Hard Rock Records’ John Galloway – HuffPost 6.27.12

Mike Ragogna: John, what advice do you have for new artists?

John Galloway: I guess the advice I have for new artists is be as creative as possible in terms of how you’re reaching out to people in the industry. We go through a lot with artists in terms of asks for play, asks for monies, contingencies they put on deals. Right now, the music industry is suffering a little bit and artists need to be willing to go out there and put together unique ideas that they can play from a marketing perspective and with marketing partners that are win-win, but maybe necessarily, huge financial trains that may limit their opportunity for exposure.

MR: What do you think about the goal of being on a label versus not being on a label? There seem to be two levels of the business right now–the DIY approach, and trying to pitch yourself to indie or major labels to get “that deal.”

JG: Ultimately, I still believe in the major labels. I still ultimately believe in the support. There is a school of thought of DIY, but the reality of it is that it’s hard. As a small, new label, I can tell you it’s hard. We talk to folks in the industry and it seems to be better to be a big boy these days than a small boy. We are a small boy, a little infant, in the industry. All I wish for our bands is that we’re able to give somebody a chance to make it on the big stage and I think the big stage often comes with a larger label than actually we are today. Otherwise, we’d go into that business further.