Hopeless Records is an American record
label founded in Southern California by
Louis Posen during 1993
The label has started the careers of many huge bands including
Avenged Sevenfold, Thrice and Melee.
The label was created with a DIY punk rock ethos at its core. This
meant that it was able to support the surge of US pop-punk in the 90s
and has continued its success to this with day; with many big names in
its’ arsenal from both sides of the Atlantic.
Alongside Hopeless, Sub City is a charity set up by Louis Posen which
has raised over $2 Million for over 50 non-profit organisations through
releasing albums, organising tours and putting on events.
The target audience of Hopeless is people aged 13-35 who are rock fans,
this means that teenagers can discover new music and slightly older
fans can discover new bands similar to the ones they were familiar with
growing up in the 90s. The label targets this audience by touring similar
bands together and relying heavily on social media.
The structure of this label is similar to that of any other business; with
exceptions to a couple of departments. The label has a President/Vice
President, a legal department, a PR and promotions department, a
marketing, sales and new/social media department, an artist
development department and an artist and repertoire (A&R) department.
A&R is one of the most competitive music industry jobs around due to
the hands on work, high pay and glamorous reputation. In reality the job
entails discovering new artists and working with them; you are the
connection from artist to label.
The label uses a variety of mediums to provide and promote their
product. These include music videos which are sent to YouTube
channels, TV channels, media outlets and scene-related websites/blogs.
They also include digital music files which are free to listen on many
websites like soundcloud, reverbnation, bandcamp and purevolume for
promotional purposes; these are sold on formats such as iTunes, CD
Baby, Zune and Amazon.
Hopeless are quite traditional in the fact that they still release vinyls,
CDs and even some tapes for their artists. These are primarily sold at
gigs, tours, selected record stores and online.
NECK DEEP
During 2012 pop-punk band Neck Deep were born in Wrexam, UK. After
releasing EP ‘A History of Bad Decisions’ on independent Leeds label
Pinky Swear Records the band did a one week Florida tour playing
house shows with local bands. This attracted the attention of many US
labels and the band were picked up for an international record deal with
Hopeless Records shortly afterward. Take that for a two year success
story.
ENTER SHIKARI
Enter Shikari formed in St Albans, England in 1999 under the name
Hybryd; consisting of Rou Reynolds, Rory Clewlow, Chris Batten and Rob
Rolfe.
The name isn’t the only thing that has changed since the 90s; the band
are now huge, helped along by their distinctive mix of post-hardcore,
electronic, heavy metal and dubstep these guys are certainly their own
sound.
Hopeless Records only deal with the bands US business as they have
other labels and management in the UK, Europe, Australia and Canada.
THE USED
The Used formed in 2001 in Orem, Utah. The group consists of Bert
McCracken, Quinn Allman, Jeph Howard and Dan Whitesides.
The band have been working with Hopeless Records since 2012 after
they released the band’s fifth album ‘Vulnerable’. They have just released
their sixth album Imaginary Enemy on Hopeless too.
WE ARE THE IN CROWD
This pop-punk band formed in New York during 2009 and consists of
Taylor Jardine, Jordan Eckes, Mike Ferri, Rob Chianelli and Cameron
Hurley.
Shortly after forming they announced that they were signing to Hopeless
Records with whom they released their debut single ‘For The Win’ and
later their first EP ‘Guaranteed to Disagree.
ALL TIME LOW
All Time Low originate from Baltimore, USA and are one of the best
known pop-punk bands around.
These four lovely young men are Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, Zack
Merrick and Rian Dawson.
They signed with Hopeless in 2006 after catching their attention on tour
and shortly afterwards released their EP ‘Put Up or Shut Up’.
The band still consistently tour and have appeared at many huge UK
festivals such as Reading and Leeds.
THE WONDER YEARS
The Wonder Years formed in Pennsylvania USA in 2005 and are a great
addition the modern pop-punk scene.
The band signed to No Sleep Records in 2007 but have now moved on
to Hopeless to become a ‘part of the family’.
In total the band has released two EPs, four albums and many other
group projects.
The label started completely from scratch when Louis Posen put out
Guttermouth’s EP as a favour to his friends in the band but he ultimately
had no idea what he was doing. His only funding was $1000 of savings
and a great deal of determination.
‘Posen had $1,000 to his name and a book titled How To Run An
Independent Record Label’
Hopeless Records are in a rare strong position in the market which
allows them to remain an independent label and do business in the
traditional way that works best for the music scene. Much to the disgust
of corporate labels Hopeless offer a legitimate alternative that is better
for both artists and fans; they offer a sense of community (which is what
music is all about) that major labels simply can’t control.
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A record label doesn’t simply release the music of the artists they sign
there is a lot more to it than that and variety of products and services
are required for a label to operate effectively; these are either done inhouse or commissioned to affiliated companies.
Examples of these products/services are - music videos, music,
merchandise (creation, advertising and distribution), events, tour
management, artist management, promotion, PR stunts, studio recording
and social media.
Though Hopeless Records are in quite a unique position they still have
competition from similar labels such as- Hellcat, Epitaph, Fat Wreck
Chords, BYO Records and Lookout Records. More than anything however
these labels tend to work together by releasing compilation albums and
touring artists together. There would be no sense in harsh direct
competition so they settle for friendly rivalry and working together to
help the scene and all the emerging talent; for labels like this it’s not so
much about the money, but the community.
Callum Middleton; Unit 7 Media Company Research