1851 Records promotes campus music scene

1851 Entertainment announced the creation of a revised campus-based record label, 1851 Records, in December 2018.

The record label will give artists the opportunity to record, produce and distribute their music.

“The main reason why we’re doing it is to give students a space, because it’s really difficult to be signed if you’re not well known,” said Emily Herbein ’19, vice president of 1851 Entertainment.

1851 Entertainment is a student-run organization that promotes the music scene on campus through open mic nights, music festivals and other events on campus. In the past, there had been different versions of a record label, but there were contractual issues that restricted their activity, as previously reported by The Hawk.

1851 Entertainment president Chris DeFlitch ’19 said the organization has been working to establish a more legitimate label.

“Ever since I knew about the idea of the label, I’ve wanted to try to start that back up,” DeFlitch said. “It took about three years to do it.”

Before, the 1851 Records organization would create mix CDs that compiled work from different campus artists and gave them out to students, DeFlitch said. Now, they intend to work like a professional record label.

“The goal of it is to be a completely student-run, reputable label that doesn’t just do mix CDs, because there’s no market for that,” Herbein said.

The work of establishing a real record label came together during the fall 2017 semester in DeFlitch’s Business of Recorded Music, a marketing course taught by John Sabo, adjunct professor of marketing.

“We had the framework in place and we had the brand, but it was just we didn’t have someone in the professional area, in the administration, that really pushed for this to happen,” DeFlitch said.

With the support of Sabo and the collective effort of the class, they were able to bring the label together during the semester.

“I was going to be the one to oversee everything from the students,” DeFlitch said. “Every class we would talk about something with this release we would put out.”

1851 Records has already signed its first band, Brick Nova, and printed 150 CDs of their EP “Overgrown.”

Jared Filer ’20, the only St. Joe’s student in Brick Nova, said that he began planning this deal with 1851 Records a few months ago and worked with the class once he signed with the label.

“We met with one of the marketing classes before in a mock discussion of what we want to do in terms of printing,” Filer said. “[Sabo] understands a lot of our needs and our desires as a band.”

While this EP is not Brick Nova’s first album, it is their first printed work. Filer said they had worked with an online production company before, but 1851 Records offers them a premium distribution plan with greater benefits and more resources than what other record labels could offer.

In addition to producing the CD, 1851 Records covered the cost of the CD’s sleeve. 1851 Records also plans to offer other mediums of production, such as vinyl records. 

Those perks come with a cost, however, that DeFlitch said is much greater than what typical campus clubs have to face. Funding for 1851 Records comes from the entertainment marketing department and donations from alumni.

“I’m glad that the school is willing to allow us to use this money to do this, because it’s something very different on campus compared to the normal clubs,” DeFlitch said.

DeFlitch said that compared to other schools in Philadelphia, St. Joe’s is in a good position to establish itself in the business side of the music industry.

“That’s where I think St. Joe’s can excel because we have a great marketing program, we have a great business program,” DeFlitch said. “We could apply some of that St. Joe’s spirit that we have from food marketing and pharmaceutical marketing and bring that over to the alternative side of entertainment marketing.”

One of the future goals 1851 Records plans to pursue is entering the Philadelphia music scene and represent artists outside of St. Joe’s as well as students.

“We’d love to give SJU a shot to show to Philadelphia we’re a force to be reckoned with, we’re doing a lot of cool things up here and we want to be in with the trend of music entertainment schools and programs,” DeFlitch said.

Since DeFlitch and Herbein are both graduating this year, they hope that 1851 Records will continue, whether through the members of 1851 Entertainment, students in the Business of Recorded Music course or anyone else who has a passion for music.

“We’re always looking for new people, and not just people inside the entertainment major and music industry minor,” DeFlitch said. “If you’re interested in music and you are a performer or if you want to help with the tech side of things, you want to help out with the promotion side of things, anyone can come and help.”