What is the name of your organization?
Sky People Entertainment
What is the name of your solution?
SPE: Indigenous Record Label
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Providing Indigenous musicians a record label that elevates their voices, records their stories, and Indigenizes the music business.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Chicago, IL, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United States
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
—
What specific problem are you solving?
I am eager to address the lack of infrastructure for Indigenous musicians within the music industry. Colonization of Indigenous lands effectively criminalized Indigenous culture and with that music was criminalized as it's an integral part of our culture. This has resulted in the current issue at hand, which is a lack of intergenerational wealth in the music industry as well as a lack of access to connections and necessary infrastructure for Indigenous artists. I would be as bold to say the entire wider Indigenous community is affected because every generation of Indigenous musicians has been effectively sidelined. This contributes to the wider issue of cultural visibility within the wider American culture. The lack of infrastructure (i.e. record labels) providing resources, culturally sound representation, connections, and guidance is the greatest factor contributing to the problem. In my experience, it seems many people within the community have a hard time tackling this issue because it seems too large and out of reach for any one person or organization to handle internally. In 2021 USC Annenberg conducted an Inclusion Initiative study of the music industry and Indigenous representation at music companies was so low compared to all other demographics, it wasn't included.
What is your solution?
My solution is to build out this infrastructure by expanding my music company Sky People Entertainment into a full-service Indigenous-owned record company serving as a bridge to the wider music industry for Indigenous artists. I started Sky People Entertainment as a concert production company in 2018 as a starting point, building platforms that serve the Indigenous music community. We made the Chicago Reader's Best of 2021 list for our annual Indigenous Peoples Day festival which we produced for 5 years. While I've made progress in live music, after sitting on an Indigenous panel with the CEO of the Grammy's I realized the big elephant in the room was the recording industry, while I'd hoped they would offer us a hand in good faith, I left with the realization that this issue like others I've worked to address in my career will likely have to be handled by our people and the industry will see our value at a later date. The expansion of Sky People Entertainment into a record label will focus on building a catalog, streaming revenue, and live events then expand into sync licensing, merchandise, and touring ultimately leading to sustainable growth with multiple artists and global recognition.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
This solution directly serves the Indigenous music community as a way to solve an issue that has long been overlooked and establishes a company that generates sustainable income for Indigenous musicians of a wide range of genres, backgrounds, and communities. This also serves the Indigenous community as a whole. By invigorating the music community we then inspire all community members to create fearlessly. This solution most directly serves young people because it will show them the realistic possibility of having a life in music.
