
#7 Dirk Hemsath: Stay Fascinated with your Business
03/28/19 • 60 min
On episode 7 of The Golden Rules, Partner of Hard 8 Working Group Management, Dirk Hemsath talks about entrepreneurship, risk, reward, leadership and his golden rules for life and business.
- How he got into the music business
- The risk he took to scale his businesses
- His golden rules for success in life and business
- Figuring it out
#QOTD "Empower Your team"
#Knowledge
- Roll over barriers
- Stay fascinated with your business
- The details matter
- Stay hungry for knowledge
- Be patient
- Be an optimist
For those not in the music industry, an artist manager, also known as a "band manager", is in charge of the business side of being in a band. Often, band members are great at the creative side of things but aren't so great at promoting themselves, booking their own gigs, or negotiating deals. In a very general sense, the task of a manager is to take care of the day to day running of the band's career and business so the band or artist can focus on the creative side of things
Dirk is a 30-year music industry veteran and serial entrepreneur that started his first record label at the age of 17. Over his incredible career, he's gained experience in distribution, media, merchandise, A&R, record labels and now artist management.
As a young record label founder, Dirk found himself acting as the CEO (Chief Everything Officer) at the beginning overseeing all artist recruitment, design, distribution, sales, and operations.
The year was 1988 when Dirk founded Dog House Records and over the past 30 years, the label has built a catalog of over 150 releases while also discovering and developing artists that have sold millions of albums and songs. All in all artists under the Doghouse name have sold almost 6 million albums and more than 15 million songs worldwide. The largest is the artist with Billboard’s biggest song of 2009, the All-American Rejects. Other artists like Get Up Kids and Say Anything have also sold hundreds of thousands of albums and songs.
While serving as CEO of his record label Dirk also purchased a music distribution company, Lumberjack, out of the Carolinas. He had no previous experience running a distribution company but through dedication, sheer will to succeed, and a willingness to figure it out he was able to scale the company from a business doing $300,000 annually to over $7,000,000. He literally drove a 27-foot truck from his Ohio home and packed every aspect of the business by himself into the moving truck and got started.
Lumberjack went on to absorb a competitor in the space morphing into Lumberjack Mordam Music Group in 2005 becoming one of the most successful punk rock distribution companies to ever exist.
After shuttering the company Dirk went on to consult at The Warner Music Group in New York City in the areas of A&R for 5 years working alongside longtime music industry executive, Lyor Cohen and other amazing music leaders.
Over his life Dirk has mentored dozens of up and coming entrepreneurs, young executives and future A&R persons. When ask, Dirk says he's pulled to do it because he never had anyone to help him learn the path forward. Starting businesses at such a young age, he was always the boss and still is today.
Dirk is currently a partner at Hard 8 Working Group - a newly formed artist management firm developed from a merger if Working Group management where Dirk was the founder and CEO and Hard 8. The company oversees more than twenty music artists, including Cheat codes, Brantley Gilbert, Dashboard Confessional, R.LUM.R, Michelle Branch, Anberlin, and producers, and writers that have worked with artists such as Taylor Swift, Pink, Florence + The Machine, Lanco, Dierks Bently, Allen Ston
On episode 7 of The Golden Rules, Partner of Hard 8 Working Group Management, Dirk Hemsath talks about entrepreneurship, risk, reward, leadership and his golden rules for life and business.
- How he got into the music business
- The risk he took to scale his businesses
- His golden rules for success in life and business
- Figuring it out
#QOTD "Empower Your team"
#Knowledge
- Roll over barriers
- Stay fascinated with your business
- The details matter
- Stay hungry for knowledge
- Be patient
- Be an optimist
For those not in the music industry, an artist manager, also known as a "band manager", is in charge of the business side of being in a band. Often, band members are great at the creative side of things but aren't so great at promoting themselves, booking their own gigs, or negotiating deals. In a very general sense, the task of a manager is to take care of the day to day running of the band's career and business so the band or artist can focus on the creative side of things
Dirk is a 30-year music industry veteran and serial entrepreneur that started his first record label at the age of 17. Over his incredible career, he's gained experience in distribution, media, merchandise, A&R, record labels and now artist management.
As a young record label founder, Dirk found himself acting as the CEO (Chief Everything Officer) at the beginning overseeing all artist recruitment, design, distribution, sales, and operations.
The year was 1988 when Dirk founded Dog House Records and over the past 30 years, the label has built a catalog of over 150 releases while also discovering and developing artists that have sold millions of albums and songs. All in all artists under the Doghouse name have sold almost 6 million albums and more than 15 million songs worldwide. The largest is the artist with Billboard’s biggest song of 2009, the All-American Rejects. Other artists like Get Up Kids and Say Anything have also sold hundreds of thousands of albums and songs.
While serving as CEO of his record label Dirk also purchased a music distribution company, Lumberjack, out of the Carolinas. He had no previous experience running a distribution company but through dedication, sheer will to succeed, and a willingness to figure it out he was able to scale the company from a business doing $300,000 annually to over $7,000,000. He literally drove a 27-foot truck from his Ohio home and packed every aspect of the business by himself into the moving truck and got started.
Lumberjack went on to absorb a competitor in the space morphing into Lumberjack Mordam Music Group in 2005 becoming one of the most successful punk rock distribution companies to ever exist.
After shuttering the company Dirk went on to consult at The Warner Music Group in New York City in the areas of A&R for 5 years working alongside longtime music industry executive, Lyor Cohen and other amazing music leaders.
Over his life Dirk has mentored dozens of up and coming entrepreneurs, young executives and future A&R persons. When ask, Dirk says he's pulled to do it because he never had anyone to help him learn the path forward. Starting businesses at such a young age, he was always the boss and still is today.
Dirk is currently a partner at Hard 8 Working Group - a newly formed artist management firm developed from a merger if Working Group management where Dirk was the founder and CEO and Hard 8. The company oversees more than twenty music artists, including Cheat codes, Brantley Gilbert, Dashboard Confessional, R.LUM.R, Michelle Branch, Anberlin, and producers, and writers that have worked with artists such as Taylor Swift, Pink, Florence + The Machine, Lanco, Dierks Bently, Allen Ston
Previous Episode

#4 Peter Hartung: Never, Ever Ever, Give Up
On Episode 04 of The Golden Rules, Peter Hartung shares his journey to success in the music industry and his golden rules for life and business.
Peter Hartung, President of L3 Entertainment and manager of Country Music artists - Dustin Lynch, Justin Moore, and Tyler Rich stops by the studio.
Golden Rules:
▪Family - Above all else
▪Be honest, be forthright, say what you mean
▪Don't be afraid to ask questions
▪The body is a gift, take care of it
▪Never, ever ever, give up
▪Don't hesitate to do what needs to be done, to keep the dream
alive.
Peter has 40 years of music industry experience. He's been a touring musician, a promoter, personally received two record deals, been a booking agent, founded multiple companies before starting L3 Entertainment.
Over that short time, Peter has led his team and artists to multiple Number #1 singles, Platinum selling albums, Hundreds of Millions of Streams, and several awards.
His connections in the music industry run as deep as his core values, and that's what sets Peter apart in the business. His approachable demeanor, know-how, resolve, and ability to build lasting friendships is something we can all learn from.
Next Episode

#13 Derek Crownover: Commit and Vacuum
On Episode 13 of The Golden Rules, Partner and Entertainment lawyer, Derek Crownover, of the law firm Dickinson Wright joins us to share his journey to success and his golden rules for life and business.
#QOTD "I want to make you more money than you will ever pay me"
#Knowledge
- Don't be a bastard
- Pull and all nighter
- Commit and Vacuum
- Do the things you do not want to do with joy
- Work extremely hard
- Pick up the phone and communicate
- Decide to get better everyday
- Learn to really listen
- Collaborate
- Ask the right questions
- Build real relationships with your clients
Derek is an entrepreneur, attorney, 22-year music industry veteran, former adjunct professor of entertainment law at the Curb Music Business School at Belmont University in Nashville, TN.
Over his career his music clients have sold over 450 million records and gained 100 billion streams. He's serves as counsel and Board Member for T.J. Martell Foundation, has been named to the best lawyers in America list, honored as a 2017 Attorney for Justice by the Tennessee Supreme Court, listed in Chambers USA, named "Best Lawyer in Entertainment Law", Best Lawyers and Best Law Firms, 2009-present, named a "Super Lawyer", Selected “Best of Bar” by Nashville Business Journal and many more.
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