Louis Posen

Louis Posen (born 1971) is an American, Los-Angeles-based, record producer and the founder of both Hopeless Records and Sub City Records. Posen is known as the “Paul Newman of punk rock” for his philanthropic efforts.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Early life

Born in 1971, Louis Posen grew up in Los Angeles, California, United States. At age 15 he developed a passion for punk rock music after attending a concert by X at the Reseda Country Club. As a child and teenager, he also had a love for film, and he enrolled at California State University, Northridge as a film studies major, hoping to eventually become a filmmaker. However, his career plans were derailed by a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa at age 19, and he gravitated toward a music career.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

Career

Posen founded Hopeless Records in 1993 in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles after filming a music video with the punk rock band Guttermouth.[15] He used $1,000 in savings and a self-help book on starting a record label to begin the business, which later signed bands such as The Wonder Years, Yellowcard, Avenged Sevenfold, Thrice, The Used, Taking Back Sunday, and All Time Low. In 1999 Posen started Sub City Records, which has raised over $2.5 million for non-profit organizations, including groups that support blindness research, mental health, and suicide prevention. As part of his quest to create awareness for suicide prevention, Posen founded the Take Action Tour. Both Hopeless Records and Sub City Records give at least 5% of their profits to charity. [16][17][9][11][12][7]

Personal life

In 1994, a botched operation on his eye left Posen legally blind. He is married with one child.[18]

References
  1. Low, Cindy (July 14, 2015). "Louis Posen is One Altruistic Punk". Juice Online. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  2. Schuetze, Tyson (August 2002). "Indie Find: Indie Label Profile: Hopeless/Sub City Records". Relix: Music for the Mind. Vol. 29 no. 4. Brooklyn, NY: Relix. p. 79.
  3. "Hopeless Records Celebrates Milestone 25 Year Anniversary". Geekxpop. June 24, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  4. McLennan, Scott (August 23, 2001). "Rock concert tour aids charities with profits". Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, MA.
  5. Fasten, Emily (July 2002). "Rock with a Conscious". Guitar Player.
  6. Rosen, Craig (August 25, 2007). "A Sound Vision". Billboard Magazine. New York.
  7. Palmeri, Christopher (September 24, 2007). "The Paul Newman of Punk Rock; After Hopeless Records started bringing in cash, founder Louis Posen began spinning profits into charity and joined a new trend in social entrepreneurship". Businessweek. New York: Bloomberg. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  8. Samuelson, Wyatt (April 8, 2019). "Hopeless Records for Hopeful Music Lovers: CSUN Alumni Louis Posen Celebrates 25 Years in the Music Industry". CSUN Today. California State University, Northridge. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  9. Fadrowski, Kelli (January 16, 2019). "Louis Posen of Van Nuys' Hopeless Records looks back on 25 years of hard work, good times and punk rock". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  10. De Los Santos, Brian (September 21, 2011). "CSUN alumnus transcends music industry with music label Hopeless Records". Sundial. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  11. Wappler, Margaret (March 16, 2006). "Hopeless? That's just a name". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  12. Brown, August (January 18, 2019). "How Hopeless Records has Thrived for a Quarter Century in Indie Punk". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  13. Desales, Ryan (September 17, 2007). "Indie record label makes major contributions: "Hopeless" donates nearly 10 percent of gross revenues to charities giving hope to youth". San Fernando Valley Business Journal.
  14. Knopper, Steve (June 16, 2018). "Indie Ventures Mark Major Milestones". Billboard Magazine. New York.
  15. Perham, Scott (March 28, 2005). "A&R Profile: Louis Posen". Music Connection. Vol. 29 no. 7. p. 12.
  16. Aryanpur, Arianne (July 8, 2004). "Warped View of Better World". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  17. "Charitable Music (On the Line)". The Progressive. June 2002.
  18. Schoen, Tim (April 15, 2015). "A Renaissance Man with Vision: An interview with Louis Posen, record label founder and retinitis pigmentosa patient". Foundation Fighting Blindness. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
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