Nue Note Records
What working together means.
Nue Note is intentionally small. The point isn't to sign as
many artists as possible. The point is to put meaningful
resources behind a small number of records and give those
records enough attention to matter.
The three-record relationship
A Nue Note label relationship is structured around three
records. That gives both sides enough time to make something
coherent, learn from each release and build momentum without
treating every album as an isolated transaction.
One standard for artists entering this tier
The three-record structure is designed for artists entering
Nue Note's core artist relationship. It is not a statement
about where an artist is in their career. An artist may be
emerging, established or already highly accomplished and still
enter through a relationship that fits this structure.
The important thing is that artists working within this tier
receive the same fundamental commitment, infrastructure and
economic progression. The starting point is about the
relationship we are building—not a judgment about the artist.
What Nue Note brings
- Recording and studio infrastructure when appropriate
- Creative and technical production
- Release planning and distribution
- Promotion and positioning
- Management guidance around the project
- Touring and live-performance support
How the economics work
The economics are designed to change as the relationship
develops. Nue Note takes more risk early. As the artist builds,
the artist's participation increases.
Record One
Nue Note invests.
We fund recording, development, marketing and touring. Management begins immediately. Management compensation is deferred—that's our initial bet.
Record Two
You participate more.
Your underlying participation in applicable live and merchandise revenue increases to 70%. You get to experience that improvement before the next management-fee economics take effect.
Record Three
The partnership scales.
Your participation increases again to 75%. The progression recognizes what you've built.
The point:
Milestones should feel like milestones. When you reach the
next level, you should actually feel it economically—before
the next management-fee cycle begins.
After the three-record relationship
Completing the initial three-record relationship creates an
opportunity to decide what comes next. It is not designed as
a forced exit.
If the relationship is working, we would much rather build
something bigger together than simply walk away because a
contractual term has ended.
At that point, the relationship can become something
substantially more expansive. Economics, production,
management, catalog participation, creative roles and other
elements can all be reconsidered in light of what the artist
and Nue Note have built together.
The next relationship is negotiated from the position you've
earned—not automatically imposed by the first one.
What the relationship is not
The studio is not an audition room for the label. Using Nue
Note Studios does not create an obligation or expectation that
an artist will pursue a label relationship with Nue Note Records.
Likewise, an artist working with Nue Note Records does not have
to use the studio for every piece of work. The goal is to use
the right resources for the record.
A different starting point is possible
Not every artist arrives at the same point in a career. If an
artist's circumstances, experience, catalog, audience or
trajectory call for a different structure, that conversation
can happen.
The three-record relationship is our core framework—not a
ceiling.
Private project details
Specific economics, rights, schedules, budgets and contractual
terms belong in the individual artist agreement. This page
describes the philosophy and general structure of the
relationship; the agreement governs the actual deal.
The basic idea:
Make something worth hearing. Give it the conditions to become
what it can be. Put real infrastructure behind getting it
into the world. And if we build something together that works,
keep building.
