Confidential · Strategic Brief · 2026

The Production
House
Initiative

Between your voice, your scene, and our catalog — we have everything we need to build a star.

J Maceo
Cager / dFRAE Media
Sterling
01 · The Vision

Done Releasing
Gold Into
the Void

Between my production and funding, your voice and sync knowledge, and the open mic connections you've built — we have everything needed to launch an artist from scratch. The infrastructure that was always missing is the one we're going to build ourselves.

"We pivot from independent artists waiting for a break into the boutique label that gives the break — and we keep the backend."

02 · The Model

Song-Poor
Artists,
We're Not

There's a tier of artists out there — young vocalists, queer rappers, alt-pop performers — who have the look, the energy, the "it-factor." What they don't have is world-class material. That's exactly what we're sitting on.

We step in as the architects. We hand them a radio-ready hit and provide the full label infrastructure: mixing, mastering, distribution, and vocal direction. They carry the flag in public. We own the engine on the back end.

The Catalog
World-class, finished material. We stop letting it sit and start matching it to the right faces.
The Infrastructure
Full label services: mixing, mastering, distribution, vocal production. Everything an indie artist can't afford alone.
The Talent
They bring the face and the hustle. We scout for the exact artist whose energy matches the song we've already built.
The Backend
Masters and publishing stay ours. Royalties compound while the artist builds their public profile.
03 · Your Role

Head of A&R
& The Voice
of This House

You are the outside guy — the one with live scene roots and the Taxi Music sync hustle. You know how to find raw talent before anyone else does, and you know what a sync-ready record feels like in a room.

Head of A&R · Vocal Performance

You'll scout talent at open mics, leverage your live scene connections, and lead sync-licensing outreach. When we're in the studio, you're our Vocal Producer — the one with the best ear for performance and the voice to model exactly what we need from an artist.

You're also the A&R filter. You know what moves a room. That instinct is what keeps us from betting on the wrong artist.

Head of A&R Vocal Production Open Mic Scouting Sync Licensing Taxi Music Outreach Live Scene Intel
04 · The Team

Three Roles,
One Engine

Cager / dFRAE
Executive Producer · Managing Member
Project funding, business strategy, and core production. The financial and structural backbone of the operation.
Sterling
Principal Instrumentalist · Arranger
Live bass and guitar that make our productions sound expensive. In the ecosystem as full partner or core session player.
05 · Business Structure

Clean Slate,
Zero Asset
Contamination

We're forming a brand-new LLC — a clean entity that acts as the professional front for all new artist contracts and master recordings. Here's what that protects:

The LLC will not touch our past solo catalogs or pre-existing songwriting assets. Everything we've already written remains 100% owned by the original writers — no bleed, no ambiguity.

IP Breakdown

Your past solo catalog
100% Yours
Pre-existing co-writes
100% Ours
New master recordings (LLC banner)
LLC Owned
Co-write publishing (ASCAP/BMI)
50 / 50
LLC cut of writer's share
Zero
06 · Revenue Model

Two Streams,
No Gray
Areas

Writing and production stay completely separate. Everyone gets paid precisely for what they contributed — nothing more, nothing less.

Masters (Mechanical Royalties)

The LLC signs the talent, handles distribution, and splits master royalties 50/50 with the artist. After direct project costs are recouped, remaining master profits distribute to LLC partners based on equity.

Songwriting (Publishing)

The LLC takes zero percent of the writer's share. If you and I co-write a track, we split the writing 50/50 — straight to us via ASCAP or BMI. The LLC never touches it.

"Every song you write is a compounding asset. Every artist we launch feeds the master. Two separate streams, both flowing back to us."

07 · Phase One

The Catalog
Audit —
Starting Now

Since you're already ready to go, we kick off immediately with a Hybrid Audit Model — no subjectivity, no friendship bias. Just the strongest tracks rising to the top on merit.

1
Top 10 Submissions
We each submit our 10 strongest unreleased tracks, each tagged with an archetype — "Sync-Ready Cinematic," "Queer Club Banger," etc.
This Week
2
Scoring Matrix
Rate every contender 1–10 on Syncability, Market Readiness, and Vocal Ease. Numbers only.
Week 2
3
Blind Vibe-Check
30-second snippets tested with LA engineers, a Gen-Z focus group, and your open mic crowd for real physical reactions.
Week 3
4
Lock + Hunt
Top 3 tracks locked. A&R starts hunting the specific artist whose energy matches each one.
Week 4

Let's Lock In
the Call.

Early next week — we audit the tracks we already have and map out the exact vibe of the first artist we want to hunt down. You in?