New DistroKid President is a Former Christian Rapper!

 

By Darius Mullin

DistroKid, the popular music distribution service, is undergoing a major leadership change. And the new leadership is an old friend of CHH.

The company was founded in 2013 by Philip J. Kaplan. Since then, it’s grown to be a staple of the independent music ecosystem. DistroKid claims to be “the easiest way” for music artists to get their work on digital streaming platforms, and has amassed more than two million users. 

It was announced on January 11th that Philip Kaplan would be stepping away from DistroKid’s CEO role, becoming Chairman instead. Filling in at the highest level of leadership is Phil Bauer, who has been promoted to President of the company after serving as its COO since 2018. 

Bauer is, of course, no stranger to the music industry. What may be surprising, though, is his involvement in the Christian rap scene. 

Years ago, Phil Bauer was a rapper by the name of Ethic and was heavily involved in the underground hip-hop scene of the Pacific Northwest. He was part of a hip-hop act known as The Unimportant Ones—a trio that landed a spot on the first installment of Syntax Records’ acclaimed Night Owls compilation series. The other members of that trio? Braille (later of Lightheaded and Beautiful Eulogy) and Illtripp (later of Deepspace5 and Labklik). Ethic would go on to be part of the Portland-based underground hip-hop collective Sandpeople, as well as the lyrics half of the hip-hop duo Debased, before working for DistroKid. 

And Bauer isn’t the first high-level music exec to have roots in Christian Hip-Hop! Ace Harris, A&R at Reach Records, is also a Board Member of the Music Business Association and a producer who has worked with the likes of Lil Wayne and Meek Mill.

Ritz McCain worked at Reach Records for years before moving on to Sony and Spotify (plus she’s married to Canon). Tim Trudeau was a producer for the late 90s/early 00s CHH group Sackcloth Fashion and co-founder of the aforementioned Syntax Records label (which housed many early-2000s Christian Rap acts) before settling in as CEO of Syntax Creative and becoming a Committee Member for the Gospel Music Association and another Board Member of the Music Business Association.