If you are a current, creative mind on campus, the newly created artist management company Light Bulb Artist Management may be worth keeping on your radar. The company, which has quickly grown to a roster of four genre-spanning artists, originated from music business students Austin Hostetler and Abigail Stamper last semester.
Hostetler approached Stamper with the desire to build a company related to artist management after watching one of Stamper’s Encore performances.
“I’ve always wanted to do something like this, and I didn’t want to do it alone,” said Hostetler. “I thought about Abigail because of all the conversations we ended up having about Light Bulb Artist Management. We sat in Mochas and brainstormed a bunch of ideas, and that’s kind of how it started.”
From there, the duo began delegating management tasks for each other to focus on. Hostetler already had a bit of personal interest and work history with venue booking, publishing deals and marketing. Stamper’s interests were more in the personal branding area and merchandising of artists.
“While I am still interested in the contracts and legalities, I have more of an ability to brand an artist to fit who they are and what they make while still making it marketable,” said Stamper. “I really enjoy taking what people already have and making it a little more polished and cleaner.”
Together, the duo helps each other cover the various management needs an artist would require to break into the music industry.
“Both of us wanted to exercise what we were learning in a more real-life, real-time kind of way,” Stamper explained. “Austin felt that the talent on campus could be doing so much more, but they didn’t have as much direction as they could’ve been getting. They’re students and they’re busy. We thought that maybe we could help that.”
A portion of the current musical talent on campus, which includes pop-country artist Cassidy Lee, Christian rock band New Colors, folk-pop artist Hadley Duke and alternative pop artist Hope Lynn, signed contracts agreeing to be managed by Light Bulb Artist Management. Under the management of Hostetler and Stamper, each of the artists has either released singles, in the process of recording material, has played different shows or has done a mix of the three.
Duke and New Colors are currently in the studio recording their respective material. Duke is slated for a single to be released by the beginning of February and New Colors will have an album out by this summer.
In the case of AU alumna Lynn, her recently released single “Sweatshirt” has received hundreds of streams after a social media marketing campaign led directly by Light Bulb Artist Management.
After collaborating with Lynn on the direction of the marketing campaign, artists and friends of Lynn’s posed with their favorite sweatshirts and posted sweatshirt-related hashtags on social media to promote the upcoming single.
“In about two and a half days, she had almost one thousand streams on Spotify just from the marketing we did in four days,” Hostetler said.
Hostetler wants Light Bulb Artist Management to pride themselves on “keeping the artists unique to themselves.” The company’s desire to manage artists who will not alter their unique personal brands for the sake of the music business is matched by a desire to book the artists shows to play.
This desire has helped freshman Lee expand her musical network off-campus, even if there has not been immediate results as of yet.
“I know that Abigail and Austin are working to get my name out there and are working towards getting me some local shows to play and festivals this summer,” Lee said. “I think that live shows are the best way to get music to new ears. I haven’t had any new avenues yet, but I truly believe in Light Bulb Artist Management, and I know that they will work hard to find new opportunities for me and my music.”
With the foundations of the company in place, Hostetler and Stamper have already began looking to the future of their young company. Eventually, the duo wants to be able to expand Light Bulb Artist Management enough for a third member to join the staff. A potential move to Nashville as well as adding more artists to expand the roster are all part of numerous long-term goals.
“For now, we want to focus on growing the company, mastering our skills and developing successful artists,” said Hostetler. “In the next year, we want to do as much as possible with the artists we have.”