.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} For their young record label, Jason Walsmith and Mike Butterworth don’t put a lot of stock in contracts. Because Authentic Records works exclusively with close friends and associates, a handshake is good enough. But sometimes a little ink wouldn’t hurt.

“Josh Davis has an Authentic Records tattoo on his arm,” Walsmith said. “That’s enough ink for us to be convinced he’s loyal.”

For the 11 artists and bands currently on the Authentic Records roster, the label is more than just a way to get their music to the masses.

“That is definitely one of the things we are trying to do,” Butterworth said. “We want to get their music out to everyone who might enjoy it. But more than that, we’re a pretty tight family of artists. It’s kind of like a musical co-op.”

Authentic Records, or some form of it, has technically been around as long as Walsmith’s and Butterworth’s main focus, The Nadas. They formed the band nearly 15 years ago, starting a label to release their own music. In 2000, however, they worked to release an album by Sharon Docherty.

“Slowly but surely, we began helping friends make and manage their records,” Butterworth said. “The time commitment and the people involved have also grown.”

Now, the label has a home office at 121 12th St. in Des Moines, a business manager in Philadelphia and a publicist in Chicago.

“The Nadas is still our priority,” Butterworth said. “And it funds a lot of the other projects.”

“It gives us something to do when we’re not touring where we can stay involved in the music business,” Walsmith said.

Walsmith said the label isn’t interested in discovering the “next big thing.”

“We are looking to grow the career of our artists,” he said.

If one of the artists did hit it big with mainstream audiences, though, it wouldn’t be a terrible thing.

“We would love to ride their coattails,” Butterworth said. “I’d love if one of our other artists surpassed us in sales.”

Right now, The Nadas are still the highest-selling band on the Authentic label, with around 100,000 records sold during their career. One of the newest challenges they’ve begun facing, Walsmith said, is the advent of digital downloading.

“It’s definitely cut into album sales,” he said. “But almost everything we have is available online. We need to do a better job of getting that stuff on our Web site. Right now, we’re on every digital store out there.”

In addition to albums, the site also offers fans the opportunity to download unique features, such as The Nadas’ recent performance at the Iowa State Fair or early demos of songs.

Finances

It takes roughly $15,000 to put out an album, Butterworth said.

“And that’s the bare minimum,” he said.

So the label, not wanting to waste any of its limited resources, has to be very strategic in how it promotes its artists.

“We’re always looking for ways to expand our reach,” Walsmith said. “Touring is a big thing for us. We can get our products to any store in the country, but that’s not really cost efficient. So instead, if we have a band playing in a city, we will call the local record store and ask them to carry that CD. It comes down to the fact that unless we know we are going to move the records, we don’t send them because it cuts into everyone’s profit.”

The finances of putting out a record got a little easier when current and former members of The Nadas opened The Sonic Factory Studios in a hard-to-find location in the Drake neighborhood earlier this year.

“We get a (discounted) label rate from them, which really helps,” Butterworth said. “They know us and work well with us.”

Plus, Walsmith said, they make “excellent-sounding records.”

“They are sort of our sister business,” he said. “A lot of our artists have recorded [at Sonic Factory], and we are working here for the first time.”

All grown up

For two guys who just wanted to make music for a living, the idea that they would one day be running their own business never seemed likely.

“We never strove for this, but I’m happy that it happened,” Walsmith said. “And this is really more about helping out our bands than making a lot of money.”

Butterworth said the label, which also includes a management company and a booking agency, still lacks a person with a business background, something he believes will be needed in the long run. But as things stand now, the label is beginning to take on a life of its own, independent of its signature band, The Nadas.

“I really feel like that’s starting to happen,” Butterworth said. “Like we’re becoming the label that is associated with the music scene here in Des Moines.”

Walsmith is quick to point out, though, that Authentic is nowhere near as big as Saddle Creek Records in Omaha or many other independent labels around the country.

“But that’s our goal,” he said. “We feel like one day we’ll get there.”