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 artists

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0:00 – Full Circle Intro & Who Is Chris Herche?
1:05 – What’s Really Happening With Major Label Layoffs
7:02 – Defining the “Modern Record Label” in 2026
8:27 – Why A&R + Digital Marketing Run Everything Now
10:01 – New-Era Deal Structures & Track-Level Signings
13:20 – Is Artist Development Dead? (Chris Disagrees)
18:03 – How Indie Artists Can Develop Themselves
23:42 – Data, Consistency & Sustained Growth Over Time
28:31 – TikTok Will Go Away, YouTube Keeps Winning
31:26 – Young Teams, Interns & Building “Pods” Around Artists
43:13 – How the Industry Is (Actually) Thinking About AI
57:53 – Signing Sublime & Why Rock Might Be Coming Back
1:06:04 – Why Everyone Is Buying Catalogs Right Now
1:15:00 – Rapid Fire Rampage with Chris Herche