Made in Memphis Entertainment

Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME) is an entertainment group launched in April 2015 by original Stax Records songwriter David Porter (CEO) and Tony D. Alexander (President and Managing Director).[1] Both were named to Billboard’s prestigious Indie Power Players list in 2021.[2] In 2022, MIME was named the first-ever winner of the Agent of Change Award at the Music Business Association's inaugural Bizzy Awards.[3]

MIME’s family of companies includes 4U Recording, a pair of recording studios in downtown Memphis and Atlanta; Beatroot Music, an independent music distributor, and Beatroot Africa; Heavy Hitters Music, a film, TV, and ad sync company with an all-female creative team; MIME Publishing, which handles Porter's songwriting catalog and young producers in hip-hop and R&B; and MIME Records, an independent record label.[4]

Mission

MIME’s goal is to “act local, think global” by establishing a network of recording, A&R, distribution, and artist development businesses, all working together to discover artists in their hometowns and give them global reach. This infrastructure is already in place in Memphis,[5] and MIME recently opened a new studio space in Atlanta, allowing them to replicate the model in the city.[6] MIME artists will be able to use the facilities in every city.[5]

Companies

4U Recording

4U Recording is a recording studio in Memphis established by MIME in 2015 to support its label roster. The studio has since expanded to serve commercial clients, such as Moneybagg Yo, whose #1 Billboard 200 album A Gangsta's Pain was largely recorded at 4U’s Memphis location,[2] along with his Gold-certified album Time Served and its Platinum-certified singles “All Dat (ft. Megan Thee Stallion)” and “Said Sum.”[4] Other artists who have recorded at the studio include NLE Choppa and Yo Gotti.[7]

A new 4U Recording studio was recently opened in Atlanta, where it has hosted events such as the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) Atlanta Chapter kickoff event.[6]

Beatroot Music

Beatroot Music is a music distribution company that aids independent artists by providing support and personal care to each individual artist's musical projects.[8] In 2020, 14 artists distributed by Beatroot each earned over a million streams across all major services, contributing to more than 100 million total streams across Beatroot’s roster.[4] This includes Big30, one of Beatroot’s success stories.[2] The rapper’s debut solo mixtape, King of Killbranch, reached #13 on the Billboard 200 chart in September 2020 following his development with Beatroot, after which he signed a deal with N-Less Entertainment and Moneybagg Yo's Bread Gang Entertainment, in partnership with Interscope Records.[9] Beatroot is primarily run out of 4U Recording Atlanta’s studios and offices.[6]

Heavy Hitters Music

Heavy Hitters Music is an independent song catalog and music publisher that has been active in the film, TV, and advertising industries since 1992, joining the MIME family of companies in August 2018.[10] Heavy Hitters represents songs from about 1,700 artists. Their business model, unlike other similar companies, is to procure the rights to individual songs rather than full catalogs, representing them for sync placements in popular media.[11] In 2020, Heavy Hitters landed several major placements for its catalog of tracks, including placing Moneybagg Yo’s "Said Sum" in multiple spots for the NFL and NBA.[4] The department increased its revenue by 107% in 2019 and maintained those numbers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[12]

MIME Publishing

MIME’s independent music publishing company, MIME Publishing, is based out of Atlanta.[2] The company handles David Porter's songwriting catalog and young producers in hip-hop and R&B.[4] Two of MIME Publishing’s songwriters and producers, YC and Real Red, recently placed #4 and #7, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 Songwriters chart following their work on Moneybagg Yo’s A Gangsta’s Pain album, with YC also topping the Billboard Hot 100 Producers chart for the first time.[13]

Diversity and Education Goals

MIME is dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in its staff and hiring practices. Alexander has written that every organization’s entire C-suite must act as a Chief Diversity Officer rather than putting the entire burden on one individual, which has influenced MIME’s own hiring practices. The organization often focuses on developing nontraditional or “second chance” employees for management track positions.[14]

MIME is also dedicated to transparency and education for the artists they work with. 4U Recording Studio Manager Crystal Carpenter has prioritized getting more African-American women involved in the audio engineering world, including through internships at the studio.[15] She also works with artists and studio employees to show them the importance of documentation, writing and production credits, and file formats when releasing music. In addition, MIME sponsors workshops and seminars to confront such issues in a more focused way.[11]

References
  1. Glicksman, Josh. "This Memphis Label Avoided Pandemic Layoffs — Here's How". Billboard. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Billboard Staff. "Revealed: Billboard's 2021 Indie Power Players". Billboard. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  3. Jaybird Communications. "MIME Wins Agent of Change Award at the Music Biz 2022 Bizzy Awards". EIN News. Newsmatics Inc. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  4. Greene, Alex. "Made in Memphis: MIME is a 2020 Success Story". Memphis Flyer. Contemporary Media, Inc. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  5. Sparrow, Joe. "Music Ally Startup Files: Mime takes the music business hyper-local". Music Ally. Music Ally Ltd. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  6. Farthing, Lydia. "Industry Ink: The Bilbreys, AIMP, Kaileen Mangan". Music Row. MusicRow Enterprises. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  7. Anthony, Kontji. "5 Star Stories Studio Sessions: VIP access to soul man David Porter". Action News 5. Gray Media Group, Inc. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  8. Clarks, Jessie. "Wess Morgan Signs Distribution Deal With Beatroot Music". The Christian Beat. The Christian Beat. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  9. Rouhani, Neena. "Rapper Big30 Signs with N-Less and Bread Gang Entertainment in Partnership with Interscope". Billboard. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  10. "Heavy Hitters President Cindy Badell-Slaughter Passes At 59". All Access. All Access Music Group. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  11. Greene, Alex. "Movie Music! Memphis Musicians are Getting their Songs in Films and TV Shows". Memphis Flyer. Contemporary Media, Inc. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  12. Billboard Staff. "Billboard Announces 2021 Pride List of Industry-Shaping LGBTQ Professionals". Billboard. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  13. Zellner, Xander. "Moneybagg Yo & YC Rule Hot 100 Songwriters, Producers Charts For First Time". Billboard. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  14. Alexander, Tony D. "Guest column by Memphis exec: Entire C-suite should act as diversity officers". Memphis Business Journal. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  15. Levine, Mike. "Mix Blog Studio: 4U Recording Helps Uplift Memphis Music". MIX. Future plc. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
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