Daniel Glass
Owner
Glassnote
POWER MOVE: Mumford & Sons’ Babel sold 600,000 in its first week, and broke a Spotify record with 8 million streams.
THE RUNDOWN: The one-time quintessential major label executive, Glass has recast himself as the owner of Glassnote, among the most sought-after independent labels with a distribution deal that’s up for grabs in March. With the competition for indie distribution rising, thanks to the revival of Caroline and the emergence of inGrooves as a physical player, look for Glass to make the most of his pending free-agent status.
The multiplatinum act Mumford & Sons is the crown jewel of the Glassnote roster, but the label has several other developing stars, with half of the roster’s 14 acts hitting the 100,000-unit sales mark in the United States. That’s a .500 batting average in an industry where .100 is considered the norm.
Glass says he follows a simple formula, which so far has yet to fail him. “We sign the best live bands, love them and nurture them, and we also have a team comprised of the best people working on behalf of our artists,” he says.
Glass, who was a top radio promotion executive before becoming president at major labels SBK, EMI and Universal Records, says that one of his best learning experiences was his stint at the now-defunct Artemis Records, where he discovered how to balance support for the artists’ vision of their music with indie economics.
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Daniel Glass photo by Dustin Cohen