How Exceleration Music Is Giving Indie Labels a New Lease on Life — and Treating Music as More Than Just ‘An Asset Class’ 

When Exceleration Music launched successful January 2021, it became thing of an anomaly successful the euphony industry: A radical of indie statement execs, dedicated to investing successful and acquiring different indie labels. 

Backed by what the institution has called “substantial concern capital” that allows it to marque deals ranging from the hundreds of thousands to 9 figures, Exceleration was co-founded by 5 executives with heavy roots successful the indie euphony community: erstwhile Concord Music Group CEO Glen Barros; erstwhile Concord Records president John Burk; erstwhile Merlin CEO Charles Caldas; erstwhile Ingrooves wide manager Amy Dietz; and erstwhile Epitaph Records wide manager Dave Hansen. Since launch, it has acquired oregon invested successful indie labels including Alligator, Bloodshot, Kill Rock Stars, Mom+Pop, SideOneDummy and, astir recently, the U.K. statement Cooking Vinyl. 

Exceleration’s stated ngo is to enactment the maturation of indie labels and supply an “honorable exit” for statement founders who are looking to measurement away, each portion preserving the indie ethos connected which they built their businesses. Over astir 5 years, the institution has grown substantially, astir notably with its 2023 acquisition of planetary integer and carnal organisation and euphony services institution Redeye Worldwide — marking a sizable enlargement of its capabilities and staff, which present numbers 175 employees. 

Unlike truthful galore players that person entered the euphony manufacture implicit the past decade, Exceleration isn’t conscionable an concern money but, successful galore cases, an progressive subordinate successful the companies successful which they invest, with a presumption toward upholding what made them peculiar successful the archetypal place. And successful an epoch of increasing consolidation, Exceleration remains an intriguing alternate to the large labels and concern giants that person go progressively focused connected buying their mode into the autarkic market. Its founders picture themselves arsenic “true believers that autarkic euphony is simply a taste necessity, not an concern class.” 

Billboard precocious caught up with Barros and Dietz to sermon however Exceleration has evolved implicit the past 5 years, the company’s increasing absorption connected planetary markets, however they consciousness astir the majors’ assertive propulsion into the indie space, the expanding power of AI and more. 

How bash you consciousness astir the authorities of the indie statement concern currently, and related to that, wherefore is simply a institution similar Exceleration needed now? 

Glen Barros: Obviously, the manufacture is changing beauteous rapidly. Even the indie satellite is beauteous hard to define, with do-it-yourself artists and truthful forth. But successful looking astatine the accepted labels retired there, labels request the aforesaid things they ever person to succeed, which are quality and fiscal energy. That’s what we were trying to bring into the indie space: radical who understood the indie world, the ethos of indies, the mode indies operate, the symptom points that astir indies endure and effort to negociate through, things they bash well, things they don’t bash well.  

[In presumption of] wherefore now, I deliberation you person this ever-changing world, and it’s harder and harder to navigate. And tin you provide, arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, a one-stop solution for indies to bash what they bash best, which is marque and marketplace music? And however tin we supply the different services that spell astir that? At the clip erstwhile you cognize radical request to exit, radical request superior for growth, immoderate it mightiness be, we’re determination to lick for that, too.  

The enactment of Exceleration was truly successful absorption to what we saw arsenic a request successful the market. In the past decade, you’ve seen a batch of superior travel into the industry, a batch of concern funds, which we are not. With that happening, it was creating a batch of angst. And truthful that was the genesis: How tin we bring the close benignant of superior in? The close benignant of enactment to lick those issues? Where we are contiguous is simply a overmuch much precocious authorities than erstwhile [we launched]. 

Can you springiness a amended consciousness of conscionable however hands-on Exceleration is? 

Barros: Every woody we’ve done starts with listening to what our spouse wants and needs. In immoderate cases, it’s precise small involvement, and successful different cases, it’s everything. We’re acquiring the institution and past gathering upon it and moving to instrumentality it forward. Part of the archetypal ngo was to beryllium precise successful tune with the needs of the assemblage connected an idiosyncratic basis. 

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