Member wins

Every week, members of the Dark Label Music community ship work, sign artists, and close deals. These are their stories — unfiltered, shared in their own words.

Wins shared
294
Conversations
3,428
Producers
148
  1. Will Toft
    Will Toft

    First Momentum Model Client!

    I'm at the tail end of working on three songs with an artist and as we were talking about wrap up he brought up how he'd like to continue working together with more song ideas and if there was a way to continue our payment plan indefinetly so we can continue to work on new music. He's great to work with and I've had a blast working on his current songs and was very fortunate having him find me to begin with so I am so stoked that he wants to continue working together. Time to go find some more artists. :)

    15 likes7 comments
    1. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '24🏆

    2. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      Jul '24Thanks @Joes Brands

    3. Christian Sancto
      Christian Sancto

      Jul '24Awesomeeeeee 🐐

    4. Melvin Goins
      Melvin Goins

      Jul '24That’s awesome. Best type of client to have. Congrats!

    5. Kory Shore
      Kory Shore

      Jul '24Ayy congrats!

    6. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jul '24Nice job Will! Thanks for sharing this.

    Show 1 more comment
    1. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24Let’s go!!

  2. Luke Kondak
    Luke Kondak

    First socials brand deal!

    Since I've been doing better at social media one of my goals has been to get a brand deal and start working with some music product companies. Just made my first post of a plugin creator I'm working with! Also talking with a few more that might work out!

    23 likes27 comments
    1. Matt Moss
      Matt Moss

      Aug '24That's awesome @Luke Kondak

    2. Matt LeSueur
      Matt LeSueur

      Aug '24That’s aces mate, love it

    3. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Aug '24@Matt Moss Thanks man!!

    4. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jul '24Congrats, @Luke Kondak! You've now introduced a 2nd income stream into your business. Very exciting.

    5. Matthew Wooten
      Matthew Wooten

      Aug '24Awesome!!

    6. James Littier
      James Littier

      Jul '24@Luke Kondak That's great advice cause I definetly would just wait for them to reach out. Hahaha!

    Show 21 more comments
    1. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Joes Brands Thanks man!!

    2. Aaron Ferrucci
      Aaron Ferrucci

      Jul '24This is great Luke!

    3. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Aug '24@Matt LeSueur Thank you!

    4. Tom Shaw
      Tom Shaw

      Jul '24Nice job, love your content!

    5. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Tom Shaw Thanks man!

    6. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Philip Davidson Thank you!

    7. Joey Colvin
      Joey Colvin

      Jul '24Nice so cool! 👏

    8. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Joey Colvin Thanks!!

    9. Matt Cordasco
      Matt Cordasco

      Jul '24Awesome, man! Congrats!!

    10. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Tyler Newitt Thanks!! Yes!!

    11. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@James Littier You got this! Also don't be afraid to message them first!

    12. James Littier
      James Littier

      Jul '24So tight man! This is a goal for me as well so that's super inspiring!

    13. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Kamil Zajac Thanks!

    14. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Daniel Grimmett Yes totally!

    15. Immanuel Santiago
      Immanuel Santiago

      Jul '24Lets go man that's awesome!!

    16. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Immanuel Santiago Thanks you!!

    17. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Aaron Ferrucci Thanks!!

    18. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Jul '24amazing!

    19. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Matt Cordasco Thanks!

    20. Pete Covington
      Pete Covington

      Jul '24Great stuff man!!!

    21. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24@Pete Covington Thank you!!

  3. Simon Ibssa

    I GOT PAID! #FirstClient

    You know... there are very few extreme pleasures I imagine one goes through in this life. Eating food after fasting, getting married, holding your first child.... But I don't have to imagine what it's like to get paid from producing music. I JUST GOT MY FIRST CLIENT MATE! LET'S GO! 😂

    23 likes19 comments
    1. Kory Shore
      Kory Shore

      Jul '24Woohoo! More to come for you Simon!

    2. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@Daniel Grimmett thank you for the support daniel!

    3. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jul '24Excited for you, Simon! Congrats.

    4. Elliot Reidy
      Elliot Reidy

      Jul '24The Legendary Nor Cal Kid cashed out 💰💰💰 Congrats Simon!

    5. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@Kory Shore thanks Kory!

    6. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@Robert Irvin thanks man! stoked haha

    Show 13 more comments
    1. Robert Irvin
      Robert Irvin

      Jul '24nice job dude

    2. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@Elliot Reidy BLESS UP !!

    3. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@Jamahl Augustine thanks bro !!

    4. Jamahl Augustine
      Jamahl Augustine

      Jul '24Happy for you man 👊🏾

    5. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@James Littier thanks James!

    6. James Littier
      James Littier

      Jul '24Awesome man!

    7. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@Tyler Newitt 🙏🏾

    8. Tyler Newitt

      Jul '24Let’s gooooo 👏👏👏

    9. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@Hänz Nobe 😂😂🙏🏾

    10. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '

    11. Simon Ibssa

      Jul '24@Luke Kondak thank you bruv 🙏🏾

    12. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24My man making moves!😎😎 keep killing it!

    13. Jesse Shirts
      Jesse Shirts

      Jul '24🔥

  4. Hänz Nobe
    Hänz Nobe

    Got a New Client with Multiple Payment Options

    Hey everyone, I just closed a new project (hiphop, ironically) with an artist out in Queens. What helped me close was that after I presented my full rate I then gave the artist different options on how to pay which are listed below: A.) 50% to to start. 50% once deliverables are done. B.) 30% to start. 30% for full beat. 40% for mix vocals and master and stems. C.) 25% to start. 25% for full beat. 25% for mix. 25% for master and stems. The artist went for option C which is totally fine. The lesson I ... See more

    12 likes10 comments
    1. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '24@James Littier Thank you

    2. James Littier
      James Littier

      Jul '24Love it man!

    3. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '24@Jamahl Augustine Thanks G

    4. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '24@Chad Tabikh thanks man

    5. Chad Tabikh
      Chad Tabikh

      Jul '24Congrats!

    6. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jul '24Makes sense. Kind of reminds me of just selling session blocks like a local studio might do i.e. 6 hour block for X amount and we'll need 4 of them.

    Show 4 more comments
    1. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '24@Daniel Grimmett ✅

    2. Jamahl Augustine
      Jamahl Augustine

      Jul '24I’ve admired your persistence with your process man, inspiring stuff 💪🏾

    3. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '24@Tyler Newitt Thanks man

    4. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '24@Joes Brands Thank you

  5. Christian Sancto
    Christian Sancto

    It's been a pretty good month 👀

    This weekend, the first tracks I made with clients since joining Dark Label last summer got released. Not one, not two, but three tracks all in the same weekend 😂 And for one of them, I ended up writing a press release for Billboard, which is pretty wild. Also, this was the first month in which I met my living expenses entirely through music-related income since starting Dark Label. I've got plenty of projects lined up for the next couple of months too. Oh, and I just broke 2,000 instagram followe... See more

    40 likes19 comments
    1. Sivert Vaagen
      Sivert Vaagen

      Jul '24Congrats!!

    2. Jason Bradford
      Jason Bradford

      Jul '24Yesssssss!!! I'm so happy to see this. Congrats Christian, well deserved! 🙌

    3. Kory Shore
      Kory Shore

      Jul '24Dude congrats!!!!

    4. Matt Cordasco
      Matt Cordasco

      Jul '24So pumped for you!! Well deserved, Christian!! 🎉

    5. Brad Grobler
      Brad Grobler

      Jul '24Very Well Done @Christian Sancto , I have been following your posts on Insta, and really enjoy the light hearted way, yet see the serious promotional value behind the fun!! Fresh ideas, and entertaining, yet serious bizz. Super glad the clients, independence and income are rolllling in!! Inspirational Congrats! 🔥💥

    6. James Littier
      James Littier

      Jul '24Way to be relentlessly consistent man!!! Super stoked to see how things have really taken off for you.

    Show 13 more comments
    1. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jul '24Congrats!

    2. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jul '24Proud of you, Christian! Nice work.

    3. Robert Irvin
      Robert Irvin

      Jul '24thats what i’m talkin’ bout!

    4. Melvin Goins
      Melvin Goins

      Jul '24Christian this is awesome! You’ve been crushing it on IG and very active on the platform. Happy to see you winning.

    5. Fred Rosa
      Fred Rosa

      Jul '24Christian you've gotta be the most consistent member on here that I know. I see you on every livestream I attend. So so good to see you grow my bro. Keep killing it.

    6. Riley Corbin
      Riley Corbin

      Jul '24love getting to see your growth and hard work pay off. inspirational.

    7. Chris Gaskell
      Chris Gaskell

      Jul '24let's goooooo

    8. Denys Rybchenko
      Denys Rybchenko

      Jul '24Great stuff, Christian! Awesome to see such a growth! I'm curious though, what has been the biggest source of clients for you at this moment? Do you still do outreach, or most of your clients just coming off content at this moment?

    9. Harley Campbell
      Harley Campbell

      Jul '24Dude! This is amazing! Great to see the work paying off!

    10. Tom Shaw
      Tom Shaw

      Jul '24SO stoked for you!

    11. Pete Covington
      Pete Covington

      Jul '24Duuude so good!!! Congrats man. You’ve worked insanely hard so it’s awesome to see how much it can pay off

    12. Aaron Ferrucci
      Aaron Ferrucci

      Jul '24Great to hear man, keep at it!

    13. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jul '24Let’s gooooo! You’ve been an encouragement!!

  6. Tom Shaw
    Tom Shaw

    Just bagged my first client since starting Dark label

    Super excited to share that after 7 weeks of consistent outreach, I've finally taken payment for my first client project since joining Dark Label. Here's a quick breakdown of the deal and my numbers for anyone interested. It's a pretty straightforward job. The client has a song with all the parts recorded and the gear to record anything else I might need. My focus will be on layering the production, enhancing the percussion, producing the vocals and background vocals, and adding some polish. I did... See more

    19 likes4 comments
    1. Adin Muskal
      Adin Muskal

      Jul '24congrats man!

    2. Christian Sancto
      Christian Sancto

      Jul '24Nice work Tom, great to hear!

    3. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jul '24Nice one Tom - First one is the hardest.

    4. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Jul '24Great work mate! Outreach calls have been really down in recent weeks, think it a bit to do with the time of year.I don't work with many self-producing artists, but my thought would be that there is a slight miss-match between your diagnosis and solution in your sales call. I will pretty much always secure a client if I can solve their pain points, the money becomes irrelevant, but if I don't do this correctly then I'll get objections.

  7. Robert Irvin
    Robert Irvin

    recital win

    got a nice gig win coming up in my hometown. just solidified all the plans and it will be my first time getting paid professionally to play a show that is entirely my original music :) payout: $500 length: 1 hour

    11 likes4 comments
    1. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jul 'ick!! congrats robert. would love to see it if you're taping it

    2. Robert Irvin
      Robert Irvin

      Jul '24@Kevin Shoemaker probably going to do some voice memos recording with a few phones… aaron gave me an idea

    3. Aaron Ferrucci
      Aaron Ferrucci

      Jul '24Nice!!!

    4. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jul '24Awesome Robert!

  8. Kevin Shoemaker
    Kevin Shoemaker

    Wins

    Happy to say that May was my biggest month so far since starting this thing. I signed 3 new clients worth a total of just over $5000 USD in new work, and perhaps more if they become repeat clients. This includes my biggest client yet (one of the artists I made a portfolio track with, unpaid) who is an incredible songwriter and I think is really going places - she signed on to finish a debut 3-track EP together and I'm so pumped that I get to work on it. I wish i could share some takeaways from th... See more

    25 likes25 comments
    1. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Isaiah English thanks a lot Isaiah!

    2. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Daniel Grimmett thanks for all your help Dan!

    3. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Tyler Newitt thanks Tyler!

    4. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jun '24Congrats.

    5. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Hänz Nobe thanks Hanz!

    6. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Kamil Zajac thanks Kamil!

    Show 19 more comments
    1. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      Jun '24Woo hoo! That's awesome Kevin! So glad to hear it.

    2. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Will Toft thanks Will!

    3. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Joes Brands thanks Joes

    4. Pete Covington
      Pete Covington

      Jun '24Hell yeah dude!!!

    5. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Pete Covington thanks for all your help Pete!

    6. Fred Rosa
      Fred Rosa

      Jun '24Congrats dude :) funny I also onboarded my first three clients at once. Something just clicks after all the internal work and things start moving fast.

    7. James Littier
      James Littier

      Jun '24Killer man. That's what'll happen more and more. The more consistent you are and the more seeds you plant the easier the work will come. Also repeat clients are the shit so make that the business model imo

    8. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@James Littier yo James thanks for all your help dude. you helped coach me on all three of these sales!

    9. Aaron Ferrucci
      Aaron Ferrucci

      Jun '24Great to hear Kevin, I really enjoy your productions!

    10. Tom Shaw
      Tom Shaw

      Jun '24That's an awesome win! Thanks for sharing :)

    11. James Littier
      James Littier

      Jun '24@Kevin Shoemaker glad to hear it man!

    12. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Aaron Ferrucci thanks Aaron, your help with them has been incredible!

    13. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Tom Shaw thanks Tom

    14. Isaiah English
      Isaiah English

      Jun '24incredible bro! well done. that speaks to your consistency and dedication

    15. Dave Bryce
      Dave Bryce

      Jun '24My guy!! So glad to hear it congratulations

    16. Rob Woods
      Rob Woods

      Jun '24Congrats man! That's really inspiring, as other said maybe all the experience, confidence and such has to 'pile up' before it really takes off hence 3 clients at once :)

    17. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jun '24@Kevin Shoemaker My pleasure!

    18. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jun '24Nice job Kevin!

    19. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun '24@Dave Bryce thanks Dave

  9. Joes Brands

    Content win

    Yesterday, I shared my first reel where I do a bit of talking—something that took me quite a while to overcome. A big shoutout to this amazing group, a few invaluable tips, and especially a call with @Pete Covington, for helping me get past this hurdle! 🙏 While I still see plenty of room for growth, I’m thrilled to have taken this step! Check it out: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8KYX44tagC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== I’d love to hear any additional tips to improve. Your feedback is always appreciated!

    17 likes21 comments
    1. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Christian Sancto - I already made a few before this one, but was never satisfied. With this one out in the open and the nice and honest comments (who were aware of my struggle) of my friends I feel this resistance is melting!The amount of people reacting to this one or reaching is more than doubled.I also feel there is a lot potential in this kind of content which I didn’t tap into!

    2. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@James Littier thanks! without this group and your support this would never have happened!

    3. James Littier
      James Littier

      Jun '24So so so good!!!!

    4. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Robert Irvin thanks!

    5. Robert Irvin
      Robert Irvin

      Jun '24loveeeee it

    6. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Denys Rybchenko - I tagged you in Luke’s comment: lighting does it all! i have an old camera with a nice lens, but I think you can do this with almost everything as long as you have some nice lights!

    Show 15 more comments
    1. Denys Rybchenko
      Denys Rybchenko

      Jun '24Amazing video, man! Love the atmosphere and the overall looks, really sick! What kind of settings did you use to create such a cinematic vibe? Is it the lights, or some coloring at the post production already? Filter perhaps?

    2. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Tyler Newitt - thanks, man!

    3. Tyler Newitt

      Jun '24Great job with the content

    4. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Daniel Grimmett - thanks! yeah, was doubting about this too! I feel this introshot of me talking is the least convincing, but hey …The other thing for, the talking could be a lot faster especially the first lines after the intro. Next time!

    5. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Pete Covington - I had some really cool hero’s to look up to 🤪! Thanks for that, man!

    6. Pete Covington
      Pete Covington

      Jun '24Man this is SO GOOD! Killing it Joes

    7. Rob Woods
      Rob Woods

      Jun '24Outstanding work man! Tried the 'talking head' style before but I found it really challenging to pull off. You've managed to do it and make it feel authentic which is quite an achievement. Also great camera work/editing and very consistent style across videos. I like this 'faded' colour style. Just gave you a follow!

    8. Christian Sancto
      Christian Sancto

      Jun '24Awesome, it’s a huge mindset hurdle for sure! Has posting this made you want to do more talking head style reels, or do you still have some resistance to it?

    9. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Luke Kondak - Thanks! I have an old GH5 with a Meike cinema lens. The lighting technique is called 3 point lighting: a warmer (more yellow) softbox is the ‘keylight’ on my face , a harder (more blue) rim light on my back (left) and the normal lights of my studio to fill it up. You can find lots of youtube tutorials!

    10. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jun '24Dude killed it! Also love the video recording style very crisp and professional!

    11. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Kamil Zajac - thanks, working on it!

    12. Kamil Zajac

      Jun '24This looks and sounds amazing. I want more!

    13. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jun '24@Luke Kondak Yeah the vibe/colors are solid

    14. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jun '24Nice job @Joes Brands! Glad you broke the ice. If I was just 'picking at it' then I would say the opening shot could have just been you throwing on the hood and sneaking through the door (with the same voice over) then right to the drums. Think about the opening visual hook and what's more exciting... talking head or straight into action? This was a fun watch regardless!

    15. Joes Brands

      Jun '24@Rob Woods thanks - the faded footage comes out of my gh5 (s-log, and has not Lut) so I have to grade it myself but I quite like it.

  10. Isaiah English
    Isaiah English

    fear is a liar

    i just had my first production session with my first official client (took payment monday, preproduction tuesday, remote session last night). during the whole preproduction call AND remote session, i felt a constant fear of "what if you misunderstand him? what if he doesn't connect with you + gets disappointed bc you're failing?" etc. but. first of all, this client got on a follow up call Excited To Pay Me (wut). i recommended a deposit; he insisted paying in full. he kept reiterating how excited... See more

    28 likes9 comments
    1. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Jun '24amazing mate. huge win. congrats!

    2. Paul Slaughters
      Paul Slaughters

      Jun '24Hell yeah dude. That’s soo inspiring to read!!!!

    3. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      Jun '24That's so amazing!! Keep killing it!

    4. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      Jun '24Leveling up

    5. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Jun 'ell yeah dude!

    6. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Jun '24Nice job Isaiah!

    Show 3 more comments
    1. Brad Grobler
      Brad Grobler

      Jun '24Well Done Thats really great! Some times self-doubt and the 'imposer syndrome' can be a producers biggest enemy. I found the more mixes, releases and wins you have, the easier it gets to diminish these feelings. Self Confidence is mighty attribute.

    2. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      Jun '24This is sick! Well done!

    3. Robert Irvin
      Robert Irvin

      Jun '24inspiring, this often plays a HUGE factor in live performance as well… just trusting your gut, it knows what to do :)

  11. Christian Sancto
    Christian Sancto

    Things are finally clicking

    In the last two weeks I've had three successful sales calls, with one client onboarded today and two more starting in June. I've also got a bunch more casual calls and proof sessions scheduled for the next couple of weeks—and they're good artists too! If this momentum continues, I expect to have a full roster of paid clients within 2-3 months. This was after MONTHS of doing tons of outreach (about 1500 total cold outreaches) with virtually no success. I thought I'd share my diagnosis of what chan... See more

    40 likes21 comments
    1. Pete Covington
      Pete Covington

      May '24Fuckyeah man!!!

    2. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      May '24@Kamil Zajac I'm doing the same Kamil. A little outreach to just practice talking to people through DM's but a majority of my focus is switching to content. So much more important.

    3. Alex Clouzard
      Alex Clouzard

      May '24YES 🙌 You really deserve it my guy!

    4. Adam Wallin
      Adam Wallin

      May '24Awesome Christian, nice work! 🙏

    5. Kensaye Russell
      Kensaye Russell

      May '24Awesome Christian. I'm not surprised, your content is awesome and you're a talented, likeable dude. 👏

    6. Christian Sancto
      Christian Sancto

      May '24@Kensaye Russell That's so sweet, thank you!

    Show 15 more comments
    1. Jesse Shirts
      Jesse Shirts

      May '24Heck yeah bro! Content is key for sure 🔥

    2. Riley Corbin
      Riley Corbin

      May '24Huge win. So stoked for you Christian. Thanks for sharing.

    3. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      May '24Congrats. Like you said. Once one projects comes in it starts to snowball when you’re consistent. Thanks for the insight on the content creation. I start that Monday

    4. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      May '24WOOOO!

    5. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      May '

    6. Arthur Stanley
      Arthur Stanley

      May '24Huge man! Congratulations 🙌

    7. Dave Bryce
      Dave Bryce

      May '24Let’s go @Christian Sancto!!

    8. Christian Sancto
      Christian Sancto

      May '24@Joes Brands Thanks so much for saying that!

    9. Denys Rybchenko
      Denys Rybchenko

      May '24That's amazing, Christian, super happy for ya ❤️‍🔥

    10. Julian Cassia
      Julian Cassia

      May '24Really awesome to see, my man!

    11. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      May ' glad to see it Christian. you're a killer man and it was only a matter of time. glad to see that time has come!!

    12. Christian Sancto
      Christian Sancto

      May '24@Daniel Grimmett Thanks! Maybe I'm being too optimistic haha. And yeah, I've discovered through all this that consistency is one of my superpowers whereas mindset and patience aren't.

    13. Antoine Breton
      Antoine Breton

      May '24So stoked to see you succeed Christian. Your content has been so cool to watch. I'm rooting for you dude!

    14. Robert Irvin
      Robert Irvin

      May '24congrats, your work ethic is inspirational!

    15. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      May '24Impeccable consistency @Christian Sancto. Nice job! And thanks for sharing your insights. It took me 6 years of grinding in this business to finally have a full roster of clients.

  12. Luke Kondak
    Luke Kondak

    Big Content Win!!

    So excited because after years of telling myself "I'm not good at content" and "I don't like social media" I have really put forth the effort to make my content better, serious, and consistent! Also been posting almost every weekday to force myself to get over the fear of posting, imposter syndrome, and fear of my family and close friends judging me. It's definitely worked! I just had a post pop off and right now has 130k views! What's better than that is I am actually enjoying making content! A... See more

    28 likes22 comments
    1. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24@Denys Rybchenko Thank you!

    2. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      May '24@Christian Sancto yeah it’s a fun format!

    3. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      May '24@Luke Kondak Livestreams on youtube is such a good idea. I'm gona have to try that.

    4. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24 (edited)@Will Toft Almost all of them are from that post! Some from my post after that but I think that’s thanks to the boost from that post! Earlier in the year I started doing livestreams on YouTube where none of my family or friends followed me and that helped me to get used to showing things to people and they like it! Then just forced myself to do instagram!

    5. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      May '24Yo congrats Luke! So awesome to see!Also - when I watched it - it's at 1.3 million views!Just saw your post from 5 days ago saying you only have a couple hundred followers - you've now got over 6000. Is this all from that last Dua Lipa post?What was your biggest shift in mindset from "imposter syndrome" to getting more comfortable posting on instagram?

    6. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      May '24Amazing Luke!

    Show 16 more comments
    1. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24@Joes Brands Thank you!

    2. Chris Georgiou
      Chris Georgiou

      May '24@Luke Kondak of course dude!!! Do what works. Killer work man

    3. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24@Chris Georgiou Thanks! Hope it was ok that I copied you😅

    4. Chris Georgiou
      Chris Georgiou

      May '24Killer @Luke Kondak so stoked for you! So excited to see where your content journey takes you 💪

    5. Denys Rybchenko
      Denys Rybchenko

      May '24That's phenomenal bro!! Congrats!!

    6. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24@Christian Sancto Right now 1435! And please do! I used Lalals for the vocals, but don’t think I didn’t steal it myself! Got it from Chris Georgiou😂

    7. Christian Sancto
      Christian Sancto

      May '24Nice! I might have to steal your idea haha. Out of curiosity, how many new followers have you gotten from that reel? (You can check by clicking "View Insights" when you open the reel and scrolling down.)

    8. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24@Matt Cordasco Thank you!

    9. Matt Cordasco
      Matt Cordasco

      May '24Big win! Awesome, man!

    10. Jason Bradford
      Jason Bradford

      May '24@Luke Kondak haha no worries! That reel was straight🔥🔥🔥

    11. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24@Jason Bradford And thank you for the tips! And the quick comment😂 my man helping the algorithm!

    12. Jason Bradford
      Jason Bradford

      May '24Congrats Luke!!

    13. James Littier
      James Littier

      May '24Hell ya man!!!! Way to stay consistent!!! Love it

    14. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24@Adam Wallin Thank you!

    15. Adam Wallin
      Adam Wallin

      May '24Nice work Luke! 🙌

    16. Aaron Ferrucci
      Aaron Ferrucci

      May '24Awesome Luke!!

  13. Matt Moss
    Matt Moss

    Double or Nothing

    Although I’ve been in music production full-time for a while now I’ve been trying to just keep my head above water. After realizing I do not charge enough, I decided to double my production fee. Today is the first time I collected double! Thanks @Daniel Grimmett

    10 likes4 comments
    1. Christian Sancto
      Christian Sancto

      May '24Awesome, that's probably a big mindset win as much as a money win!

    2. Matt Moss
      Matt Moss

      May '24@Christian Sancto yep!

    3. Antoine Breton
      Antoine Breton

      May '24Congrats Matt! That's a huge win!

    4. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      May '24Nice one Matt! That’ll make things much easier from here on out.

  14. Matt LeSueur
    Matt LeSueur

    1st 🥇 client

    The gig: Producing and mixing an original jazz big band song with standard big band instrumentation. The agreement: $3000 20% Credit to the big 3, no not K Dot, Cole, and Drake, I mean BDG, Father Ferrucci, and James Littier Big appreciation for the dudes I’ve bonded with on the way: JHenny, Nicky Dubbs, PhillieD, Méo, JaCoby, Special K, and of course 🧃 and everyone else I forgot to mention while this baby is vying for my attention.

    21 likes14 comments
    1. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      May '24Nice work @Matt LeSueur! Way to hang in there and keep at it. Congrats.

    2. Luke Kondak
      Luke Kondak

      May '24Get it man!!

    3. Alex Clouzard
      Alex Clouzard

      May '24Yeesss my guy 🔥

    4. Isaiah English
      Isaiah English

      May '24congrats dude! good to see the effort paying off. keep it going

    5. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      May '24congrats Matt!!!

    6. Aaron Ferrucci
      Aaron Ferrucci

      May '24Awesome to hear you got this over the line @Matt LeSueur congrats!

    Show 8 more comments
    1. Jason Bradford
      Jason Bradford

      May '24LeSueur for the win! Let’s gooo! 🙌🏼🥳

    2. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      May '24Huge congratulations mate!!! THat's massive

    3. Paul Slaughters
      Paul Slaughters

      May '24Congrats Matt!!!

    4. Riley Corbin
      Riley Corbin

      May '24Congratulations 🎉

    5. Brad Grobler
      Brad Grobler

      May '24🔥Congrats Brother, thats awesome!! Best producer for this style, for sure! Well done!🥳

    6. Hänz Nobe
      Hänz Nobe

      May '24Congrats G!!!

    7. Denys Rybchenko
      Denys Rybchenko

      May '24👏🙌🫶

    8. Matthew Wooten
      Matthew Wooten

      May '24DUDE!!! We've knew this would happen eventually. Way to keep going LeSueur.

  15. Adolfo 'ofo' Barragan
    Adolfo 'ofo' Barragan

    Win

    Hey guys, I wanted to share my first win. My out reach process has ben a bit slow since I joined 2 months ago, but last week I closed my first client using the Dark Label method. It was with someone who is used to working with lease beats and I wasn’t sure if a full production would work for him but I went for it thanks to the advice of @Nick Warner and @Kensaye Russell , and he loved the idea. I was also able to update my fee, since most of my work comes from SoundBetter and people are mostly pr... See more

    15 likes4 comments
    1. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Apr '24Awesome to hear Adolfo! Putting the first one up on the board is a good feeling.

    2. Kensaye Russell
      Kensaye Russell

      Apr 'u did it my dude! Proud of you!

    3. James Littier
      James Littier

      Apr '24So good man!!! Stoked to hear it's comin together for ya!

    4. Nick Warner
      Nick Warner

      Apr '24I knew you’d be able to tweak your business model. Glad to hear it’s already working!

  16. Nat James
    Nat James

    First in-person client session!

    This past week on a trip to London I was able to coordinate 3 artists to record with a returning client, and smash through a 1-on-1 session with a new sync collab the following day, set for BMG ! The client project had so many moving parts and was a big organisational challenge, but I caught some good opportunities for learning & growth along the way. Exhausting but rewarding. Thanks to God always🙏🏼

    11 likes2 comments
    1. Kensaye Russell
      Kensaye Russell

      Apr '24congrats! 👏 🙌

    2. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Apr '24Nice! I remember you talking about this. Glad it went well!

  17. Harley Campbell
    Harley Campbell

    Growth Win! (Bit of a read)

    Hey everyone! I've been pretty quite lately, really grinding away on hitting my metrics and building things up. I just wanted to take some time and share this: When joining this incredible community, I wasn't sure how to go out and get my own work. I wasn't confident in my ability to approach artists who I thought would be good to work with and almost relied on the work coming to me.. I wasn't in control and I especially wasn't confident in my ability to put myself out there, all while my whole m... See more

    15 likes4 comments
    1. Pete Covington
      Pete Covington

      Apr '24Good stuff Harley!! I can definitely relate to the previous feeling of apathy and DL completely reversing that! Keep pushing man.

    2. Will Toft
      Will Toft

      Apr '24YO THAT's SICK!Fellow Aussie! I'm based in Brisbane. Congrats man! Super inspiring and so exciting.

    3. Harley Campbell
      Harley Campbell

      Apr '24@Pete Covington Loving the grind for sure!

    4. Harley Campbell
      Harley Campbell

      Apr '24@Will Toft Thanks man!

  18. Philip Davidson
    Philip Davidson

    ...I've just posted my first YouTube video

    After a long time of planning, playing, and trying many different approaches to finding my voice through video content, I have finally put something together that I am proud of and happy to go out into the world... Please let me know what you all think, and lets hope it resonates with potential clients too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3J_f23gk9c 8:34

    18 likes22 comments
    1. Jason Bradford
      Jason Bradford

      Apr '24Holy moly. Alright. Time to pack it up I guess. I quit 😂No this is absolutely top notch Phil, the story telling, the visuals, the chapters, the message. Just wow… way to set the bar man! 🙌🏼

    2. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Apr '24Q&A on how ya made it coming soon... 😂

    3. Kensaye Russell
      Kensaye Russell

      May '24Absolutely loved this!

    4. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      May '24@Kensaye Russell Thanks!

    5. Matthew Wooten
      Matthew Wooten

      May '24Amazing Philip. How long did it take you to make this? You're 1000% going somewhere with content like this. Had me hooked the whole way. And you're absolutely right, the common denominator is also the most important of recording/producing—you. Your skill, your ears, your imagination/creativity/vision, etc. Great work.

    6. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Sep '24 (edited)@Matthew Wooten Sorry just saw this mate! This took me like over a week, but now I've kinda figured out my process for the new video, it takes me around 20 hours I'd say. 5 hours title/thumbnail. 6 hours scripting. 1 hours filming. 8 hours editing. Hoping to start outsourcing editing in the next 6 months.

    Show 16 more comments
    1. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Sep '24@Aaron Anderson Thanks man! Means a lot :)

    2. Michael Ellery
      Michael Ellery

      Sep '24This was frieken cool! Great job man!!

    3. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Sep '24@Michael Ellery cheers bro

    4. Rob Woods
      Rob Woods

      Sep '24Woah! That’s the kind of cinematic/documentary storytelling hardly anyone is doing in the music industry, maybe except for Venus Theory, but it’s still different. It fits perfectly with YouTube as well. You’ve set a new benchmark for all of us, hats off 👏

    5. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Sep '24@Rob Woods thanks mate!

    6. Riley Corbin
      Riley Corbin

      Apr '24this is so fun, I love the fresh approach of it being more of a moody documentary film. you held my attention in a different way that felt refreshing. great work.

    7. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Apr '24@Riley Corbin amazing, thanks man. I’m such a huge consumer of YouTube, a lot of the content can be very similar, so I’m hoping that there is space for something like this in the niche.

    8. Peter Cloud
      Peter Cloud

      Apr '24Omg this is so genius philip!! Love the approach !! 🙌😎😎😎😎

    9. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Apr '24@Peter Cloud Thanks mate!

    10. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Apr '24@Kamil Zajac Cheers mate, really appreciate that. Heavily influenced by channels like Venus Theory. Some of my biggest influences are Gawx Art, Audiohaze, Casey Neistat, Ethan Chlebowski, love what they all do.

    11. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Apr '24@Daniel Grimmett Yes! I'm down

    12. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Apr '24@Joes Brands Yes mate! That's awesome. Really glad that it comes across as different from the outset, that was really what I was trying to do.

    13. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      Apr '24@Jason Bradford Hahahaha cheers man, appreciate you

    14. Matt LeSueur
      Matt LeSueur

      May '24I’m so impressed. Loved it. Standard bearer. Top marks.

    15. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      May '24@Matt LeSueur Thanks mate

    16. Philip Davidson
      Philip Davidson

      May '24@Chad Haynes Cheers man

  19. Melvin Goins
    Melvin Goins

    First two remote bookings!

    Thrilled to share my first big win with you guys! Started reaching out 3 weeks ago, nailed 5 sales calls in the second week and 1 in the third. Managed to close two deals, and the other 4 verbally agreed but they are just waiting on their next pay cycle to make their deposits. Prior to joining Dark Label I’ve never done outreach using social media and I’ve never done official sales calls. All my previous gigs came from local networking and people reaching out because of my rep in the the Philly mu... See more

    20 likes5 comments
    1. Noah Reynolds
      Noah Reynolds

      Apr '24This is awesome Melvin!!

    2. Kensaye Russell
      Kensaye Russell

      Apr '24👏 👏 Congrats Melvin

    3. Robert Irvin
      Robert Irvin

      Apr '24beast mode

    4. Melvin Goins
      Melvin Goins

      Apr '24Thanks guys!

    5. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Apr '24Nice job Melvin!

  20. Will Toft
    Will Toft

    1st Full Rate Client

    Just confirmed my first Full Rate Client (ever) at the end of last week. They were a referral from a friend who said "they didn't have much money" so went into a warm casual call not expecting much - so much so that I did zero research on them before jumping on the call. But it very quickly moved to a sales call - I gave them a ballpark price range of $700 - $1500 not knowing if they wanted accoustic piano ballad or full production. Fast forward to after talking through the proposal and we're doing... See more

    20 likes9 comments
    1. Kevin Shoemaker
      Kevin Shoemaker

      Apr '24amazing Will congrats brother!!

    2. Alex Clouzard
      Alex Clouzard

      Apr '24Congrats Will!

    3. Isaiah English
      Isaiah English

      Apr '24that's incredible will. congratulations and well done

    4. Jason Bradford
      Jason Bradford

      Apr '24Amazing, nice job Will!

    5. Kensaye Russell
      Kensaye Russell

      Apr '24Really well done Will! 👏

    6. Arthur Stanley
      Arthur Stanley

      Apr '24Amazing man, congratulations!

    Show 3 more comments
    1. Aaron Ferrucci
      Aaron Ferrucci

      Apr '24Nice job Will!

    2. Daniel Grimmett
      Daniel Grimmett

      Apr '24Nice job Will!

    3. Jamahl Augustine
      Jamahl Augustine

      Apr '24Love to see it working out for you man, well done 👊🏾

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