Scott Borchetta Commandeers Legacy Label Dot Records
Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group is now bigger by one, and adds a new branch on the Big Machine tree right beside the labels other imprints of Republic Records and Valory Music Group. Announced today, Scott Borchetta and Universal Music Group have resurrected the “Dot Records” label name—a legacy music brand that was first started in Gallatin, TN by a man named Randy Wood in 1950, and lasted well into the late 70’s before eventually being engulfed by Universal Music and phased out. Many legacy country music artists including Don Williams, Roy Clark, and Hank Thompson had music released on Dot, while the label also serviced artists from other genres like Pat Boone and Count Basie.
The move marks the continued expansion of the Big Machine empire, though no bands or artists have been announced just yet for the Dot roster. However we do know from the rhetoric coming out of the announcement that it likely won’t just be country music coming from Dot. The label head has been announced as Chris Stacey, a senior vice president and head of promotions at Warner Music. “Look around Nashville right now. Nashville is a world music center. There’s rock, pop, country and rap,” Stacey told The Tennessean. “The cool thing about the heritage of Dot, it was a multi-genre label. Country music will always be the center lane. But, via our partnership with Universal, we are an independent label based in one of the hottest music cities in the world, and we have capabilities to do whatever we want musically.”
That capability will be aided by Borchetta’s historic deals with the pop world’s Dr. Luke in the songwriting realm, and with Clear Channel radio and their huge syndicated country radio network. In fact radio appears to be a centerpiece of the Dot plan according to Chris Stacey. “The other thing that is a really cool angle on this, [Dot] was created through the use of a local daytime radio station. It started off based on a partnership with radio. You look at the country music industry now, it’s all about the partnership with country radio.”
The use of the Dot label continues the trend of new school label groups of only carrying four or five artists on each imprint. All of Big Machine’s properties are set up this way, as are the respective labels under another new school record label, Broken Bow. This system allows artists to not get lost in the vast roster of a traditional label, and this structure is considered one of the reasons for Scott Borchetta and Big Machine’s success.
According to Borchetta, Chris Stacey will have full control over picking his staff and roster for the imprint, similar to how his other sub labels are run, with Scott giving final oversight. As many of Music Row’s major labels are trimming rosters and consolidating staff, the fact that Big Machine feels they can sustain a new branch speaks to the success the label has had since its 2005 inception.
Dot Records and their eclectic, sometimes kitschy selection of music over the years made them a favorite of vinyl collectors and studious music fans alike. Dot found their niche by using a local radio studio in Gallatin to record artists disregarded by the rest of the music business. Though it remains to be seen how much that legacy is respected by the new owners, it very likely won’t take on the same charge of searching for the offbeat and overlooked. It will simply be another stable for top shelf talent being lured to Big Machine by the label’s success.
March 24, 2014 @ 5:43 pm
So, no chance he has an interest in signing some underground/ Americana acts?
I have to believe he’s a business man, not a monster. While his idea of country music is horrible, he keeps going because it sells.
I’m probably just way too caught up in “our” kind of music to have a read on the mainstream, but it would seem to me that current country trends are swinging so far in one direction, there’s got to be a growing number of people who would flock to a more conservative, traditional music style. Country, while it has been tainted in recent years, is still the closest thing to group these sun-genres into.
Maybe I’m just playing the optimist here…
March 24, 2014 @ 6:31 pm
Who knows who will sign to Dot Records. Borchetta signed The Mavericks, and who saw that coming? And that relationship has been beneficial for both Scott and the band. Scott has said in the past that he’s willing to pick up artists even when no other label wants to touch them if he feels it can be mutually beneficial.
It does seem quite quizzical to use this label though. “Dot” just isn’t a very sleek, sexy, exclusive-sounding label name, and if the executive vice president of marketing for Universal is running the show, I seriously doubt they’ll be signing Hellbound Glory sometime soon. It’s legacy will be lost on most mainstream fans. I don’t really get it, but we’ll have to wait and see how it all transpires.
March 24, 2014 @ 7:34 pm
Haha. Hellbound Glory, no way. There will always be those outlaw guys that no big corporate company would dare touch.
This story is interesting, for sure. While I like keeping up to speed, I seriously doubt the Big Nashville people will ever latch on to the acts that we really like. I’m sure our version of “big record deals” will continue to come from Bloodshot and New West, etc
Real music just isn’t what sells. It speaks to what culture has become. People claim to want “real” by latching on to reality TV and such, but give a guy a guitar and let him spill his soul, they don’t get it.
March 24, 2014 @ 6:48 pm
You’re right that it’s smart thinking to get out ahead of the changing tides and I think it’s rather obvious that the momentum has swung so far in the FGL, Luke Bryan direction that it’s bound to swing back in another direction soon and Borschetta has said as much but so far we haven’t seen any evidence of him doing anything. It might be time to take a flier on some new artists with different sensibilities in addition to the same ol’ same ol’.
March 24, 2014 @ 5:44 pm
I mean, why buy some old nostalgic label? If he just wanted another expansion, wouldn’t it be easier to form something new?
** I know nothing about the music business, this post was just an afterthought.
March 25, 2014 @ 7:04 am
I know–that is what is so puzzling about his approach. Why is he so compelled to sling his shit on country traditions?
If he would just keep his shit separate I would not be so against it.
Add a drop of shit to a barrel of fine wine and you get a barrel of shit.
March 25, 2014 @ 7:32 am
Weird, I have zero clue what the point is here.Trig, you are right. Nobody in the mainstream fan base will know anything about the Dot legacy ? My thought is maybe this is were he cuts a really wide path with maybe sone Hip Hop/Rap artists or EDM artists so he can continue to pair them together with his “country artists” but then have control over the distribution, touring and financial aspects of it completely.
March 25, 2014 @ 9:25 am
The only thing I can think of would be if D.O.T. is an acronym for something that Borchetta wants to build a label around, and it was just easier to buy the old Dot Records name to avoid a copyright lawsuit down the line.
March 25, 2014 @ 1:09 pm
I’ve been thinking about this all day for some reason. I have two theories.
Horrible taste/music/etc aside, the guy is a business man. He doesn’t have to like it, but if he thinks the lofi country sound is gonna come back around, he’s going to want to get in on it. Nostalgia is big right now. Go on Facebook and count all the yellow-filtered profile pics of girls in sundresses and guys in plaid shirts and oxfords. Keep with Trigger’s claim that country is always a few years behind the times, and Borchetta is getting in on the up-and-coming trend.
If he is really as intrigued with Dot’s mixed-genre legacy as he says he is, I guess it’s possible he could be working on a dedicated country/rap wing of his empire. It wouldn’t seem that he’s too worried about tainting country purity based on his past decisions though. Maybe it won’t be country at all..
March 25, 2014 @ 3:46 pm
I really don’t see any reason to think the Dot roster will be any different than any of the other Big Machine imprints, especially knowing who they are installing as the label head, and the rhetoric surrounding the announcement. They may have a few non country acts, or they may sign some up-and-comers. Big Machine has done this. They signed The Mavericks who are pretty offbeat for the mainstream, and the Cadillac Three. Even when they signed Florida Georgia Line, they were taking a gamble on a virtual unknown.
I think it will just be another branch to stack talent. Maybe they save a little money on the paperwork by using an established brand, I don’t know. I think Scott Borchetta is out for domination, and I can see them being one of these labels that will sign an artist simply so the competition doesn’t get them.
March 25, 2014 @ 3:00 pm
You are all FOOLS!!!! You think you can stop Big Machine from destroying country music and taking over the world? You are powerless against me! Soon the whole of country music shall be in my grasp to do my bidding! And if you cut off one head, then two more shall take its place!
HAIL HYDRA!!!!!
March 25, 2014 @ 3:01 pm
HAIL HYDRA!!!!
(repeated ad nauseum)
March 28, 2014 @ 2:37 pm
Just an FYI folks, Borchetta didn’t buy Dot Records. He is partnering with UMG’s Republic division for it, like the Republic Nashville partnership. It’s a JV with them. UMG owned the Dot name so they just took it off the mothballs for this.
When I heard Chris Stacey had left WMG while on a hot streak at breaking new talent, I knew he had to be up to something. That something is this.
March 28, 2014 @ 8:00 pm
Hey Matt,
I know you may be saying this to the other commenters, but I did try to spell out the specifics of the partnership in the article.