Breaking Hard Rock and Metal Bands with Sumerian Records

This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari sits down with Ash Avildsen, founder of Sumerian Records. Ash shares the story of building one of the most influential independent labels in modern rock and metal, from booking DIY tours in the MySpace era to helping artists break into arenas.During this episode, Ari and Ash dive into artist development, the evolution of touring, music video economics, social media virality, the ethics of tour buy-ons, and why building an artist brand matters more than ever. Ash also opens up about expanding Sumerian into film, the future of entertainment brands, and why he believes music videos deserve a better business model.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sumerianrecords/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sumerianrecordsCheck out Ari’s Take:https://aristake.com04:21 - Ash’s Journey from Touring Musician to Founding Sumerian Records08:04 - Why Ash Left Booking to Focus Fully on the Label12:00 - MySpace, TikTok, and How Artists Break Today17:30 - Scenes, Community, and the Evolution of Heavy Music22:16 - Artist Development and Getting Bands to Their First 500 Tickets25:22 - The Ethics and Reality of Tour Buy-Ons31:49 - Discovering Artists in the Streaming Era35:15 - Why Music Videos Still Matter49:00 - Building Sumerian Beyond Music Into Film and Media56:00 - Ticketing, Industry Frustrations, and What It Means to “Make It”Edited and mixed by Ruben ZarateMusic by Brassroots DistrictProduced by the team at Ari’s TakeOrder the THIRD EDITION of How to Make It in the New Music Business: https://book.aristake.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.