Cole Leo Ryan
Experience
Projects
Hillydilly / BTD
2013-2023
Dreams Never Die2019-2023
FoodSocial
2023-present
MissioN:
Explore new paths to sustainability for musicians and their supporters.
Explore new paths to sustainability for musicians and their supporters.
Dreams Never Die began as an independent record label focused on developing brand-new artists (who we discovered through running Hillydilly). Despite our impressive catalog, by 2021 the music industry had accepted social media virality as an artist’s only avenue to success.
Entirely dissatisfied with this reality, I decided to explore new paths to sustainability for both musicians and their teams, starting with putting our record label in the hands of our community.
After raising nearly $3M in funding to carry out our vision, I immersed myself in all aspects of running a rapidly-moving mission-based organization.
A community-owned, community-run music company focused on discovering, developing, and launching new artists.
- Built community of 1,000+ artists, fans, and industry professionals
- Released 150+ songs from 25+ brand-new artists, surpassing 200M streams
- Raised ~$3M in funding round led by Polychain Capital
- Ideated, designed, and distributed 1,000 member passes
- Built and managed virtual home on Discord, Notion, and Airtable
- Explored blockchain-based models for music ownership and funding
- Hosted songwriting camps, virtual release parties, live showcases, weekly calls