Calling on more than two decades of leadership and innovation in major label A&R and
new music business ventures, music industry veterans Michael Caplan and Larry Miller
have formed Or Music, an upstart New York-based independent record label. As its
name suggests, Or Music provides new options for music fans with its fresh,
iconoclastic approach to A&R, and commitment to building a multi-genre roster with
broad appeal for grown-ups of all ages.
Or Music offers artists the distribution muscle of a major label combined with the
creative freedom of an independent. As two of the most prominent music industry
executives of the past decade, Caplan and Miller have established strong contacts
throughout the entertainment world, and superlative track records.
Caplan served as senior vice president of A&R at Sony Music/Epic Records. Caplan
spent 17 years in Epic's A&R department, producing three multi-platinum, six platinum
and fourteen gold records, as well as seven Grammy Award-winners, with a diverse
roster ranging from Keb' Mo' to Ginuwine, from the Allman Brothers to G Love & Special
Sauce to Living Color. Caplan will serve as Or Music president.
Miller's recent leadership of digital music pacesetters such as Reciprocal
and AT&T's a2b music are the latest successes in a career that has also included
executive roles at New York's Z100 FM (WHTZ), CD101.9 (WQCD) and NBC Radio
Entertainment. Miller had been Entrepreneur in Residence at Chazen Capital
Partners, and has now transitioned to CEO of Or Music LLC.
With Or Music, Caplan and Miller wanted to redraw the blueprints of the contemporary
record company — refocusing on the development of long-term career artists and on
creating amazing music, not just an amazing clatter. By specifically targeting an
oft-ignored market of music fans — those 25 and older — and combining an indie's
natural agility with the national distribution power of Sony-owned RED distribution, Or
Music has found a strong balance.
"Even as the major labels see declining unit sales and an erosion of their traditional
consumer base, many indie labels are enjoying banner years," Or Music's Miller
says. "This is an ideal moment to launch our business with a great new roster of
career artists, and RED distribution is the ideal partner to help us do it."
"As an industry, we've done so little lately to nurture and promote artists who have the
capacity to develop a long career – we've made sure all these new acts have one hit
single — and forgotten totally about what happens after that single's gone," said
Caplan. "And nobody's targeting those music fans 25 and older, who actually
remember artists with real careers. Or Music is about changing that."
Or Music's first signings include essence, an award-winning female singer-songwriter;
Tower of Power, a legendary soul/funk ensemble; and Los Lonely Boys, a trio of
"Texican" brothers who combine blues virtuosity with three-part harmonies to stunning
effect. Los Lonely Boys recently performed at Farm Aid.
