We just deliver the message; the A&R department deserves the praise, says Big Loud Records VP/Promotion Stacy Blythe who, though understating her department’s role, makes a salient point about a
successful first five years (see sidebar). Born out of the publishing company of accomplished songwriter Craig Wiseman, the label is indeed rooted in a creative-first mindset. But as partners Seth England and Joey Moi – and 2017 addition VP/A&R Patch Culbertson – tell it, they’ve had to learn a few things, too.
“I remember my first trips to Nashville, originally as a songwriter,” says Moi, who had produced multi-platinum albums for Nickelback by then. “When I met these guys, I realized how like-minded we were. We had the same dreams but knew we would be able to occupy completely different corners of the room, with the ability to work as one unit very effectively.”
“Each of us did something a little different,” says England, who started at Big Loud Publishing in 2008. “From the day Joey, Craig and I started partnering on stuff, we did production deals – which is record deal-like. We developed things. Joey was developing rock acts then would partner with record labels. We all think the music we make is as good as the last one, therefore any lack of success is credited to the record label that messed it up.”
“At that point, you’re hands-free,” Moi says. “You watch it go, hope another record and recording budget comes back around and lands in your lap. As you get older and keep doing that, you inch forward wanting to hold onto it more and more. We just kept doing that as a group and wound up in this dream scenario.”