President/Founder
Hopeless Records
Years with Company: 31
Address: Los Angeles, CA
Web: hopelessrecords.com
Email:l ouis@hopelessrecords.com
Clients: Pvris, The Wonder Years, Tigers Jaw, Destroy Boys, Neck Deep
BACKGROUND
Going blind at an early age wasn’t enough to stop Louis Posen from making a huge splash in the independent punk alternative space. Hopeless Records recently celebrated three decades of standing tall. Notable signings include young and old voices alike, including New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, Waterparks, and Scene Queen.
A Surprising Career
At first, it was a hobby. I hadn’t dreamed of starting a record label; I didn’t even know labels existed. I was much more in tune with the film industry. I started working in film when I was 16 years old, knocking on doors and seeing who needed a production assistant, which led me to Cal[ifornia] State [University], Northridge, a film school.
And then the music industry crossed my path when I directed my first music video for NOFX. The opener for the show we filmed was Guttermouth, who said, “We’d love to do a video like NOFX.” So they asked me to do that. During the filming of that video, the guys dared me to put out a 7” record for them. That got me down the path of starting a label.
I Hear You
It’s tough to tell what I would be like if I hadn’t lost my eyesight. You can’t really A/B it after the fact. But in hindsight, I feel like it’s been a net positive. I don’t wish on people that they go blind. But in my case, it’s helped me listen better, not just to music but to understanding people better, being more empathetic and compassionate. And this is a people business. Life is a people business. It’s led me to learning skills I probably wouldn’t have learned otherwise. My life experience has been helpful in adapting to changes in the music industry.
Fundamentals Vs. Changes
The most important things haven’t changed, which are the connections between artists and fans, and how music affects people. I don’t think that has changed. The things that have changed are what format people listen to music on, what marketing outlets people discover music on, and how the monetization structures work. Those things are changing all the time. As a label owner or anyone in the industry, you need to be looking at what’s happening now and what’s going to be happening in the future. But the essence of what it’s all about hasn’t changed.
Hopeless Artists
We look at a bunch of different things [when picking artists], most of which is not data driven. Do they have charisma? Do they have that vision for themselves of what they’re about beyond writing good songs and playing? Of course, we’re looking at songwriting, performance, how well they communicate with fans, social media numbers, all of that stuff. But what it comes down to is deeper than that. We’re trying to find artists that have something to say and connect with fans in a meaningful way.
The Right Contracts
We do a lot of different types of recording agreements, most of which are either royalty rate deals or profit splits. We’ve done shorter deals, longer deals, ones with bigger recording budgets and advances, and ones with smaller ones. For us, it’s about what’s commensurate with that artist. What’s the best thing for where they’re at in their careers? We are an artist development company, so we don’t tend to do single deals or things that are so short term we can’t really get into the artist development process.
Building an Audience
We really think the work happens from the ground up, starting with super fans, serving them, then finding more fans and continuing that process.
The mainstream, major label, DSP world wasn’t really talking about this five years ago, because streaming and revenues were growing rapidly. But we’ve been talking about this for 30 years because it’s what we do, which is super serving the most dedicated fans.
And for us and other punk alternative labels, D2C [Direct to Consumer] has always been a part of what we do. There’s a huge opportunity for the four major streaming services to put an artist D2C on top. We’ve pitched this to all the services.
Being There for Those in Need
Music is something that affects people in a deep way. We realized this early on. And the punk and alternative rock community is rooted in being there for each other. Everyone knows it as Do It Yourself, or D.I.Y. But it’s really about doing it together. So that ethos along with my upbringing and other factors led to realizing there’s a way to not just make artists rich and famous but to do something beyond that. And I’m a big believer that, when you have a purpose that goes beyond yourself, that’s much more sustainable and rewarding.
We’ve raised more than three million for over 150 charitable initiatives. Recently, we started the Hopeless Music Academy, where we provide afterschool classes, summer classes, internships, mentorships, and soon there will be scholarships and job placements for kids in under resourced areas, free of charge. We have a recording studio in a youth drop-in center in North Hollywood. We’re hoping to scale this up so it can be done not just here in the San Fernando Valley but throughout the world.
Changing Times
The punk alternative world is changing all the time, although some things don’t really change. I see us as a community for people who feel like other communities have left them behind. Back in the day, this was known as being for geeks and freaks. But it’s expanded. So it’s really for people who want to be connected and feel like they’re part of something unique, where they are accepted for who they are and can be close to artists as peers, not as heroes. That part hasn’t changed. But the sounds have changed. More guitars, less guitars, faster drums, more mid-tempo drumbeats, songs about breakups, songs about politics. These things tend to go in cycles.
Owning the Fat Wreck Chords Catalogue
It’s an honor to be leading Fat [Wreck Chords] into the future. It’s one of the most incredible punk rock catalogs in history. It strengthens what we do. It allows us to be in places maybe we wouldn’t have been. Fat is very strong in physical records, so it’s going to allow Hopeless to be in stores. But mostly it’s celebrating the history of the label, what it’s meant to us, and what it will continue to mean for generations to come. We didn’t really get involved in this partnership and acquisition as a direct benefit to Hopeless. It was more we wanted to make sure this special thing was kept intact and continued into the future.
Paying It Forward
We care deeply about our artists, team and community, and we’re always trying to be better artist developers. We’re a company where decisions are based on principles. We have a purpose that goes beyond music and hope to be making a difference in our community and the world.
