Phoebe Bridgers has become a dominating force over a short period of time as a musician, and now she is ready to explore a new music industry frontier: Today, she announced that she has launched her own label, Saddest Factory, a Dead Oceans imprint.
In a new Billboard interview, she noted, “It’s always been a dream of mine to have a label, because I’m also such a music fan.” She also discussed launching her label during the pandemic, saying, “One of my favorite things about this time is that everybody is listening to records faster, making tons of playlists, and doing dance parties in their houses. I felt like if there’s cool stuff, I want to get it going and get it out to people as fast as possible.”
The name of the label is a play on the word “satisfactory,” first made on Twitter in 2019 by Bridgers’ former Sloppy Jane bandmate Haley Dahl. Bridgers seems to have received no resistance when asking Secretly Group (the parent group of Dead Oceans) about her getting her own imprint, as she notes, “I brought it up, like, ‘Can I have a label?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, totally.’”
Bridgers hasn’t revealed any of the artists signed to the label yet, but an announcement is expected to arrive soon. She doesn’t envision Saddest Factory sticking to any one genre in particular, as she says, “If I like it and I listen to it for pleasure, then other people will like it and listen to it for pleasure. I don’t think I have any ethos other than, ‘Am I jealous?’” She also noted in press materials, “The vision of the label is simple: good songs, regardless of genre.”
Additionally, she talked about the flexibility having her own label provides: “I haven’t felt this yet, but maybe at some point I’ll want to take a step back from the every two years album cycle and want to do other sh*t, like produce or just put out records. Music is always going to be in the forefront of my brain. I just want to explore.”
Bridgers launched the label’s website today, which is formatted like a Mac desktop and is brimming with personality and Easter eggs. Notably, there’s also a link for artists to submit their music to the label, so check out the site here.