A dance music record label which was started in a Black Isle man’s bedroom is now poised to become one of the biggest of its kind in the world.
Phil Macdonald had no idea what would unfold a few years ago when he began a weekly mix on a small, local radio station – playing to just 10 people live.
Now he has more than 30 artists signed to five record labels, and they are scoring millions of views online, while playing at events as far away as Estonia, Mexico and Australia.
Yesterday, it was confirmed that his Gearbox Digital label was the fourth highest selling in the “hardstyle” genre in 2016.
And Mr Macdonald predicted that next year would be “much bigger”.
The 30-year-old label manager, who is from Cromarty, said: “At no point did I ever anticipate that what I was doing would be anything more than a passion project.
“For years I had been running the label at a loss because I enjoyed what I was doing.
“I’ve always ran the label on a very personal basis, where trust and friendship are key, and that has proved to be paramount to our success.”
The digital label was created in March 2011, and its second release was played to millions of people on national radio.
It was named “Best Hard Dance Label” at the Hard Dance Music Awards in 2014, and there are now five different brands – Gearbox Digital, Gearbox Revolutions, Gearbox Euphoria, Ignition Digital and Gearbox HD.
It also boasts almost 20,000 fans on social media, more than 11,000 subscribers on Youtube, and has racked up more than 2million views online.
Mr Macdonald said: “The rapid growth has been extremely stressful to deal with while working a full time job as well.
“Luckily we have staff members and a lot of volunteers who I rely on in a big way. Without these guys, none of it would be possible.
“The way 2016 has gone is something I could never have anticipated, and the encouraging thing is that 2017 is already lining up to be a much bigger year for us.
“Taking the Gearbox events to countries like Australia, Germany, France and many other places seems to be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the events we are hoping to secure in the next few months.”
