, despite what streaming habits would suggest, are still a sound endeavor, as Idol Records owner Erv Karwelis told us in a December interview.
Observer asked Erv Karwelis, owner and operator of Dallas-based label Idol Records since 1993, “How d you manage to survive the financial apocalypse of the label industry?” referencing the label’s ability to outlast the disaster the record industry faced staring down file sharing sites like Napster.
He responded, “I ve always kept my overhead low and try to keep everything as lean and mean as possible.”
Today, while explaining how Idol Records weathered this pandemic, Karwelis responds in the same comforting tone a near-decade later, “I ve always, always kept overhead low and tried to be nimble.”
Karwelis has certainly seen a drop in revenue due to the collapse in the live music industry for international and local acts alike.