About SunGrass Records
SunGrass Records is an independent record label based in the Nashville region, working across artist development, music rights, release administration, and long-term catalog stewardship.
Our approach brings creative judgment and professional administration together. We support the development of music while establishing the records, relationships, and processes required to administer it responsibly.
Each engagement is shaped by the project, the people involved, and the responsibilities SunGrass Records is prepared to undertake.
Why SunGrass Records Exists
A musical work develops through creative decisions, collaboration, recording, and performance. Its professional life also involves ownership, contributor relationships, agreements, registrations, release information, and revenue administration.
These responsibilities continue beyond the release itself. A recording may generate new uses, reporting obligations, licensing opportunities, and administrative questions years after its initial publication.
SunGrass Records was established to work across these connected dimensions of music: supporting creative development while building and maintaining the administrative foundation appropriate to each project.
The intention is not to replace artistic independence with institutional control. It is to make professional responsibilities clearer and the work surrounding the music more sustainable.
Our Approach
SunGrass Records approaches its work through three connected principles.
Creative Development with Purpose
A project's next step should be determined by its artistic objectives, current state, available resources, and professional readiness.
Development may involve evaluating material, refining project direction, strengthening recording workflows, establishing priorities, or determining whether additional work is appropriate before a larger commitment is made.
Clear Rights & Responsibilities
The people and organizations involved in a recording should have an accurate understanding of their roles, documented agreements, applicable rights, and administrative responsibilities.
SunGrass Records works within the authority established for an engagement, coordinating documentation and administration without assuming rights or responsibilities that have not been agreed.
Continuity Beyond the Release
The information created during development and release should remain useful as a project progresses.
Where an engagement includes continuing administration, SunGrass Records maintains relevant records and coordinates the work needed to support the catalog over time. The extent of that responsibility is determined by the agreement.
Relationships & Responsibilities
SunGrass Records works with independent artists, songwriters, producers, labels, catalog owners, and other music-industry professionals through defined engagements.
A relationship may concern a specific assignment, a single release, a development cycle, or continuing administration. No single structure is appropriate for every project.
We recognize the roles of existing managers, attorneys, publishers, distributors, accountants, and other specialists. Our participation is established around the responsibilities we are engaged to perform, rather than an assumption that every function must be brought under one organization.
Scope, compensation, decision-making authority, applicable rights, and duration are established through written agreements.
People & Professional Standards
The Founder
SunGrass Records was founded by Joseph J. Sydlo, whose work combines music composition and production with an interdisciplinary background in science, finance, and analytical systems.
His creative practice and professional background inform the development of the label's operating methods and long-term direction.
Ethics & Professional Standards
SunGrass Records maintains a formal Code of Ethics and Professional Standards addressing integrity, accountability, fairness, confidentiality, and responsible professional conduct.
These principles inform how the company evaluates engagements, communicates commitments, handles information, and establishes responsibilities.
Read Our Professional Standards →
Work With SunGrass Records
Tell us about your music, project, or catalog and the professional support you are seeking.
We will review the information provided and determine whether an appropriate engagement should be explored.