“I always think of myself as an entrepreneur, first and foremost,” said Geter. “When you look at Roc-A-Fella in ‘96 and ‘97, Grand Hustle was patterned after that. For us, it was clear that we needed to make moves like getting into fashion. It was a no brainer. We educated ourselves a lot through conversations with people like Daymond John.”

Now, Geter and Heavy Sound Labs act as the Shark Tank of sorts for a sea of aspiring musicians who are banking they’re just the right connection away from blowing up. Heavy Sound is eliminating the typical echo chamber of a label’s boardroom, crowdsourcing a sizable team of A&Rs, managers, and other music executives around the world who all provide analysis on prospective artists, voting in polls to select singles and other creative direction. The artist wins because now all of these people who helped a song, video, album, or merch campaign come to fruition will also be invested in promoting it upon release.

“Initially, I thought about doing a distribution company, but I decided to redefine what a record label is instead,” Geter told me. “I created this website where any artist can go fill out an application. It’s a series of questions designed to flow like a conversation we’re having with each other. If we like what we’re seeing with their music and their socials, here’s the second round of questions. What are your goals in the next five years, whose career represents your vision, things like that. We want to see what they want out of this. That way, off top, we’re on the same page.”

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