We recently connected with Derek Williams and have shared our conversation below.
Derek, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?
I started my record label back in 2020 with my former business partner who also wanted to be a rapper at the time as well. He recorded a song before the 2020 presidential election called “Make America Great Again?”. Around the summer of 2020 there was a BLM rally happening in Washington DC and my business partner wanted to film the first half of his music video down there as it correlated with the song he had recorded. He ended up finding a videographer on Instagram. I wasn’t part of the negotiations but it was agreed that he would shoot the video and his business partner would edit the video and we would receive pictures from the video shoot as well for a set price. So he paid for the AirBnb and we went to DC with the two videographers and an artist we were doing business with at the time. Fast forward a month or two later my business partner was ready to release the song along with the accompanying music video around September of 2020. The videographer hadn’t started editing the video at all and we were on a deadline. When we finally got the finished video they hadn’t put in none of the footage we had shot down there and he didn’t storyboard the video the way we had envisioned it. Needless to say the video and song were never released. Luckily I was able to bounce back as I had an artist named Tez Chasin’ ready to go with his single. The first official single for my record label titled “Set Party” was released on New Years Day 2021. The song featured Detroit artist Icewear Vezzo which gained Tez Chasin’ more popularity and helped officially kick start the label
Derek, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started off rapping at the age of 19 back in 2011. I went by the rap name D dub. After several failed attempts of trying to get signed locally and with an independent label/major label I decided I had to go learn the music industry and how the business actually worked. So I enrolled in The Detroit Institute of Music Education (or DIME for short) in 2017 in their music industry studies program. After receiving my degree from DIME I officially went fully into running my record label. Here at Timeless Records we offer recording, publishing, marketing, production & promotion as well as mangement. My company stands out because it is a small label that focuses on each artist individually and works with them to find their sound and brand. Our brand is we make epic, cinematic music that will stand the test of time. What I’m most proud of is the first single that kicked started the label (Set Party), the release of our first full length project by our first managed act Rell Ka$h (All In) and the upcoming release of our next single by our new artist FKA Slim titled “Vibe”.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
During 2021 the business was moving slow and I really wasn’t seeing any money from the single. I actually got discouraged and said I needed to start making some money. That is when I went into the cannabis industry. I worked in the cannabis industry for two years until I decided to go back into music.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I built my social media presence by constantly sharing and posting about my business and the artist I represent as well as constantly promoting and sharing their music. If you want to build a strong social media presence don’t be afraid to spend money for repost and likes for likes. By constantly sharing your product and paying influencers and blogs to promote your product or business as well you will start to see the results from it. SPEND THAT MONEY!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/derektimeless?igsh=MWo5OWZvMzYxcTJ1ag%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-williams-796b3b201?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Twitter: https://x.com/DerekTimeless
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/timeless_recordsllc?igsh=MWNhdG5lbnI5YzNzdw==
