The Music Industry Program Entities, or the MAD Dragon Music Group (MDMG), [1] is an umbrella company owned by Drexel University, run by university students and overseen by faculty and staff. [2] The purpose of the company is to provide industry experience to the students in the university's Music Industry program. [3] The companies of MDMG include MAD Dragon Records, DraKo Booking, MAD Dragon Publishing, MADKo Concerts, and artist services company Bantic Media.
The brainchild of Jonathan Estrin, the dean of the college at that time, the Music Industry program came about in 2000 when he came to Drexel to head the College of Media Arts and Design and wanted to revive the sub-par music program, "re-envisioning the media-oriented university for the new century". [4] Part of the process was redesigning the curriculum, which showed that the music program would need an overhaul and the addition of a recording studio. After obtaining $250,000 in funding staffing was hired for the program. [5] Marcy Rauer Wagman, an entertainment lawyer and former songwriter/producer, was hired to teach about industry law, business models, royalties, and create and manage a student-run record label. The concept of having an umbrella organization was the brainchild of Wagman in 2003 as a way for students to have experience in all aspects of the music industry. [6]
The name MAD Dragon came from the fact that the College of Media Arts and Design was often abbreviated as CoMAD and the university's mascot is a dragon. [4]
The record label, MAD Dragon Records, is the only student run record label with a national distribution deal. [7] It was signed through RYKO Distribution in Spring 2005 and is run out of the University itself. [8] The venture between Ryko and MAD Dragon allows the LPs that are produced to be distributed nationally while allowing the students to continue to work with the artist. [9] MAD Dragon Records is currently distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA/Warner). [10]
On December 18, 2007, MAD Dragon Records' work with Hoots & Hellmouth won them the 2008 College Record Label Award from the Independent Music Awards (IMA). [11] They won again in 2009 for their work with The Redwalls. [12] They received over 15 IMA nominations in 2009 and 2010.
MAD Dragon worked with or put out records for artists such as Jules Shear, [8] The Swimmers, [5] Matt Duke, [13] Andrew Lipke, [14] [ failed verification ] Hoots and Hellmouth, [15] Toy Soldiers,[ citation needed ] Kuf Knotz,[ citation needed ] The Spinning Leaves,[ citation needed ] Pretty Good Dance Moves,[ citation needed ] and The Redwalls. [16] [17]
DraKo Booking is the booking agency responsible for booking regional, national and all types of tours around the United States for artists.
MADKo Concerts books and promotes independent concerts in the Philadelphia area featuring local artists.
MAD Dragon Publishing helps artists to place their music in film, commercials and television.
MAD Dragon Media, formerly known as Bantic Media and previously D3, is the MIP Entities' artist services company. [2] [4]
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry, it was renamed Drexel Institute of Technology in 1936, before assuming its current name in 1970.
Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band, R.E.M., Vashti Bunyan, John and Beverley Martyn, Maria Muldaur, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Billy Bragg, James Booker, 10,000 Maniacs, and Muzsikás. He was also one of the founders of the highly influential nightclub venue UFO.
Restless Records is a record label that was started in El Segundo, California in 1986 by Enigma Records and primarily released alternative, metal, and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade Records and Mute Records. Restless also had a fully owned subsidiary, Pink Dust Records.
The Redwalls were an American rock band from Deerfield, Illinois, in suburban Chicago.
Tour promoters are the individuals or companies responsible for organizing a live concert tour or special event performance. The tour promoter makes an offer of engagement to a particular artist, usually through the artist's agent or music manager. The promoter and agent then negotiate the live performance contract. The majority of live performance contracts are drawn up using the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) standard contract format known as the AFM Performance Agreement.
Terry Ellis, is an English record producer and manager who worked with the early Jethro Tull band, and as co-founder of music company Chrysalis Records in 1969.
The Drexel Dragons are the athletic teams of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, formerly the Nesbitt College of Design Arts, is one of the colleges of Drexel University. In 2005, the college was renamed after alumna Antoinette Passo Westphal at the request of her husband after one of the largest private donations to the university in its history.
Strange and Beautiful is the third studio album from progressive metal band Crimson Glory. Signed to Atlantic Records in 1991, this album was a marked stylistic departure from their previous albums' decidedly progressive metal sound to a more bluesy, hard rock sound. It was the first album without longtime members, guitarist Ben Jackson and drummer Dana Burnell and it was also the last to feature vocalist Midnight. Two songs were co-written with former Drexel University Associate Professor and entertainment attorney, Marcy Rauer Wagman, while the first single "The Chant" was written by outside songwriters M. McKinley & Marti Frederiksen. Midnight departed the band prior to the tour and was replaced by future Michael Schenker Group frontman, David Van Landing. It was the only album in their canon to feature drummer Ravi Jakhotia and the band went on hiatus following the supporting tour.
The Redwalls is the self-titled third album by Chicago-based rock band The Redwalls, released in the United States on October 23, 2007. The album was recorded in Sweden with producer Tore Johansson while under Capitol Records. Before its release Capitol merged with Virgin Records and the band was dropped. However, they retained the rights to the album and eventually signed with MAD Dragon UNLTD, an independent student collective run by Drexel University. Lead guitarist Andrew Langer called Capitol's relinquishing of the release rights "the best thing they could have ever done for us."
The Swimmers are an American four-piece rock band from Philadelphia and include drums, guitar, keyboard, and bass. They are signed to Drexel University's MAD Dragon Records and released their first album, Fighting Trees in 2008. It garnered rave reviews from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Magnet, The Tripwire and Time Out Chicago. For their second record, The Swimmers started fresh by building a home studio and producing and recording it themselves. According to lead singer, Steve Yutzy-Burkey, “It was a very focused and isolated time in the studio, and much of the grit was in the mixing process. These songs were darker and more intricate than the last record, and they demanded a very affected, refined sound.” Their record, People Are Soft was released on November 3, 2009. The first music video from People Are Soft, "What This World Is Coming To", premiered on The Music Slut blog in September 2009. People Are Soft has received rave reviews from numerous blogs, and was recommended in Pitchfork Media's Guide to Upcoming Fall 2009 Releases. In its first week at college radio, The Swimmers was the 12th most added.
Hoots & Hellmouth is an American band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Nat Turner Rebellion was an American funk-soul band from Philadelphia. Their line up consisted of band leader Joseph Jefferson, lead singer Major Harris, and instrumentalists Bill Spratley and Ron Hopper. The band was formed in the 1960s in Petersburg, Virginia by Jefferson and recorded in Philadelphia for the label Philly Groove Records. Though most of their material was never released while the band was together, their recordings were eventually added Drexel University's sound archives and were officially released in 2019 by the university's student-run label MAD Dragon Records.
Matthew Thomas Duke is an American musician and singer-songwriter who was born in Reston, Virginia and raised in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey. He released an independent album, Winter Child, through the student-run MAD Dragon Records at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Later he signed to the major label Rykodisc and has since released multiple albums: two full-length albums: Kingdom Underground and One Day Die, and two EPs.
Kingdom Underground is the second studio album of singer-songwriter Matt Duke and his first major-label record. It was released by Rykodisc in the US on September 22, 2008, and featured the single "The Father, The Son and The Harlot's Ghost".
Winter Child is the first studio album of American singer-songwriter Matt Duke. It was released by the student-run record label Mad Dragon in the US on September 12, 2006, and distributed by Ryko Distribution.
Jim Klein is a Los Angeles born, Philadelphia-based, Emmy Award-winning composer, music producer, recording engineer, and songwriter. Klein is best known as the producer and songwriter behind the influential freestyle group Pajama Party, whose albums produced several hit singles. He is also a published author.
JUTAUN is a band that began as a multi-cultural R&B male vocal group of high school friends from Monroe Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. Brothers Jake and James Evans teamed with Anthony "Brian" Lewis, Peter Garcia, and Samoeun Cheng in the Spring of 1999. The father of Jake and James Evans, Jake Evans Jr., served as the group's vocal coach and mentor. He incorporated their sound with influences of classic R&B acts like The Temptations, Take 6, and Earth, Wind & Fire. As the band grew, Jake, James, and Samoeun recruited current members Stephen Honsberger, Carter Fox, Jordan Damiani, and Michael Walker.
Sisters 3 was an American indie folk group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2005 by siblings Annachristie, Beatrice, and Cassandra Sadler. The group released two albums, Star Spangled (2008) and Coruscate at the Meadow Gate (2011), and found local notoriety, collaborating with artists including Hoots & Hellmouth, Sharon Little, and American Babies, and performing at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and venues including the Mann Center and Madison Square Garden. Annachristie Sadler would later find more notoriety as a solo artist under the name AC Sapphire.