DFTBA Records: founding of Hank and Alan's label for YouTube musicians (2008)
project history · status: running · last event: milestone (2023-12-01)
Hank and Alan Lastufka founded DFTBA Records in November 2008 so YouTube musicians, and later other creators, could earn from what they made. It grew into a merchandise and shipping company that Hank says had over 50 full-time staff by its fifteenth year.
Parts: DFTBA posters: Nerdfighter-designed posters sold at DFTBA.com (2011) · Hank asks viewers to check out DFTBA.com's Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals (2012) · New DFTBA.com merch store launched (2014) · Hank asks viewers to shop DFTBA.com's Black Friday weekend sale (2018)
Told alongside: Hank's album So Jokes: release (2008) · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: announcement and publication of Hank's first novel (2017) · LeakyCon 2009 edition · Awesome Socks Club: monthly sock subscription (2016)
About: DFTBA Records, Alan Lastufka
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-11-24 | launched | Hank announces that he and Alan are starting a record label, DFTBA Records, to help YouTube musicians produce and distribute music, with its first artists signed. | DFTBA Records 00:00:53 |
| 2009-01-07 | milestone | Alan, Hank's DFTBA partner who made this video's intro, and a special guest will work all day at the DFTBA distribution center so pre-orders ship; the first hundred get signed CDs. | Hank Green: Behind the Music 00:01:47 |
| 2009-05-20 | milestone | Asked about DFTBA Records, Hank says it is doing very well and has just released Dave Days' first album, available from DFTBA. | Ulcerative Colitis: A Song 00:02:20 |
| 2009-06-01 | milestone | Hank asks interested viewers to join the DFTBA Records street team. | DFTBA Street Team In Your Pants 00:00:44 |
| 2009-09-29 (said on 2009-09-30, implied) | milestone | DFTBA Records videos hold the YouTube front page, with new artists Rhett and Link and Alex Day's album release. | DFTBA TAKEOVER!!! 00:00:00 |
| 2010-05-17 | looked back | Hank notes YouTube's community timeline features his and Alan's video announcing DFTBA Records. | My YouTube Story is Short 00:00:56 |
| 2011-01-05 | milestone | Hank announces DFTBA Records has just launched a new version of its website. | Homeless Man with a Golden Voice Gets a Job 00:03:43 |
| 2011-08-05 | milestone | John says Hank and Alan brought Meghan Tonjes to DFTBA Records before she was on Ellen and famous, and her first album is now coming out. | Vidcon: Thoughts from Places 00:00:32 |
| 2011-11-28 | milestone | Marking DFTBA Records' third anniversary, Hank recalls deciding with Alan to found it so YouTube creators could make a living without selling pieces of their soul. | Stuffed with STUFF! 00:01:57 |
| 2012-09-25 | looked back | John recalls that Hank and Alan Lastufka started DFTBA Records in 2008 to give YouTube musicians most of the album proceeds, which worked really well. | Do Businesses Need to Suck? 00:00:29 |
| 2012-11-23 | milestone | Hank says it is DFTBA's fourth anniversary of being a company, celebrated with $4 shipping within the US this weekend. | Black Friday: An Accident of History 00:02:08 |
| 2013-02-19 | milestone | John reports DFTBA Records has taken over an abandoned nursery school in Missoula and is bigger than ever. | Doing Things, On the Importance of 00:01:39 |
| 2016-08-03 | looked back | Hank says the support from people buying his Terminus CDs led directly to him creating DFTBA Records with Alan Lastufka. | Lives Made of Love - Esther Day 2016 00:01:05 |
| 2018-11-23 | milestone | Through Black Friday weekend DFTBA.com celebrates ten years as a company with free shipping on every order of $50 and over. | Four Jokes from a Two year Old 00:02:39 |
| 2019-02-22 | looked back | Hank describes one of his favorite businesses, a shipping company making products for creators to sell to their communities, started with Alan in 2008 and now run with Dave; it helps creators grow or go full time. | I Don't Want The Same Things Anymore 00:01:27 |
| 2023-12-01 | looked back | Hank says people being willing and excited to buy things he made was new to him, and it led directly to founding DFTBA Records with his friend Alan. | It's OK if you think less of me after this! 00:01:08 |
| 2023-12-01 | milestone | Hank thinks over 50 people now work full-time for DFTBA, which is 15 years old and has become quite big. (hedged) | It's OK if you think less of me after this! 00:01:08 |
Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).
What is said about it
18 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2008-11-24 · DFTBA Records — Hank says the label, called DFTBA Records, exists to give YouTube-related musicians a way to produce and distribute their music. — 00:01:22
- 2008-11-24 · DFTBA Records — announcement: Hank says the label signed him first and has also signed CharlieIsSoCoolLike, Chameleon Circuit (a band singing only about Doctor Who) and Dave Days; it is working on an album by a musician he admires. — 00:01:22
- 2008-11-24 · DFTBA Records — Hank says the label plans to make life as a YouTube musician easier, more fun and more lucrative, and connect these musicians with a bigger audience. — 00:02:04
- 2008-11-24 · DFTBA Records — ask: Hank tells viewers to go to DFTBA.com for more and to sign up for the newsletter to hear about new things. — 00:02:04
- 2008-11-24 · DFTBA Records — announcement: Hank says the label has a YouTube channel with planned song tutorials, music videos and a weekly podcast about DFTBA Records and its artists. — 00:02:34
- 2009-01-07 · Hank Green: Behind the Music — announcement: Hank: On the stream Hank will play music and talk about the album, Song Wednesdays, the future of Brotherhood 2.0 and DFTBA Records, starting around 5 pm Eastern. (hedged) — 00:02:31
- 2009-05-20 · Ulcerative Colitis: A Song — announcement: Hank says the weekly Wednesday DFTBA Radio Hour will begin soon, with a link in the sidebar. — 00:02:50
- 2009-06-01 · DFTBA Street Team In Your Pants — announcement: Hank: Whoever collects the most addresses wins an iPod Shuffle inscribed 'DFTBA Records', preloaded with five DFTBA releases including So Jokes, the DFTBA compilation and Chameleon Circuit's new album. — 00:00:44
- 2009-09-29 (said on 2009-09-30, implied) · DFTBA TAKEOVER!!! — announcement: Hank says DFTBA Records is on the front page of YouTube as he makes the video: 'we own the front page of YouTube'. (playful) — 00:00:00
- 2009-09-29 (said on 2009-09-30, implied) · DFTBA TAKEOVER!!! — announcement: Hank says Rhett and Link are new DFTBA artists; their front-page video 'Live on the Internet' features Shiba Inu puppies and Snoop Dogg. — 00:00:00
- 2010-05-17 · My YouTube Story is Short — Hank says one timeline video shows him and business partner Alan announcing DFTBA Records, the record company that represents only YouTube musicians. — 00:00:56
- 2011-08-05 · Vidcon: Thoughts from Places — John says Driftless Pony Club, another band Hank and Alan signed to DFTBA Records, played; after ten years as a band, thousands sang their lyrics back to them for the first time. — 00:01:51
- 2011-08-05 · Vidcon: Thoughts from Places — John says that through nerdfighting, DFTBA Records, helping YouTubers and planning conferences, Hank has built a career making places where people can fall and get caught: he builds communities for a living. — 00:02:20
- 2011-11-28 · Stuffed with STUFF! — Hank: DFTBA Records turns three; Hank recalls deciding with Alan to start it to make great products people love and let YouTube creators make a living without selling off pieces of their soul. — 00:01:57
- 2012-06-08 · How to be More Productive...With Hank! — Hank says he can be more productive because he has help: teams at VidCon, DFTBA Records, SciShow and Crash Course. — 00:02:35
- 2012-09-25 · Do Businesses Need to Suck? — John recounts that Hank and Alan Lastufka started DFTBA Records in 2008 to connect YouTube musicians with audiences while giving the musicians most of the album proceeds, which worked very well. — 00:00:29
- 2012-11-23 · Black Friday: An Accident of History — announcement: Hank: It is DFTBA's fourth anniversary as a company; to celebrate, all US shipping this weekend, starting tomorrow he thinks, is $4 whatever you buy. (hedged) — 00:02:08
- 2016-08-03 · Lives Made of Love - Esther Day 2016 — Hank says the support from people buying his stuff, and knowing it would help pay bills, led directly to him creating DFTBA Records with Alan Lastufka. — 00:01:05