Rostrum Records
| Rostrum Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder | Benjy Grinberg |
| Status | Active |
| Distributor(s) | Fontana Distribution |
| Genre | Hip hop, indie pop |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Official website | www.rostrumrecords.com |
Rostrum Records is an independent record label, founded in 2003 by Benjy Grinberg in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, now located in Los Angeles, California. Grinberg is president of the label, which currently has nine artists on its roster: Wiz Khalifa, Mod Sun, The Bird and the Bee, Donora, TeamMate, Mike Taylor, BRÅVES, Juliann Alexander and Boaz. Rostrum Records has sold millions of albums and singles, and Rostrum's artists have been nominated for a combined total of eleven Grammy Awards.
Rostrum Records has become one of the leading independent movements in the music industry, and has been at the forefront of artist development for over a decade. Rostrum’s innovative digital savvy has helped formulate a new model for the industry. The label was named one of Vibe magazine's "Top 5 Labels to Watch in 2012" and XXL magazine's "Top Rising Indie Label in 2011". Grinberg was named #23 on The Source magazine's annual Power 30 list in its September 2011 issue. Rostrum's creative digital strategy and a heavy touring philosophy resulted in the building of a large following for Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller. The result of Rostrum's efforts were strong social media presences, hundreds of thousands of concert tickets sold, and over half a billion views on both of their YouTube channels.
Rostrum began in 2003 while founder Benjy Grinberg was working at Arista Records. Grinberg wanted to be able to develop his own artists and run a label his own way, so he took the lessons he learned from Arista and applied them to a more homegrown situation. When asked his original motivations behind setting up Rostrum Records, Grinberg said "music executives need to be patient with artists and let them develop over time, and so our focus with Rostrum is artist development - finding artists early, and then putting a lot of time and effort into developing the artist across the board, from their shows to their music, their songwriting, their style…everything." Grinberg first heard about Wiz Khalifa in 2004 when the rapper's contribution to a mixtape of various new Pittsburgh artists attracted his interest. When Grinberg finally met the 16-year-old artist, he immediately decided he wanted to work with him, later telling HitQuarters: "Even though he wasn't all the way developed you could just tell that he was a diamond in the rough, and that with some polishing, guidance and backing he could become something special." Khalifa signed to the label shortly after and began a seven-year period of artist development.
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