How True Panther’s ‘Slightly Weird, Slightly Commercially Palatable’ Ethos Made it an Indie Winner
Categoria: Musica
"Anything scaled properly can be a success," says Kelley Lin of True Panther Records, which earlier this week won the Libera Award for label of the year with five or fewer employees.
Por Billboard | 12/06/2026
It’s rare for an artist manager to get on a call with every single person who works at their act’s label, but at True Panther Records, the task at max requires five separate phone lines. This all-hands-on-deck-style service is the foundation of True Panther, the New York-based label operated by four employees: founder/CEO Dean Bein , marketing head Jonah Kolik , A&R Isabel Levin and label manager Kelley Lin . Related Billboard’s 2026 Indie Power Players Revealed Carly Pearce Signs With BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville Clive Davis Hospitalized in New York After Respiratory Issue — UPDATE Together, they work with a roster that’s not only impressive in talent and range, but success. This group includes avant-garde electronic artists Oklou and Frost Children, who both released excellent and well-received 2025 albums, buzzy rock outfit Model/Actriz, experimental composers Elori Saxl & Henry Solomon, indie folk artist Quiet Light, and singer/songwriter Grace Ives, the latter three of whom have all released albums in 2026. The label was founded in San Francisco by Bein in 2007 as a home for punk albums from the band he then belonged to, along with music by friends. True Panther then moved to New York and in 2008 was acquired by Matador Records/Beggars Group, an organization it stayed part of for eight years, before returning to indie status. “The move happened before my time, but from what I’ve been told, it was a very peaceful transition,” says Lin. “Matador/Beggars was an incredible era for our label, but in order to really expand on the vision and company, we eventually found a new partnership with Virgin Music that gave us more ownership, independence in our choices, and resources to go bigger in scale.” The move is paying off handsomely, with True Panther’s output earning it the 2026 Libera Award for label of the year with five or fewer employees at the ceremony that happened in New York this past Monday (June 8) during Indie Week. Oklou also won for best electronic record, best pop record, best remix and music video of the year, while Model/Actriz won for best heavy record. These successes help Lin and the team earn the title of Billboard ‘s Executive of the Week. Here, Lin talks about working and thriving as a small but mighty team. What are some of True Panther’s key accomplishments from the last year that earned you the label of the year distinction? We’re particularly proud of three albums we put out in 2025: Oklou’s choke enough , Model/Actriz’s Pirouette and Frost Children’s SISTER . These were all really high-priority projects for us, artists who had done their legwork on previous projects, and were prime for their own version of a breakout. We’re really proud of finding discrete pathways to success that are specific to each artist and project. Since those album releases, they’ve played global festivals including Coachella, Primavera and Club to Club, been featured