Sustaining Independant Labels
with Scottie McNiece, Jake Saunders, Adam Downey, Amelia Meath, Yulun Wang & Liz Pelly
It seems like every week there is a new grim headline about the fate of independent music: legacy labels and publishers being sold off to the majors, rights organizations signing away catalogs as training data for AI companies. Less often do we see headlines about what exactly is going right for independent music, which is what we’ll cover here. What is working for independent record labels in 2026? In this conversation, label reps from International Anthem, Joyful Noise, Northern Spy and more will share what actually sustains their operations, and best practices for supporting independent artists and labels today.
w/ Liz Pelly (moderator), Scottie McNiece (International Anthem), Jake Saunders (Joyful Noise), Adam Downey (Northern Spy), Yulun Wang (Pi Recordings) and Amelia Meath (Psychic Hotline)