Ben DeSoto Is The New Label Manager at Greater Than Collective

Ben DeSoto became the label manager at Greater Than Collective on February 2. Greater Than Collective is a record label/music organization backed by Illegal Pete's. DeSoto had originally talked to the operation's co-founder Virgil Dickerson in 2014 about the label, as one of his bands, Ark Life, signed to the...

By Tom Murphy

March 23, 2015

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Earlier this year, Ben DeSoto became the label manager at Greater Than Collective: a record label/music organization backed by Illegal Pete's. DeSoto has been involved in the music community here in many capacities — he's worked as a talent buyer for clubs and festivals and played in several bands, including Ark Life. Last year, that group joined Greater Than, and DeSoto started talking to the organization's co-founder, Virgil Dickerson, about its future.

In his new role, DeSoto will help Greater Than's artists figure out how to accomplish a wide range of goals. "We can help you record the record, put out the record, promote the record, work on licensing and publishing, get you in touch with the right people for management and booking," explains DeSoto. "We will help these bands realize their goals as a band, whether that's to tour more or to put out a bigger record."

Having seen several sides of the music business in his previous and current positions, DeSoto seems well suited to this unconventional label management role. And with a slate of new releases coming from Greater Than in 2015, including the new Adam Cayton-Holland album, Backyards, in early April, his skills will certainly come in handy.

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If you'd like to contact me, Tom Murphy, on Twitter, my handle is @simianthinker.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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Twitter: @simianthinker