Sivan Cotel ’05 says the name for his record label came to him in a dream.
“Visually I saw the name [in my dream] and there was music,” he said.
That label, Audiokio Productions, is becoming increasingly prominent in the underground hip-hop and rock communities in New York and Michigan.
What started in Cotel’s bedroom when he was in high school has grown into a real company—it’s even registered with the government. With five employees and four active musical projects, Audiokio boasts considerable growth. Check out what is in the works at www.audiokio.com.
Audiokio started when Cotel made his first CD in high school.
“CD’s are always released under a production company,” he said. “I just put it under that name.”
Cotel’s high school friend, Brandeis University junior Aaron Quint, is now Audiokio’s president. He remembers when Audiokio was more of a pet project.
“Audiokio really started as almost a joke,” said Quint. “It was just the logo and an idea.”
Then Cotel and Quint took a year off before college to travel to Israel. While there, Quint resolved to make Audiokio a real record label. The move has been a success.
“What started as just a name under which we could release our own material now caters to a growing underground hip-hop movement in New York,” Cotel said.
The move to hip-hop was unexpected, Cotel explained.
“The way we got into hip-hop was just accidental,” Cotel said. “Aaron was doing a lot of hip-hop.”
Now, Audiokio is home to underground hip-hop acts, Scenario45 and KastOne, as well as a Michigan rock band called Oblivion, which is popular in its home city of Detroit. Oblivion recently celebrated the release of their new album on the Audiokio label.
Audiokio is small. They have no central office and mail many CD orders by hand.
“Ours is not the standard independent approach to get a big company to distribute,” Cotel said.
Cotel, Quint, and the other members of Audiokio use the power of the Internet to stay afloat. They hold business meetings by email, and distribute a lot of music electronically. And fans communicate in the site’s online forum, which provides a venue for discussion of all things related to hip-hop and other genres.
At least for now, the company is not looking to bring in the big bucks.
“Our idea is to break even and to get a reputation,” Cotel said. The most expensive CD on the company’s website is $10. Some songs are free downloads. Oblivion will be the first of their releases sold in record stores. They should be available in the Detroit area.
A big part of Audiokio is promoting shows in New York.
“You’ll see them in the Village Voice,” Cotel said. Often, his acts perform at the well-known club, The Lion’s Den.
Few at Wesleyan know of Audiokio. Cotel is best known on campus for his funk band, Post No Bills.
“I’ve seen fliers for Post No Bills, ironically, but I had no idea he was so accomplished,” said Rachel Berger ’06.
Despite all his early success, there’s a good chance this is not a career in the making. Cotel is a music and psychology double major, and says he very well might end up pursuing psychology.
“I’m on a PhD track,” he said.
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