Talk about best-laid plans. Grammy-winning songwriter-producer Dallas Austin was all set to formally relaunch his early ‘90s label Rowdy Records during this year’s SXSW festival in March.
Then the novel coronavirus outbreak took over center stage.“We were going to launch with four to five new acts,” Austin tells Billboard exclusively from his base in Atlanta. “Everything was geared up and ready to go from content and videos to memes.”But after speaking with industry friends working in streaming and other areas, Austin decided to push forward in the midst of the pandemic. “They said people are home.