Starting a Record Label (and What It’s Really Like)
Written by Zane Talavia
Why I Started SYZYGY Records (and What It’s Really Been Like)
I figured this blog should probably start with a bit of context — who I am, why SYZYGY exists, and how it actually came to life. No hype, no buzzwords. Just the real story.
Before we begin, let’s address the elephant in the room. It’s pronounced siz-UH-gee - a word with significant meaning behind it, but more about that later.
I’m Zane. I’m a producer, engineer, and someone who’s been deep in music for most of my life. Like a lot of people reading this, I started out just obsessed with sound — learning how tracks were built, why certain songs felt the way they did, and how to get ideas out of my head and into something real.
Over the years, that turned into producing, mixing, teaching, running feedback streams, working with artists all over the world — and slowly, without really planning it, I found myself sitting in a strange position: listening to a lot of music, helping artists refine their sound, and seeing patterns in what was getting signed… and what wasn’t.
That’s where the seed for SYZYGY Records started.
Why a label?
I didn’t start SYZYGY because I wanted to “run a label.”
I started it because I kept seeing good music fall through the cracks.
Artists with strong ideas but no guidance and producers boxed into genres they didn’t even like anymore. Seriously, that happens more than you’d expect. I should know, I was one of them. So I wanted to build something flexible, artist-first, genre-open and most important focused on quality and intent, not trends.
SYZYGY, literally by definition, is about alignment — things coming into the right position at the right time. That idea felt right. Music, artists, timing, opportunity — when it clicks, it clicks.
The meaning behind SYZYGY.
I picked the name SYZYGY for three reasons.
It looks cool.
It has a deeper meaning.
People will argue over how to pronounce it. That’s funny to me.
The meaning is important. SYZYGY means the alignment of celestial bodies. For example, during an eclipse, the Sun, Moon and Earth would line up, forming a perfect SYZYGY. But there’s more, in Psycology, SYZYGY describes the balanced union of different aspects of the self, such as the conscious and unconscious, the masculine and feminine, or the rational and irrational. In short, SYZYGY stands for alignment, balance and unity.
How I actually made it happen
This wasn’t some big funded launch or industry-backed move. It started small and practical.
I:
Registered the label properly
Learned the boring (but essential) stuff: rights, splits, licensing, distribution
Built the infrastructure piece by piece — branding, artwork direction, release workflow
Set up systems for demos, feedback, communication, and releases
A lot of it was trial and error. Googling things at stupid hours. Asking questions. Rewriting agreements over, and over, and over… Realising I’d missed something obvious and fixing it the next day.
There was no “ready” moment. I just decided to start and adjust as I went.
The difficult bits (because there have been plenty)
Running a label alongside everything else is hard. Time is the biggest challenge and suddenly you’re not just thinking creatively — you’re thinking logistically. Emails, schedules, contracts, admin, planning months ahead while still trying to stay inspired.
Decision fatigue is real too. What do we release? When? How do we support it properly? Are we doing right by the artist? Is our branding good enough? Shall I use this font? Or this font? What’s our visual brand identity? Is it eye catching enough? Memorable? For someone with an active ADHD brain, I felt my mind running a million miles a second.
Then there’s the pressure of taste. When you run a label, every release says something about you. You can’t just put things out casually — each one shapes the identity of the project and man, when I tell you trying to decide what music to release, that was the biggest and longest decision of all.
And yeah, there are moments of doubt and moments where you wonder if you’re spreading yourself too thin. Moments where growth feels slower than you hoped.
But when an artist tells me they finally feel heard, or that a release actually reflects who they are — that makes it worth it.
Seeing other people excited for me and the label is incredibly inspiring.
What SYZYGY is (and isn’t)
SYZYGY isn’t about chasing algorithms, locking artists into boxes or releasing for the sake of releasing.
It is about:
Strong ideas
Honest music
Long-term thinking
Helping artists put out work they’re genuinely proud of
We don’t limit ourselves to one sound because music doesn’t work like that anymore — and honestly, it never really did.
Why this blog exists
This blog is an extension of that mindset.
It’s a place for:
Artists to speak in their own words
Producers to share what they’ve learned
Honest conversations about music, creativity, and the industry
Behind-the-scenes insight into releases, ideas, and process
No gatekeeping. No pretending. Just people who care about music talking honestly about it.
If you’re reading this and you’re part of the SYZYGY world already — welcome.
If you’re new here — stick around. This is just the beginning.
— Zane, Founder
