Peter McLean, back in 2000, in New York, gave popular music a kick in the pants when he founded the D1 Music. Now, nine years later and with a slew of successes to my credit, this Australian native is living his dream.
We’ve had some major milestones at D1 Music, Lisa Hunt’s Top 5 Billboard hit and Queer As Folk soundtrack tune “This Joint Is Jumpin’,” continues with the critically acclaimed mixed compilation Mixpoint by John Rizzo and carries into the label’s biggest remix to date, an energetic take on RuPaul’s “Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous”, the sensational Kimberly Davis with her Billboard hits Get Up and Twist of Love, and the surprise smash discs Club Christmas and Club Christmas 2—remixed takes on Holiday classics that both hit the iTunes Top 50 Albums chart last year.
These are great times for an independent label. The current environment for online marketing and sales allows a label like D1 Music to employ non-traditional, cost-effective guerilla-style marketing campaigns that allow us to compete head-to-head with major labels in relation to the amount of product we release. And technology doesn’t just make it easy for others to find us and our music; the Internet has been an incredible resource for scouting new talent to bring onto the D1 Music label.
It’s all part of my vision for D1 Music—not only achieving my own dreams, but allowing others to do so as well. Agreements with talent that nurture the interest of the artist are one of our hallmarks. It’s rare to find a music label that will actually put the artists’ interest first, but we value long-term relationships with the talent we sign and it’s fulfilling to me to see an artist growing over time and seeing the fruit of their endeavors through the entire life of a project. D1 Music was the first music label to offer this type of deal and major artists are naturally excited and eager to record with us. The model of an ‘artist advance’ with over-inflated reciprocal costs and unfair profit-sharing that all but destroys any chance of future artist income after the advance is a relic of the dinosaurs of the music industry. It’s much healthier—and profitable—when the label has as much of an interest in cultivating long-term artist success as the talent.”
Already D1 Music has amassed an impressive stable of performers: The bold belter SupaNova already has international recognition thanks to the 2008 single “No Secrets” and looks to continue his successful streak with the soon-to-be-released “Body Shake.” It’s a song that will unleash a new male vocal style in the dance music world. SupaNova is one of our most electrifying and dynamic performers, and he brings the same energy with him into the studio that he exhibits onstage. Female vocalist Taborah keeps the D1 Music mantra alive with her recent remake of the McFadden & Whitehead disco classic “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” with R&B maestro Darryl D’Bonneau. The song features Grammy-nominated percussionist Sammy Figueroa and fantastic remixes from Josh Harris, Solar City and, of course, D1 Music. A calypso-inspired follow-up titled “Say I Love You” is already planned, with a Spanish-language version that’s set for crossover success. Together with my Label Partner and Director Satya H.K. Wright and producer Keith Kemper they make up the D1 Music core roster.
My goals for D1 Music are to keep redefining the label and its objectives and to maintain a unique identity in the music and entertainment industry. I’m percolating a projects with operatic great Greta Damrau, a collection of Broadway-style recordings and future endeavors with mainstream artists eager to take advantage of D1 Music’s “artist-first” approach to the business.
We’re not just living the dream at D1 Music, we’re weaving it.
