Inside the Modern Record Label: What ACTUALLY Works in 2026 (ft. Chris Herche) #250

We sit down with Chris Herche, SVP at Create Music Group (recently valued at over $1B) to break down exactly how the modern record label operates in 2026.We dig into:👉 How indie labels are beating the majors👉 Why A&R + digital marketing are the only two functions that matter👉 New-era deal structures 👉 What real artist development looks like today👉 Why some artists win with tiny teams while others don’t grow at all👉 The power of data, consistency, and sustained momentum👉 The future of platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and AI in music👉 How Create Music Group thinks about building labels, entrepreneurs, and artistsFREE ACCESS to "100 VIRAL CONTENT IDEAS FOR MUSICIANS": https://forms.gle/zGWuUrLA8mBfqz7F8GET 30% OFF DISTROKID: http://distrokid.com/vip/onemoretimeJOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/rTAYsPcyEYWANNA WORK WITH US? Make us an OFFER! https://forms.gle/tVdon5vyoGAqPjx6AFOLLOW One More Time:https://www.instagram.com/onemoretimepodhttps://www.tiktok.com/@onemoretimepod0:00 – Full Circle Intro & Who Is Chris Herche?1:05 – What’s Really Happening With Major Label Layoffs7:02 – Defining the “Modern Record Label” in 20268:27 – Why A&R + Digital Marketing Run Everything Now10:01 – New-Era Deal Structures & Track-Level Signings13:20 – Is Artist Development Dead? (Chris Disagrees)18:03 – How Indie Artists Can Develop Themselves23:42 – Data, Consistency & Sustained Growth Over Time28:31 – TikTok Will Go Away, YouTube Keeps Winning31:26 – Young Teams, Interns & Building “Pods” Around Artists43:13 – How the Industry Is (Actually) Thinking About AI57:53 – Signing Sublime & Why Rock Might Be Coming Back1:06:04 – Why Everyone Is Buying Catalogs Right Now1:15:00 – Rapid Fire Rampage with Chris Herche