New Amsterdam Records is an independent record label in New York City that was formed in 2008 by Judd Greenstein, Sarah Kirkland Snider, and William Brittelle to promote classically trained musicians who fall between traditional genre boundaries. Often abbreviated as NewAm, the organization has been hailed as a central force in creating the "indie-classical" scene.,Jack S, "New Amsterdam Records Unveils New Releases, Live Premiere and Free MP3s", March 5, 2010, accessed July 7, 2010 and was granted 501(c)(3) status in 2011 with the mission of "supporting and representing the post-genre new music community.""About", accessed July 24, 2017
Background New Amsterdam Records was founded to support the developing genre of music coming from people with great educations in composition who were also influenced by pop and jazz music and did not fit into the music industry binary of classical or pop.Joseph Dalton, "On Record - An Overview of the State of Contemporary Music Recording (Part 1): Still Spinning", June 8, 2009, accessed July 7, 2010 NewAm has been described favorably by Seth Colter Walls in Newsweek as breaking down genre boundaries, "making a nice little tradition out of breaking tradition," and striking a healthy balance between old traditions (such as classical and jazz) and contemporary music."Seth Colter Walls, "Jazz Standards That Aren’t'", April 25, 2009, accessed July 7, 2010
In an interview with mental floss magazine, co-founder Judd Greenstein explains that they look for artists "whose work is a reflection of truly integrated musical influences. In other words, we don’t want classical-goes-rock or electronic-music-with-some-violins – we want music where people are being as personal and honest as they can be, while opening themselves up fully to all the music that they love."David K. Israel, "How to Start a Record Label, with New Amsterdam Records" , May 5, 2009, accessed July 7, 2010
Furthermore, in an interview with I Care If You Listen, co-founders and co-artistic directors William Brittelle, Judd Greenstein, and Sarah Kirkland Snider stated that “This variety stems from the inherent variety of individual composers not just as composers, but as listeners, each with a unique experience of listening to music in the world, and each therefore with a unique way of manifesting that experience in newly-created art. This is what we call a musical “voice,” and the voices of composers we release draw from an innumerable set of influences. A post-genre approach to composition inherently breeds a distinctiveness in those composers’ musical voices.”
Business model Making an album can involve many costs, such as renting a recording studio, paying the musicians, creating album art, and manufacturing copies of the album. At New Amsterdam, the musician, not the label, picks up the cost of making the album, but the musician gets a higher percentage of royalties that come from sales.
In 2017, the label revamped its model to function as an all-in-one non-profit record label, presenter and artist service organization, aiming to create long-term sustainability in the face of a quickly changing music industry. Their support continues to extend far beyond album distribution, and artists continue to retain full ownership of their recordings. NewAm partners with artists to share the costs through project-specific fundraising and grants 100% of album sales directly to the artists.
In 2019 New Amsterdam announced two initiatives, including a new partnership with Nonesuch Records and the Windmill Series, a digitally focused set of releases made available to subscribers in addition to the existing release schedule. The Nonesuch partnership sees the release of approximately three albums per year to support contemporary American composers in realizing ambitious creative projects, with initial releases from composers William Brittelle, Caroline Shaw, and Daniel Wohl. The Windmill Series has seen releases from artists including Arooj Aftab, Timo Andres, Gemma Peacocke, and more. After a subscription exclusivity period, Windmill Series releases are available digitally worldwide.
The label is distributed by Naxos Records in North America.
Critical reception Justin Davidson, music critic for New York, wrote, "They're part of this generation of people who get out of music school with all of these incredible skills, and all of this culture, and all of this creativity — fully aware that nobody is going to hand them a career. There's no superstructure of an established music industry that is going to pay any attention to these people, because they're not even paying attention to the much more established, mainstream conductors and violinists and orchestras. The ability to get noticed by having some record executive take an interest in you and record you — you know, that's really practically a thing of the past. If you want to make recordings, you've really got to do it yourself."Tom Vitale, "NPR's All Things Considered, 'A New Label for Music's New Blood'", May 29, 2008, accessed June 30, 2010
For New Amsterdam's and (Le) Poisson Rouge's 10-Year Anniversary show in 2018, Davidson write “In their decade of existence, (Le) Poisson Rouge and New Amsterdam have helped seed whole forests of music far beyond the five boroughs.”
NewAm have been compared to Bang on a Can, who also built their own label, community, and performance circuit, in a similar manner, 20 years ago. The difference, however, between the two is that Bang on a Can shared a common musical aesthetic — minimalism — whereas NewAm is more of a musical umbrella. NewAm's artists have become increasingly popular among a broad public while Bang on a Can's primary supporters continue to be larger, more established cultural institutions. "The interesting thing about this group of people, and New Amsterdam, is the real lack of interest in anything that you could call aesthetic categories, or rules about what does and doesn't belong in their sphere of influence," Justin Davidson says.
Selected discography Release date Artist AlbumNovember 20, 2020Joseph C. Phillips Jr., NuminousThe Grey LandNovember 13, 2020Tristan PerichDrift MultiplyOctober 9, 2020Travis Laplante, Yarn/WireInner GardenSeptember 29, 2020Matthew Evan TaylorThe Unheard MixtapesSeptember 25, 2020Sarah Kirkland SniderMass for the EndangeredSeptember 18, 2020Michi WianckoPlanetary CandidateAugust 21, 2020Roomful of TeethThe Ascendant - Just ConstellationsAugust 7, 2020Hub New Music, Robert HonsteinSoul HouseJuly 10, 2020Jacob CooperTerrainJune 5, 2020Molly JoyceBreaking and EnteringMay 22, 2020Methods BodyMethods BodyMarch 4, 2020iT BoyThe Nail House EPApril 24, 2020Bec PlexusSticklipApril 3, 2020Ted HearnePlaceFebruary 14, 2020yMusicEcstatic ScienceAugust 30, 2019Nathalie Joachim, Spektral QuartetFanm d'AyitiMay 31, 2019Daniel WohlÉtatMay 3, 2019William Brittelle, Wye Oak (band), Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Metropolis EnsembleSpiritual AmericaApril 19, 2019Caroline Shaw and Attacca QuartetOrangeNovember 14, 2018Padma NewsomeThe Vanity of treesOctober 26, 2018Brooklyn Youth ChorusSilent VoicesSeptember 28, 2018 Aizuri QuartetBlueprintingSeptember 7, 2018Mary Halvorson and Robbie LeeSeed TriangularMay 25, 2018The Hands FreeThe Hands FreeApril 26, 2018TigueStrange ParadiseMarch 30, 2018Invisible AnatomyDissectionsFebruary 23, 2018Subtle DegreesA Dance That EmptiesJanuary 26, 2018John Hollenbeck (musician) Large EnsembleAll Can WorkNovember 17, 2017Emily Pinkerton, Patrick Burke, and NOW EnsembleRounder Songs October 6, 2017Steven Mackey and Jason TreutingOrpheus Unsung August 25, 2017 Nick Photinos Petits Artéfacts June 16, 2017 Amir ElSaffar Not Two March 31, 2017 Brooklyn Youth Chorus Black Mountain Songs March 17, 2017 Jasper String Quartet Unbound January 27, 2017 Molly Joyce Lean Back and Release November 18, 2016 Vicky Chow A O R T A November 4, 2016 Qasim Naqvi Chronology October 28, 2016 The Living Earth Show Dance Music September 30, 2016 Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Real Enemies August 26, 2016 Battle Trance Blade of Love May 13, 2016 Roomful of Teeth, Glenn Kotche, Jeffrey Zeigler The Colorado April 29, 2016 Deerhoof & Ensemble Dal Niente Balter / Saunier March 25, 2016 Michael Mizrahi Currents February 29, 2016 Finnegan Shanahan The Two Halves January 29, 2016 Daniel Wohl Holographic November 13, 2015 TIGUE Peaks October 30, 2015 Ted Hearne The Source September 4, 2015 Sarah Kirkland Snider Unremembered August 28, 2015 Will Mason Ensemble Beams of the Huge Night May 26, 2015 NOW Ensemble Dreamfall April 28, 2015 Roomful of Teeth Render March 31, 2015 Missy Mazzoli Vespers for a New Dark Age October 28, 2014 Vicky Chow Tristan Perich: Surface Image September 30, 2014 yMusic Balance Problems August 26, 2014 Battle Trance Palace of Wind July 29, 2014 No Lands Negative Space April 29, 2014 Olga Bell Krai June 25, 2013 Daniel Wohl Corps Exquis April 30, 2013 Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Brooklyn Babylon March 26, 2013 Jace Clayton The Julius Eastman Memory Depot March 26, 2013 Nadia Sirota Baroque May 29, 2012 Michael Mizrahi The Bright Motion April 26, 2011 yMusic Beautiful Mechanical November 28, 2011 NOW Ensemble Awake November 16, 2010 Janus I am (not) November 16, 2010 Newspeak Sweet Light Crude October 26, 2010 Sarah Kirkland Snider Penelope September 28, 2010 Victoire Cathedral City June 29, 2010 William Brittelle Television Landscape May 25, 2010 Matt Marks The Little Death: Vol. 1 May 25, 2010 Corey Dargel Someone Will Take Care of Me January 26, 2010 itsnotyouitsme Fallen Nonuments January 26, 2010 Sam Sadigursky words project iii: miniatures May 19, 2009 Nadia Sirota first things first May 12, 2009 Darcy James Argue's Secret Society Infernal Machines January 27, 2009 QQQ Unpacking the Trailer... January 27, 2009 Andrew McKenna Lee Gravity and Air September 9, 2008 Sam Sadigursky Words Project II October 28, 2008 Corey Dargel Other People's Love Songs August 29, 2008 Ted Hearne Katrina Ballads June 6, 2008 Build Build May 1, 2008 William Brittelle Mohair Time Warp January 8, 2008 itsnotyouitsme walled gardens January 8, 2008 NOW Ensemble NOW May 26, 2007 Sam Sadigursky The Words Project
References
External links New Amsterdam Records official website NPR's All Things Considered feature An interview of New Amsterdam Records founder Judd Greenstein with publisher J.A. Tyler