SUPPORT NEW AMSTERDAM RECORDS

In a time of great challenges within the broader music industry, we are continuing to hold strong — and grow — as a space that is run by artists and puts artists’ needs first, using our decades of cumulative experience in a rapidly-changing field to help build and sustain their careers. 

We’ll be continuing to offer some new surprises in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more! Thank you to everyone who has ever donated to NewAm — we deeply appreciate your belief in what we do.

LOOKING FORWARD: NEWAM’S SUBSTACK

In addition to launching our Reverberations podcast in 2024, we also started a new Substack channel to bring the awareness of our artists’ work out to the broader public. Helmed by NewAm's Digital Marketing Manager Kárenly Michelle Nieves-Fred. Kárenly brings a tremendous breadth of experience as a singer, artist manager, and event producer to her role, having worked with a wide range of artists that include Los Pleneros de la 21 and Yasser Tejeda. Our Substack features her interviews with artists, insightful essays on their albums, and occasional industry-focused pieces.

READ MORE ABOUT THE IMPACT OF OUR SUBSTACK:

“I’ve come to eagerly look forward to each new entry on the NewAm Substack, which offers an informative new angle on our releases, performances, and special offerings like Listening Parties and the Composers Lab. Thanks to Kárenly’s probing questions and insightful reflections, we get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into our artists’ creative process and a more intimate, nuanced understanding of what makes their music tick. I’ve learned things I didn’t know before about our artists: that Peni comes from a family of puppet masters; that Darian used to be in a Mariachi band; and that Mazz has long dreamed of a religion based on joy. I feel that our Substack is helping to document the unique sense of community and camaraderie that NewAm strives to cultivate.”

-Sarah Kirkland Snider, NewAm Co-Artistic Director

“We've been looking for substance and a place to share our thoughts in depth (without a word limit or to please an algorithm); to connect once again. Substack has felt like a breath of fresh air and it's the ideal outlet to express the importance and relevance of the incredible works of our artists, staff, and genre-fluid community.” 

-Kárenly Michelle Nieves-Fred, NewAm Digital Marketing Manager

LOOKING FORWARD: REVERBERATIONS

The past decade has seen the collapse of our media landscape, with newspapers and magazines shrinking their coverage or disappearing altogether, while radio and television stations consolidate and commercialize their formats. This has had massive consequences for every aspect of our society, and the arts is no exception. We in the music community saw the writing on the wall years ago, as wave after wave of critics lost their jobs and longstanding outlets in every medium started to vanish. As much as musicians love to complain about reviews, we depend on coverage of the work we create in order to spread interest and attention, and even to provide provocations and critical responses that spur the development of new ideas in our creations.

In 2024, after years of planning, New Amsterdam was able to launch the Reverberations podcast series thanks to the support of donors like you. We were thrilled to find the perfect host for the podcast: Majel Connery, an acclaimed vocalist, composer, bandleader, and musicologist who brings a breadth of experience in podcasting and other media in addition to her own work as a genre-fluid musician. Majel’s probing questions and insightful framing of our 2024 catalog have offered a new dimension for fans to explore as they get to know the artists behind the music. The in-depth analysis that this podcast provides is not only what our listeners want but what our artists, and their visionary creations, deserve.

We are currently raising funds to continue the podcast for a second season in 2025. Please consider a gift to New Amsterdam today to help us achieve that goal!

READ FROM OUR ARTISTS WHY REVERBERATIONS IS A VITAL PART OF NEWAM’S MISSION:

help us build an alternative infrastructure supporting independent, visionary new music

Our work is all about uplifting artists and building community. Your support for the year ahead will help us:

• Expand the Composers’ Lab, in which artists learn from each other in an open, genre-fluid environment, and to provide new pathways for Lab alumni projects to reach public attention;

• Deepen our partnership with Shahzad Ismaily’s acclaimed Figure8 Studio in Brooklyn, with a new cohort of composer projects developed within the studio space;

• Launch a new concert series in New York, collaborating with the Zürich-based Currents festival and presenting newly-commissioned work;

• Organize album listening parties and social events for different parts of our community to meet and build new relationships with one another;

• Reach new outlets in Europe and beyond through our new distribution partnership with K7.

Community is what NewAm is all about. While we are constantly working to send our artists’ music as far out in the world as possible, winning GRAMMY awards and garnering press attention, the core of our mission starts with the community of artists and audiences that share a passion for human expression through new musical creations. Please consider joining that community as a supporter of New Amsterdam Records, and the hundreds of artists we represent, today.

LOOKING BACK: COMPOSER’S LAB

As we head into the holiday season, NewAm is asking for your help in supporting one of our most important initiatives: the Genre-Fluid Composers’ Lab. The Lab was launched in 2017 as an online-only virtual classroom that provides career development, educational opportunities, and community-building for musicians whose work is traditionally unsupported by the prevailing musical infrastructure. The lab has become a cornerstone of our NewAm community, supporting over 120 musicians from across the U.S. and around the globe. Participants have hailed from more than a dozen countries and represent a vibrant diversity of backgrounds, including self-taught improvisers, touring indie musicians, doctoral candidates, undergraduates, and seasoned EDM artists. The Composers' Lab consist of small groups of six participants and 1–2 fellows, meeting weekly for two hours over 12 weeks. While the true cost of these sessions far exceeds what participants pay, New Amsterdam subsidizes the program to keep tuition at just $25 per session—or $300 for the full term. For fellows, tuition is fully waived, ensuring accessibility and equity - helping to lower the many barriers to entry that often exclude musicians from finding and building an educational community.

We rely on fundraising to keep tuition fees low while paying for guest artists, faculty, and Lab space. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to support the Composers’ Lab today, to help NewAm impact a broader community of musicians and create a pipeline for new projects to be developed and nurtured in a culture of openness and mutual understanding. Your donation of $300 covers the tuition of one Composers Lab Fellow or need-based participant.

READ FIRSTHAND WHY NEW AMSTERDAM’S COMPOSER’S LAB IS A VITAL PART OF OUR MISSION AND WORK:

“​​In the fall of 2022, I joined Comp Lab, and it turned out to be a truly transformative experience. The lab creates a space where you can be vulnerable about your music and share it with a supportive community of composers. It was during Comp Lab that I first shared my nearly finished album, *a t l a s*. At the time, I had no idea it would later be released on New Amsterdam Records. Comp Lab encouraged me to send my music to NewAm—a label I’ve always admired but never imagined being part of because I didn’t necessarily see myself as a "capital-C Composer." Comp Lab gave me the confidence to believe in my work and to aim high. 

In October 2024, *a t l a s* was released on NewAm, and the following month, I had the honor of performing it at National Sawdust in Brooklyn—a venue I’d always dreamed of. With NewAm’s support, I was able to create a show that felt deeply meaningful. Comp Lab also taught me how to talk about my music—something that isn’t always easy but is such an important skill to develop. It’s a rare gift to have a space where you can be vulnerable, connect and grow as an artist outside of a school-like environment. I am very grateful for my time at Comp Lab and for my fellow lab-ers, they became true friends.” -Charlotte Jacobs
 

“I participated in Comp Lab in 2019 during a very transitional moment in my career — I had just graduated grad school and had no idea what my future looked like as a musician. In comp lab, I was able to find community with amazing musicians, all at different but equally transitional moments - we talked about everything from finding inspiration to production tips to the more confusing executive aspects of making income as an artist. I got invaluable advice that helped me to start my own solo project Vines, and I loved the people I met so much that I jumped at the opportunity to work as a label manager for NewAm years later. I found my way as a working musician, and I have Comp Lab to thank for that.” -Cassie Weiland

LOOKING FORWARD: GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

This week, we’re looking forward to celebrating our artists at the GRAMMY awards. The Recording Academy announced the nominations for the 67th GRAMMY Awards on Friday, November 8th. We want to congratulate all of the nominees on this incredible achievement and are thrilled to celebrate the nomination of Wild Up's Julius Eastman, Vol. 4: The Holy Presence. Wild Up’s conductor Christopher Rountree and cellist Seth Parker Woods were nominated for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, for The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc.

Inspired by Joan of Arc’s “honor, integrity, and boundless courage,” Julius Eastman offers The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc as “a reminder to those who think they can destroy liberators by acts of treachery, malice, and murder” that “the mind has memory” and that “good character is the foundation of all acts.”

Of the nomination, Parker Woods says: “In the midst of all things happening, this is a surprise, and I’m thrilled for the village that helped me put this together in the name of Julius Eastman and Joan. May what he and Joan stood for continue.”

You can support Wild Up and New Amsterdam by sharing The Holy Presence far and wide during the next round of GRAMMY voting, from December 12th, 2024 to January 3rd, 2025.

LOOKING BACK: LIVE SHOWS

This week, we’re focusing on the amazing live performances that our artists presented this past year, with a special focus on those that showcased new works and new releases!

One of our favorite things about our community is the sheer breadth of venues and spaces that we fill with music; the variety of spaces is nearly as wide as the variety of sounds. From established concert halls to DIY club spaces, art galleries and everything in between, NewAm artists bring music to wherever people can hear it.

Hopefully you caught some of this year’s stunning performances by artists such as Mazz Swift, Peni Candra Rini, Claire Dickson, Mingjia, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Methods Body with Holland Andrews.

Please contact sophia@newampresents.org with your support questions.

WHO WE ARE

New Amsterdam Records is a 21st-century non-profit record label that serves artists and audiences by developing, presenting, and representing adventurous new music that does not adhere to traditional genre boundaries. Our artistic directors, staff, and board are deeply committed to the development of sustainable careers for our unique and visionary artists. From specialized booking, publicity, and distribution, to project funding support, NewAm has built customized infrastructure to help post-genre musicians navigate today’s mercurial musical marketplace. We endeavor to serve as a conduit between our musicians and the public, broadening audiences and promoting a wider awareness of our artists’ music with an open embrace of the latest technological and cultural trends. New Amsterdam Records has been called “emblematic of an emerging generation” (New York Times) and “the focal point of the post-classical scene” (Time Out New York), and has been praised for "making a nice little tradition out of breaking tradition" (Newsweek). “Few organizations have done more to shape 21st-century music in New York City“ (Time Out New York). 

HOW WE ARE DIFFERENT

Unlike the traditional label model, NewAm allows artists to retain full ownership of their recordings and pays 100% of profit directly to the artists in exchange for an administrative fee. By forgoing any incentivized income, we are able to develop, distribute, and publicize our albums as a non-profit organization. This configuration allows us to operate as a 360º artist service organization, with support extending past album production and presentation into artist branding and broader career development.

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