Audiotree
Audiotree | |
---|---|
Founded | 2011 |
Founder | Michael Johnston, Adam Thurston |
Country of origin | United States |
Location | Chicago, Illinois, |
Official website | audiotree |
Audiotree is an American music record label located in Chicago, founded in 2011.[1] The company records and publishes live music sessions.[1] It also promotes artists and organizes live events, and invites artists from around the world to enter a professional studio setting, to record, perform, and release a live EP free of cost.[2][3]
History
[edit]Audiotree was founded in 2011 in Chicago by Michael Johnston and Adam Thurston, who saw the potential for a viable business recording live sessions for artist and sharing the revenue from sales.[1][3] Michael Johnston was already working as an audio engineer in the Chicago area, and founded the company to help promote independent artists and bands.[1] Johnston was removed from his post as president and CEO of Audiotree following his arrest for felony unauthorized videotaping in November of 2021.[4]
In 2018 Audiotree announced its extension into Canada, collaborating with Paquin Entertainment Agency to create a Canadian artist discovery platform.[5][6]
Live events
[edit]The company's series known as Audiotree Live is broadcast from the studio directly to YouTube and the Audiotree website for fans to listen live.[7] Audiotree company serves as one of the top music video outlets, having amassed over 700 thousand subscribers and 280 million video views on their YouTube channel as of 2022.[3][8]
Audiotree has held its annual Audiotree Music Festival since 2012. The festival is typically held in September, and takes place at the Arcadia Creek Festival Place in Kalamazoo, Michigan.[9][10] The festival was held every year until 2019, when Audiotree shifted their focus to hosting special concerts at their independently owned venues at Lincoln Hall and Schubas Tavern in Chicago.[9][11]
At the end of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Audiotree began organizing live virtual concerts under a new segment called "Staged". This segment allowed fans to pay a small fee to join a private broadcast of the show, which they could stream as much as they want for 24 hours after completion.[12][13] Time Out Chicago noted that due to Audiotree's extensive prior experience with producing streaming media, the label was "uniquely equipped" to help bands keep performing online during the pandemic.[14]
Business model
[edit]Audiotree typically shares revenue from sales of live session recordings with the artist, usually split 50:50.[1] The company works mainly with musicians that are independent or on independent music labels.[3][11] In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic's limitations on public gatherings created problems for music venues,[12] leading Audiotree to release merchandise online to help afford maintenance and other venue fees.[15]
Recording process
[edit]In 2015–2016, Audiotree released a series of videos showing behind the scenes of how they record music and prepare video and lighting.[16] The studio holds a wide variety of microphones, ranging from the AKG 460 or the Royer 122 for acoustic guitar recordings, to a Telefunken M-82 used on the bass drum.[16] The company does on-the-spot sound mastering using IZotopes Ozone 9 mastering VST, and partnered with Antelope Audio for analog audio equipment in their control room.[16][17]
In 2017 Audiotree started a new series named Far Out sessions, taking their work outside of the studio and recording live music sessions away from traditional music venues.[18]
Selected roster
[edit]A complete roster is available on the Audiotree website; the dates of the selected sessions below are from the metadata of the relevant session pages.[7]
- Passafire (January 29, 2012)
- Caspian (September 12, 2012 & February 5, 2016)
- Geographer (January 21, 2013 & October 16, 2015)
- K.Flay (February 21, 2013 & July 24, 2015)
- Shakey Graves (June 20, 2013)
- The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (March 1, 2014)
- Nathaniel Rateliff (May 1, 2014)
- Maybe April (July 22, 2014)
- Foxing (July 24, 2014)
- Glass Animals (September 10, 2014)
- Artifex Pereo (January 15, 2015)
- Rayland Baxter (February 22, 2015)
- The Suffers (April 7, 2015)
- Guster (April 13, 2015)
- Genevieve (April 28, 2015)
- The Main Squeeze (June 9, 2015)
- Mitski (June 20, 2015)
- Turnover (August 11, 2015)
- Mothers (September 23, 2015)
- Amasa Hines (October 3, 2015)
- Hemming (October 6, 2015)
- Emily King (October 28, 2015)
- Jill Andrews (November 9, 2015)
- The Bottle Rockets (November 23, 2015)
- Jared & The Mill (December 4, 2015)
- Charly Bliss (January 15, 2016)
- Julien Baker (January 16, 2016)
- Low Cut Connie (February 22, 2016)
- The Wild Reeds (February 25, 2016)
- Raging Fyah (March 19, 2016)
- Escondido (March 24, 2016)
- Lucy Dacus (March 28, 2016)
- Covet (March 30, 2016)
- The Yawpers (April 5, 2016)
- Pinegrove (April 30, 2016)
- Lydia Loveless (July 8, 2016)
- Liz Cooper & The Stampede (October 10, 2016)
- Rainbow Kitten Surprise (January 26, 2017)
- Crying (March 2, 2017)
- Slothrust (March 10, 2017)
- Sinai Vessel (April 6, 2017 & April 21, 2021)
- Snail Mail (June 2, 2017)
- Forth Wanderers (June 8, 2017)
- Andrea von Kampen (June 9, 2017)
- Ratboys (June 30, 2017)
- Michigander (July 12, 2017)
- Pet Symmetry (July 17, 2017)
- Camp Cope (July 21, 2017)
- Nicole Atkins (August 9, 2017)
- Larkin Poe (August 28, 2017)
- Strange Ranger (September 7, 2017)
- Soccer Mommy (September 14, 2017)
- Wild Pink (September 29, 2017)
- Peach Pit (October 17, 2017)
- Cuco (January 17, 2018)
- Samantha Fish (January 29, 2018)
- Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears (October 4, 2018)
- Beach Bunny (November 20, 2018)
- The Accidentals (January 3, 2019)
- Emily Blue (January 10, 2019)
- Laura Stevenson (May 30, 2019)
- Vansire (August 8, 2019)
- We Are The Union (September 18, 2019)
- Yours Truly (October 8, 2019)
- Mega Bog (October 10, 2019)
- Phum Viphurit (October 15, 2019)
- Tasha (January 9, 2020)
- Marco Benevento (November 8, 2019)
- Heart Attack Man (January 14, 2020)
- Kneebody (February 10, 2020)
- Reuben and the Dark (March 9, 2020)
- Stonefield (March 18, 2020)
- Tenci (September 29, 2020)
- Charmer (December 7, 2020)
- Momma (band) (April 1, 2022)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Raymer, Miles (March 10, 2011). "Audiotree Does the Record Business a la Carte". Chicago Reader. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
- ^ "About". Audiotree. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Daniels, Melissa. "How Audiotree Is Reinventing Music Videos, One Live Performance At A Time". Forbes. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- ^ Channel 3, Andrew Feather | News (December 6, 2021). "Kalamazoo billionaires' son indicted, accused of secretly recording naked nanny". WWMT. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Chicago-based Audiotree launches multi-faceted artist discovery platform in Canada". www.indoorrecess.com. April 5, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ Raine, Michael (May–June 2018). "Audiotree & Paquin Launch Canadian Artist Discovery Platform". Canadian Musician. 39 (3): 14. ISSN 0708-9635.
- ^ a b "Sessions – Audiotree". audiotree.tv. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- ^ "Audiotree - About". YouTube. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- ^ a b "Audiotree won't stage music festival in Kalamazoo for 2019". Local Spins. January 11, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- ^ "Audiotree Music Festival 2017 – Festival Outlook". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ a b "Audiotree". Open House Chicago. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ a b Garcia, Evan (December 14, 2020). "Coronavirus-Inspired Songs From Paul Cherry at Livestreamed Chicago Show". WTTW. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- ^ TV News Desk. "Julien Baker Will Perform Streaming Album Release Concert". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- ^ Long, Zach (December 22, 2020). "Chicago venues and bands weigh in on the future of streaming concerts". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
- ^ Pasbani, Robert (June 9, 2020). "90% of Independent Music Venues Won't Survive the Pandemic According To New Survey". Metal Injection. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Behind the Scenes". Audiotree. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ Audio, Antelope. "Audiotree". Antelope Audio. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ Berlatsky, Noah (February 2, 2018). "Audiotree's Far Out video series records bands where you'd least expect". Chicago Reader. Retrieved October 16, 2021.