Mia Rodriguez, the popular TikTok content creator, is now a recording artist.
The Sydney teenager released “Emotion,” her first single and the debut release from City Pop Records, a new label launched by Aussie concert promotion legend Michael Chugg and his business partner Andrew Stone.
The 17-year-old, who boasts 2 million followers on Tik Tok, and a substantial fanbase across her Instagram (169,000 followers) and YouTube accounts (84,000), is the first signing to City Pop which sits within Chugg Music, the independent management, record label, label services and publishing company launched in 2012. Mia is also signed to Chugg Music for management.
Chugg has high hopes for Rodriguez and the new label, which is distributed globally by digital specialist Believe.
“We’ve always believed that pop music isn’t just for the major record companies,” says Chugg, who last month was announced as the fourth ARIA Icon, during an invite-only ceremony ahead of the 2019 ARIA Awards.
“We hope to sign a few more great young people and help them have global careers from the outset, as well as fly the flag for the independent sector in this space.”
Chugg Music has enjoyed success in Australia and abroad with a roster of acts that includes Sheppard, Lime Cordiale, Casey Barnes and Avalanche City.
Mia, notes Andrew Stone, head of Chugg Music, is a fine example of a bright, young self-made social media expert who built a massive following from scratch. In pop music, however, “the song and production is absolutely everything.”
He adds, “We think the missing piece for these young artists who want to be recording artists is the connection to great songwriting and the best producers in the world. They understand their visuals and branding better than we could ever hope to, they understand how to get to market better than we could ever hope to. No major label marketing genius plan spending millions of dollars trying to pump out a pop artist can get the type of reach of the artists can by asking their friends to repost and share it around.”
He continues, “They’ve built up that loyalty and trust and fanbase. Instead of trying to manufacture that, why not go the other way and find artists that already have this direct relationship with their fans and have built up this trust with their fans.”
“Emotion” was created with producer Dave Hammer (Lime Cordiale, Thundamentals, Jeffe), and its music video was produced and directed by Josh Harris. Watch below.