The music industry is one of the most difficult for anyone to break into. While talent is needed to get far, having connections or getting discovered plays a more prominent role in a successful career. Rich Fayden is an individual who has played a hand in the discovery of many artists in the past 18 years. He has recently taken his career one step further by joining fellow music industry titan Platinum Award-winning producer Thomas Barsoe’s company OC Hit as the studio’s new Senior A&R and Head of Radio Promotion.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in New York City, Fayden’s life was surrounded by music. For over 25 years, he has been instrumental in discovering some of today’s biggest names like Alessia Cara, Conan Gray, Halsey, and Shawn Mendes, to name a few. Fayden would scour the internet, going on platforms like SoundCloud, Vine, and YouTube to find these talents. His goal was always to send links to industry heads, trying to get the artists heard.
Thomas Barsoe, the other side of the coin, started his career as a performer. He discovered his passion for music at 13, picking up a guitar and letting a Beatles album take him further and further into a lifelong passion for the arts. Once he started recording, Barsoe would go on tours, making a name for himself and eventually go multi-platinum. In 2010, after going around performing, he moved to the OC, where he met with several singers and songwriters. Barsoe would often invite them to his home studio, where they spent hours working on original content. Eventually, he built a small business that turned into the powerhouse known today as OC Hit.
OC Hit was created in 2016 as a record label, music publishing, artist management, and recording studio that is dedicated to discovering and developing exceptionally talented young singers and songwriters. Rich Fayden saw what Barsoe was doing, having met him several times throughout their career. Eventually, the two started to take their acquaintance further, formulating a plan to build a professional partnership by blending OC Hit’s incredible artist roster and community with Fayden’s ear for hit songs and strong industry relationships.
“Knowing Thomas for many years and seeing what an incredible atmosphere he creates for upcoming talent made it clear to me that we needed to come together after many years working apart,” Fayden said, “The passion Thomas brings to his students, artists, and songwriters is something every industry newcomer dreams of. OC Hit is a world-class studio, and now with this partnership, I expect to see artists coming out on their own and making a lot of noise within the ranks of the industry.”
Fayden would join the team, taking on the role of the studio’s Senior A&R and Head of Radio Promotion. Barsoe was excited to have him on board, knowing how influential Fayden would be in helping the next generation of artists thrive in the music industry. “Rich brings a very unique skill set to the table, and his vast experience in Radio Promotion presents our artist roster with unbelievable opportunities to take their music careers to a whole other level,” Barsoe said, “I truly believe Rich is the last piece of the puzzle we needed for OC Hit to be one of the most influential ‘major’ independent labels on the west coast.”Learn more about Rich Fayden and his new venture with OC Hit by visiting his official website.
