How it started

A subsidiary of Starita Music, Starita Label Services was founded by producer, artist, and songwriter, Michael Starita and creative director and marketing veteran, Tam Akiko. Both have deep experience in their respective disciplines, and a long history of successfully meeting the challenges of creating and selling art in a commercial world.

With nearly 25 years in the industry working with numerous major and independent artists, running a record label and publishing company, and contributing to thought leadership initiatives through the Recording Academy and others, it was clear that independent artists and small labels deserve as much attention and support as the majors. To further reinforce this need, fellow musicians and artists were continuously seeking advice and counsel from Starita and Tam on how to achieve their goals in the music marketplace.  Starita and Tam immediately recognized the need for artists to have trusted advisors to navigate the complex process of finding and connecting with an audience for their music. And so, Starita Label Services was born.

At the same time, the music industry was in a dramatic state of change.  The shift to all-digital distribution created new opportunities but offered many challenges and pitfalls.  Suddenly, artists could self publish and prosper outside of the traditional, hidebound channels of label-based music publishing.  But with that freedom came new challenges. Independent artists were faced with a new reality where the importance of an artist’s brand, their social media footprint, their following, and their content strategy, among other things, became necessary components of success. This is where Starita Label Services comes in. We provide top-notch creative and marketing expertise of a major label paired with the personalized, high-touch engagement of an intimate boutique agency (again, the best of two worlds)!