I realize there is a cruel irony that a new platform that I have built, focusing on creativity, has found me talking about business 'stuff' two posts in a row. But, there is an importance to these things. It is important to talk about how our business works, how these things operate, the hard truths, the successes, and the struggles. Because it's information like this that not only helps inspire others, and educate those who may wish to follow us and those who wish to learn about us, but it also keeps us accountable.
When I began the studio, and I started taking on work externally and helping others, and reaching out to other artists, I made the very public statement that I would always hold myself to certain rules and values. I promised that (despite any expectations from myself or otherwise) should Blackout Studios reach a more significant point of influence, find commercial success or see the growth of the business, we will always put people first. And not just in the hollow-thought commercial "we care" kind of way.
I promised no matter what, no matter when, and no matter if; the studio will always prioritize looking after those under our umbrella, and that we would always be honest about it.
Now, after making such a bold statement, a lot of people may read it and think that "surely it doesn't matter, we may never even reach a position where these concerns actually become concerns", and personally, I think that it matters regardless. The important matter is not the "if". I am fully aware and fully accept that nothing is immortal, nothing will ever truly stand the test of time, and Blackout Studios, no matter how optimistic even the best of us may be, could easily falter and close down at any point. The most important matter in the statement is setting a standard. It doesn't matter if we win or lose, succeed or fail, rise or fall; the important thing is that no matter what happens, we never lose sight of the promises that we made, and the vision of what we wanted to be.
I wish that could be applied to all businesses, but, as I'm sure a lot of us know, the higher up the ladder of commercial success you go, the more lies, deceit, and malice you will be met with. And, again as we all know, it is terrifyingly obvious that the personality traits required to find mass success do not commonly align with promoting good intentions for the common people. Although, I would like to suffix this with the note that there are exceptions, and I have known plenty of people I would regard as "successful" who have also used their success to push for better standards in their respective fields.
The other key factor in this machine is independence. I'm treading on a grey line here - because a few people will point out there are already two artists publishing music under the 'Blackout Studios' label. However, and this is the most important piece of information regarding these publications, Blackout studios does not own any majority of the media published - that ownership has and will always stay within the rights of our creators.
We like our independence and our creators (myself included) like their independence. To maintain that independence, in an environment that is naturally built against it, we must preserve our integrity, transparency, and communication with the people who follow us and our creators so that people know why we do things and encourage them to help support us in doing them.