DFTBA Records
| DFTBA Records | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Founder |
Hank Green Alan Lastufka |
| Distributor(s) | Independent |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Missoula, Montana (since 2013) |
DFTBA Records is an e-commerce merchandise company that was co-founded by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka in 2008. Originally a record label, the company now focuses on selling merchandise for prominent YouTube stars, such as Green himself, his brother, the novelist John Green, Charlie McDonnell, Rhett and Link, CGP Grey, and Charles Trippy, among several others.
The offices of DFTBA Records were in Manhattan, Illinois, until early 2013 when they were moved to Hank's hometown of Missoula, Montana. In Illinois, the company had operated out of Lastufka's home. Upon moving to Missoula, they set up their warehouse in a small building that was formerly a preschool, but soon moved to a larger warehouse. During this time, they increased their number of employees from five to ten, and started another webseries called The Warehouse, hosted by warehouse manager Matthew Gaydos. This channel no longer uploads content as Matthew Gaydos is now working on other YouTube channels. Distribution of records by DFTBA Records is largely independent; Lastufka himself generally oversaw most of the distribution during his tenure as co-owner. On June 18, 2014, Lustufka announced his decision to sell his stake in the record label, and resigned as president, to pursue other projects. In April 2015, DFTBA Records was officially issued a business license in the city of Missoula.
The name of the record label, as well as the website its artists are associated with originates from an initialism, standing for "Don't Forget to Be Awesome". The initialism is generally seen as the motto for the VlogBrothers (consisting of Green, and his brother, John), as well as their fan base, known as Nerdfighteria. The goal of the record label, as Lastufka stated in a video on the subject, is to provide a distribution network for talented artists of YouTube and to make sure their music reaches out to the "largest audience possible." The record label claims to aid a bigger audience in connecting with the artists, and make the "YouTube experience" more lucrative, more exciting, and more fun.
In March 2014, several artists signed under DFTBA Records, including Alex Day and Tom Milsom, were involved in sexual abuse issues. Following the breaking of this news, all artists that proved to be having sexual encounters with their fans, or perpetrators of sexual abuse were dropped from the label. Lastufka also made a $1000 donation to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
...
Wikipedia