About us
Filter Music Group is a music company that approaches the development and expansion of artist careers holistically, connecting the different disciplines in a meaningful way.
The focus is on the consistent and profitable cooperation amongst the various departments, with the corporate group consisting of subsections of three labels, publishing, booking, artist management, creative services (including consulting, studio production, mix & master, sound design and video production), and is affiliated with a promotion agency and digital distribution company.
Filter Music Group’s mission is to work with high standards in each phase, supported by a strong foundation of basic values. With shared ethical principles, each division of the group works to implement the overarching mission; to bring innovation to the music industry.
The Mission
Rethinking structures, taking a closer look at details and breaking old patterns are just as important to the group’s philosophy as demonstrating that it’s possible to work honestly, fairly and transparently to create the best solutions and a new model of working for the music industry. These values form the basis and unites all departments in Filter Music Group. In practice, this means that Filter Music Group considers respectful cooperation the primary basis for clear communication and equal rights- artists, partners, employees and confidants are of crucial importance here.
The Vision
Visionaries are the motor of change. Filter Music Group considers itself and partners as motors of change with influence on the landscape of the music-industry in the 21st century. The corporate identity of the entire group is to create the right path for each individual act. Filter Music Group faces this challenge daily, and collaborates to find the right approach with partners and confidants. Specifically, this means analyzing and following less conventional approaches, and rethinking old structures. All of this is driven by an urge for innovation, a childish sense of curiosity and the vision to change the music landscape of the 21st century.
The History
Filter Music Group was founded in 2015 by Jorin Zschiesche – founder and captain of one of Europe’s most prestigious digital distributors, recordJet – and Tobias and Philipp Herder, who previously founded the successful label, Lichtdicht. While Tobias Herder worked as label manager and publisher, Philipp Herder specialized in the booking and live performance department. Collectively, the three founders can show for the global success of artists like Milky Chance, Alice Merton or James Hersey. Despite their success, they realized that they were not aligned with many existing values in the music industry. The result of this dissonance is Filter Music Group: an independent, international music company that supports the desires and needs of artists at various points in their careers, dealing with artists, partners and employees in a fair, open and transparent way.
The Values
Filter Music Group is driven by fundamental values, which serve as a structure for all other aspects of their work:
- Complete transparency with artists and partners at all times
- The courage to sometimes pursue unusual solutions and approaches
- An honest commitment from all members to develop new ideas and approaches in the music industry
- The goal to establish fair deals with artists, namely deconstructing old deal structures and rethinking cooperation terms
- The sustainable and organic development of artists
- Childish curiosity combined with expertise, know-how and a clear strategy
- Flat hierarchies and a strong sense of team-spirit
- Working with partners with complete trust and the common idea to make the music industry more humane, fair and transparent
The Divisions
What was originally a national label, an edition and a booking agency became within three years an internationally engaged company, consisting of three labels (Filter Records, Phaser and Gotta Love), an international publishing structure (FLTR Music Publishing), an internationally engaged booking and live agency (Filter Booking & Filter Live), a recording studio, a management department, service department, an affiliated promotion agency (Closer Pleasures), and an associated digital distribution (recordJet) with a catalogue of over 400k songs. This structure offers the advantage of keeping typically disconnected departments as close to each other as possible, making the work between them as quick and efficient as possible.
The individual departments are constantly in exchange. They engage with one another, work closely together and are tightly integrated, allowing a workflow that is flexible and individually tailored. Artists and partners have the choice to use complete services, or individual offerings. The total of over 20 employees in various locations around the world serve as the engine of this system, practicing the value system of Filter Music Group and working with creativity, joy and appreciation in their highly professional work.