NEXT DOOR RECORDS

When I joined Outside Music in 2018, they were looking to migrate some of their artists with a younger demographic to a new label project. Outside Music enjoyed a solid reputation among other labels and was well respected as the largest independent distributor in Canada, but few realized they also had a label roster that was ten years old. The company wanted to fix their brand awareness issue but didn’t have any direction for the new project other than focusing on a younger demographic.

I worked through branding strategy and a vision statement with the team to tease out the core values that would drive the label. Through this process I was able to steer toward a clear vision of championing underrepresented, marginalized, and socially conscious songwriters and strengthening community. I worked with a Montreal illustrator and musician to create a logo and visual signature for the brand that was approachable, fun, and spoke to community.

The label launched in January 2019 with a cocktail party and showcase at Toronto’s Milk Glass event space featuring some of our original roster, Charlotte Cornfield, and a DJ set from Hua Li 化力. We launched with a roster that exclusively highlighted womxn artists and has since expanded to include likeminded songwriters Ada Lea, Lydia Persaud, TiKA, The Weather Station, Aidan Knight, and Luka Kuplowsky.

In honour of the second anniversary of the label, we launched a deluxe reissue of the first record we released, Charlotte Cornfield’s The Shape Of Your Name, as the focal point of our promotional campaign. The campaign features content celebrating our roster, a contest to win our entire catalogue, an artist spotlight campaign to be rolled out throughout the month, and a push on the reissue coinciding with Bandcamp Friday in support of our vision to be an artist-first company.