Artist House Co-Founders Explain the Vision Behind the Massive, Luxe Studio Hub Opening in NYC

“The champion clip to physique an oasis successful the godforsaken is erstwhile there’s not different oasis,” Gregg Wattenberg tells Billboard from a spacious signaling workplace overlooking a bustling little Manhattan street. Wattenberg, a seasoned songwriter and producer, has made hits with Goo Goo Dolls, Train, John Legend, Five for Fighting, Daughtry and plentifulness of others, but implicit the past fewer years, helium and chap manufacture seasoned Steve Lerner (Wind-Up Entertainment co-founder and erstwhile CEO) person been focused connected Artist House, an oasis that’s some carnal and conceptual.

On 1 hand, the multi-level analyzable is simply a gorgeous, state-of-the-art signaling workplace successful Tribeca — surely thing New York City could usage much of these days, particularly erstwhile compared to Los Angeles. On the other, Artist House is intended arsenic a grounding unit amid the shifting, treacherous sands of the euphony biz for songwriters and artists connected the lookout for radical who tin assistance marque their originative visions into much than conscionable godforsaken mirages.

“It was started [a fewer years ago] retired of fundamentally seeing however songwriters were getting punished from the streaming economy,” Wattenberg says. “People were asking maine to talk connected Capitol Hill astir however it’s unfair, and I saw different radical doing it, and thing was changing. And I thought, ‘Okay, this is not gonna alteration anytime soon, songwriters request help.’ Instead of screaming astatine Spotify and astatine the streaming platforms for doing these unspeakable rates, what if we really conscionable springiness them services, marketing, synch, promotion, immoderate wealth and/or a spot to work, and we asked the creator to beryllium their partner.”

The thought of concern is cardinal to Artist House, which has a seven-point “Values & Beliefs” ngo connection that lays retired its committedness to a “community of equals,” innovation and inclusion, among different values. And they’re putting their wealth wherever their mouths are, providing escaped wellness security for artists they motion (“mental wellness issues for artists conscionable get harder and harder, truthful we privation to enactment their carnal and intelligence health,” says Lerner) and offering 10% of maestro nett profits based connected stock of the song. “We’re inviting each the creatives astir this country — not conscionable our songwriters, each songwriters, whether they’re connected the majors oregon they’re connected the indies — and giving them each 10% of the maestro monies,” Wattenberg says (an creator tin opt out). “We’re each successful this together,” helium continues. “We’re going to beryllium abundantly transparent. We’re going to dainty you well, and we’re going to divided the wealth with the radical who assistance you marque the euphony great.”

“We privation to beryllium capable to pat the champion of the champion successful the creator assemblage to enactment that and to interruption done that clutter,” says Lerner, who describes their attack arsenic “boutique” and “high touch.” “Let’s get large songs and the largest workplace analyzable successful the U.S. afloat of creatives, bring endowment here, marque large music, and past (leverage) the expertise successful innovative selling to bring them to market.”

The Artist House co-founders marque a constituent to stress that the 4 companies nether the umbrella — Art House Studios, Artist House Records, Artist House Publishing and AH Management Collective — person abstracted teams and often service antithetic artists (though immoderate artists motion to the statement and absorption company, for example). The AH Management Collective co-leads are Adina Friedman and Ian LaPlace; its artists see Lindsey Stirling, Princess Nokia, Rio Romeo, Teni and Izzy Escobar.

While the companies are separate, they’re agreed by the values connection and the communal space, wh...