Industry Insider: FiXT President James Rhodes Discusses His Rise, Artist Development, and Advice to Newcomers

In an industry that continuously presents new challenges and obstacles, James Rhodes has found a way to navigate them all successfully. Rhodes is the recently promoted President of FiXT, an artist-owned record label he co-founded in 2006 with artist and composer Klayton. Klayton had already garnered some success for his solo projects Celldweller and Scandroid. They initially moulded the label around the strength of those projects, which served as a launching point. Now, FiXT is a global brand with dozens of artists and a significant international footprint.

His success is a far cry from Rhodes’ humble beginnings. Born in Toledo, Ohio, he was primarily raised in Burlington, Iowa. His connection with Klayton extends back to when he was just a fan of the latter’s industrial project, Circle of Dust, in the 1990s. When Celldweller formed in 1999, Rhodes joined the band’s street team, and then the two finally met in the 2000s at a fan meet-and-greet in Detroit. He slowly moved his way up the ranks within the local live promotion scene in Southeast Iowa. He booked one of Celldweller’s first-ever live shows in 2003 at Gabe’s Oasis in Iowa City. The two formed a business relationship, which led to the launch of FiXT.

FiXT is now one of the most highly regarded independent labels for hard rock music in the United States. The label features notable artist signings such as The Anix, The Browning, Fight The Fade, and ENMY.

For our latest Industry Insider interview, Rhodes joins us to discuss the music industry, artist development, current trends, professional relationships, and much more.

(Left to right) James Rhodes, Izzy Reign, Klayton (Celldweller)

Do you think traditional artist development is a dying art, with labels more interested in viral potential than fostering long-term careers?

James Rhodes: “I do think most labels are abandoning traditional artist development by chasing things that are viral and hyper-relevant in the micro. We still believe in longer-term development cycles but have had to be more critical in recent periods of time, where we’ve realized we have too many artists to serve at the level we need to be executing at. So we’ve opted to not renew quite a few things recently, but that is really a separate issue from our belief in development. We have traditionally signed artists very early in their journey and have a strong track record of taking things from 0 to 10,000 monthly listeners up to over 50,000 if not even 100,000 to 150,000 monthly within one album cycle (typically 12 to 24 months).

“Taking the journey from album one to album two is always an exciting step as we have a foundation to build on and have a much better sense of working with the artist/band. Compared to a lot of EDM labels who do one-off singles, it has been a strength for us to work with artists in album cycles to really build the relationship and trust. It also often takes three to four releases to really see the payoff of all the marketing efforts with DSPs and press outlets, so one-off releases often end up as dead on arrival, not from lack of effort/relationship, skill or knowledge, but simply out of too few ‘at-bats.’

“It’s hard to put points on the board if you only get one at-bat. The same goes for artists writing songs. It’s hard to have a hit if they only put one single out, or one album. I’d encourage artists to really think about building their ‘catalogue’ and that each song and each album significantly increases the chances for something to connect, whether that’s landing DSP Editorial, a big press feature, or a sync placement. You have to put in some reps at the gym to see transformation in your body.”

What’s your advice to new artists considering whether to sign with a major label or stay independent?

“I think new artists have more options than ever. The options range from staying independent and using a turnkey distributor (TuneCore, DistroKid, CD Baby, etc..) or a distro with some label/marketing services (Symphonic, OneRPM, FUGA, etc…) or signing with an independent label, or a major label. There are a lot of things to consider with each of those with asking the classic questions of what are you giving up for what you are getting in return. Zero percent distribution fees to a Tunecore/DistroKid might seem great, but you don’t get any marketing/editorial pitching. Signing a major label may offer a large advance, but typically means you’re getting somewhere between an 80/20, 82/18, or 85/15 back-end split. A solid indie label might do a 50/50 deal (as FiXT does).

“But then you need to dig a layer deeper yet, with each of these and really assess what your needs are. Just signing with a label may leave you handling publishing and merchandise on your own. Does your label also offer those services? There can be a strategic advantage to having master/publishing under one roof to maximize sync licensing. Or to have a merch deal with your label so you have a partner that is as invested in growing your merch revenue as your music revenue. Would your deals include physical distribution, marketing budgets, etc..?

“If you’re working with an independent label, I’d ask them what royalty system they use and to see an example of that system and what statements look like. Also, ask your label/distributor for full disclosure on their distribution set-up. Even if they tell you that you have a 50/50 deal, do they have a distributor between them and the DSPs taking 10 to 15 to 20 to 25 percent? Do they have their own direct deals with DSPs or are they Merlin members? There’s a lot to wade through and really understand the set-up of who you’re working with.

“Ultimately, my advice though to artists is to find the right deal for them. Some artists are great at working with labels and some artists operate better staying independent. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and sometimes it’s ok to have a smaller percentage of something huge, than 100 percent of nothing. So whether that’s a 50/50 deal or a major 80/20 style deal, it’s all relative to the scale you’re going for and your belief and relationship with the partner.”

(Left to right) Travis Brokett (FiXT Administrative Director), Jonny McBee (The Browning) and James Rhodes (FiXT President / Co-Founder)

What’s one hard truth about the music industry that no one prepares you for when you first enter it?

“Almost nobody has it all figured out. Even HUGE companies have horrible aspects of operations. We’ve directly seen it and heard from dozens of artists we know who have worked with other labels (including majors and very popular large indie labels) that sometimes they are clueless or have a huge hole in their operations. The bigger companies that have massive success sometimes use that to cover up all the areas they are weak in. Look for a well-rounded partner and ask people for real references about working with them.”

What’s the biggest mistake artists make when they first start building their team (managers, agents, publicists, etc.)?

“In 20+ years of my career now, one of my biggest frustrations is making an awesome connection with an artist and then getting handed off to a brand new manager/agent that they just started working with. This person now representing them has been given zero context to the history of the relationship and the dynamic we’ve already established. To justify themselves being involved they create ‘problems’ that aren’t there so they can show their clients (the artist) that they are doing something for them. But like 90 percent of the time it’s a step backwards and the artist ends up missing out on something that could have been a career changer, because some new person wants to make an impression and show them how they can over-negotiate or push the artist’s partners, and it just kills certain relationships.

“So I really advise artists to make sure they actually need management before adding it and to deeply vet out management and make sure management is representing you the way you want to be represented. Managers work for you, not you for them.”

What’s the most valuable long-term professional relationship you’ve built over your career, and how did you maintain it? What advice would you give for cultivating lasting relationships in the industry?

“My longest-term professional relationship would be working with Klayton (Celldweller). I started in the industry as a volunteer for him on his street team and later became his first employee and now over 20 years later we’re still working together. I now manage him, am President of his record label (FiXT) and am a co-founder and VP of his new company Bit Bot Media. We maintained such a long-term positive relationship with significant investment in communication and building trust over time with a shared vision for what we want to accomplish.

“My advice to others to cultivate lasting industry relations though would be to treat everyone with respect and be willing to play the long game. Someone you meet who might be an intern at a company now might be the CEO in 10 to 15 years, so never treat anyone as beneath you. Things come full circle and life is longer than you might think.”

The music industry is known for its relentless pace. How do you personally deal with burnout, and what advice would you give to younger artists struggling with it?

“It is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. As you build out the team around you, it can feel more like a relay where you can pass the baton to others versus doing everything yourself. You have to have short-term hustle but long-term patience and build a team to survive. I don’t know any artists/bands who have had meaningful success who’ve done it all alone. There’s always someone else behind the scenes, a label, a manager, an employee, or a team of such people.

“So surround yourself with a good team and don’t try to do everything yourself. Which really does mean letting go of certain things, but the alternative is burnout and the whole thing crashing.”

FiXT Staff + ENMY + Daedric + Izzy Reign

Do you think the traditional idea of an ‘album cycle’ is still relevant, or has the way artists release music completely changed?

“We still firmly believe in album cycles at FiXT. While we heavily focus on the release of singles, we always roll things up into an album and see the album as a key moment to showcase a larger body of work. We see a lot of marketing and press opportunities still lend themselves to albums versus singles. Digital album reviews of course but there’s something special about getting your album reviewed in physical, print-press. There are certain levels of magazines/outlets that don’t cover singles but will cover albums.

“We also see DSPs responding to albums from our artists because they realize the artist isn’t just dropping a single and disappearing, but if we’ve delivered or communicated that there is a whole album on the way, they can more easily align their support. We also see the best returns on ad spends during the full ‘album cycle’ where the album is on pre-order or fully out. So we try to maximize both the individual singles and leverage a full ‘album campaign’ as well.”

Do you believe there’s a resurgence of interest in concept albums, or are they becoming a relic of the past?

“We still believe highly in concept albums. Many of FiXT’s biggest successes have been around concept albums. A lot of people want to escape the chaos in the world and art that gives people a place to escape usually does well, from movies, TV, and games, to music. Albums like End of an Empire from Celldweller in 2015 continue to be high-performing albums and have generated a depth of merchandise that shows people really care about world-building. Izzy Reign has a theme/concept behind her upcoming self-titled album with FiXT that she is helping tell through unique story-based postcards she’s releasing with each song on the album. It’s cool to see how different artists approach their unique version of a concept album.

“There are more and more artists embracing transmedia experiences, putting out an album along with a novel or graphic novel or comic book, as well as other content. We embraced this over a decade ago for Celldweller’s album Wish Upon A Blackstar, which had not only an accompanying novel but an additional score-album for fans to listen to while reading the novel. And in 2025 we have plans for the next Scandroid album to take this even further, with not only a novel and possibly a comic book, but a video game.

“We’ve also had several other amazing concept albums on FiXT that came out in 2024, including CANTERVICE’s Zero Hour and Coping Method’s Where Spirit Meets Bone. I think the concept album is definitely here to stay.”

Do you think there’s more opportunity today for niche genres, or does the algorithmic nature of streaming platforms limit their reach?

“I think there’s more opportunity for niche genres right now than ever before because you can reach a wider audience than ever globally and the cumulative net effect of that can mean bigger success for artists in niche genres, than ever before. Algorithms can scale to these smaller interests more than curated human playlists can, so I think it’s supported by the modern streaming ecosystem.

“However, that is the warning for creators as well. If you hit the ceiling of the algorithmic reach in a niche, there may not be an additional human-curated spot to continue growing because it may be too small a niche for the major DSPs to curate a dedicated manually curated playlist for.”

Do you believe the rise of vinyl and other physical formats is a passing trend or a permanent shift in consumer behaviour?

“I think individual formats (whether that is vinyl, cassette, CD, or something else) can ultimately be seen as a ‘passing trend’ when viewed over a long enough time horizon. But what I think is not changing is that fans want tangible collectables of their favourite albums. I think vinyl is interesting because I think more than 50 percent of people buying are not evening listening to it, it’s just a large format physical collectable of the art/lyrics for them to proudly own/display.”