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By Jonah Grinkewitz

Watch out Columbia and Universal, there’s a new record label on the block.

Big Blue Records at �鶹��ý has launched through the F. Ludwig Diehn School of Music and will primarily feature music releases from faculty and students, offering recording services, mixing and mastering, music publishing and distribution and artist promotion.

Big Blue Studios, equipped with professional recording gear and instruments, a live room for full bands and an isolation booth for vocals, serves as the label’s home studio in the Diehn Center for the Performing Arts. Larger sessions can also be held in the Chandler Recital Hall.

With its launch, Old Dominion is one of only a few schools in the state to have its own record label.

“I would hope that students see this as a very special reason to come to �鶹��ý, especially if they are in the sound recording technology (SRT) program,” said Emily Ondracek-Peterson, executive director for the Diehn School of Music.

She said the goal of Big Blue Records is not only to release high-quality music by �鶹��ý-affiliated artists, but also to give students real-world experience and paid work opportunities before they head into the industry by helping to run the studio and operations side of the label.

“They’re studying how to use the equipment in class, but it’s completely different when you’re in that studio session and you have to help the artist who’s paying for your time and everything has to work,” she said.

Although the label’s publishing arm will focus on music releases by �鶹��ý faculty and students, anyone in the community can book a recording or rehearsal session at Big Blue Studios by visiting . �鶹��ý students and faculty will receive a discounted rate, and revenue will benefit the SRT program and be used to maintain the studio and purchase new equipment.

Joichaun Taylor, a senior in the SRT program, is the studio manager for Big Blue Studios and came up with the idea for Big Blue Records.

“I thought of it as a way to get more money for the SRT department so we can keep upgrading and make this space more regularly used,” he said.

On the music business side, junior SRT student Daniel Messner serves as communications and special projects assistant to Ondracek-Peterson. He was integral in preparing the label’s first release – “Newfound Chamber Winds Live at Trinity Lutheran” by �鶹��ý Director of Bands Dr. Tyler Austin which came out Jan. 22. The label’s next release will be “Flutelore” by Mary Matthews with the Newfound Chamber Winds out Feb. 14.

In his music business course this spring, Messner and other students will solidify the structure and operating procedure for the label.

“Learning about it in a classroom is one thing, but actually running a record label is an entirely different thing,” he said.

Ondracek-Peterson also credits Assistant Professor Alek Palmersmith, who has more than 15 years of experience in the music industry as an engineer and producer, with helping to get the label off the ground.

She hopes opportunities with Big Blue Records will expand to non-music majors to include students studying graphic design and photography, video production and marketing and communications.

“I’d really like to see this grow and continue here for a long time,” she said. “�鶹��ý is a place of innovation, and I hope this is just a part of the ethos of everything happening here.”