Artist-First Manifesto

Leyenda Artist-First

by Matthew Denman

Leyenda Artist-First

by Matthew Denman

“Those who make the art must remain at the center of its story.” — me, always

I’ve been thinking about this line for a long time. It’s deceptively simple, but it’s the axis around which everything I do now turns.

If It Is Elemental was about why music matters — how it shapes us, connects us, and calls us into community — this is about how we build a world worthy of the people who make it.

The System We Inherited

For more than a century, the recording industry has shaped not only how music is shared but how artists are valued. Too often, those who create the work that moves the world are the last to benefit from it.

We know the stories. Prince wrote “slave” on his cheek to protest a contract that denied him ownership of his music. TLC sold tens of millions of albums and still filed for bankruptcy. Kesha fought to free herself from a deal that tied her to her alleged abuser. JoJo’s voice was silenced for nearly a decade. Even The Beatles and The Rolling Stones — artists who defined whole generations — spent decades trying to reclaim rights they had signed away.

These stories aren’t outliers. They’re the foundation on which the industry was built.

And classical music — the field we like to believe is somehow “above” all this — is often worse. Even artists at the pinnacle of their careers sign with so-called “prestige” or “vanity” labels that pay them nothing. Some even charge artists to make the recording, only to keep the rights and profit from the work.

This isn’t tradition. It’s exploitation, dressed up as prestige.

What “Artist-First” Means

Artist-First is not a slogan. It’s a structural reimagining of how music is created, shared, and valued.

It begins with a principle I believe down to my bones: artists must remain at the center of their own stories. They are not products to be packaged. They are partners with agency.

That means contracts built around transparency and fairness. It means creative control, rights, and revenue flowing toward the people who give music life. It means dismantling a system that treats ownership as a privilege to be granted rather than an inherent right of creation.

The future of music belongs not to those who control it — but to those who create it.

A New Era Begins: Música

Enter Sergio Monteiro, a brilliant Brazilian pianist with more than 20 million streams online — a reach that would translate to $60,000 to $90,000 even by Spotify’s modest payouts.

Sergio is the first artist to record with the Leyenda Foundation’s Artist-First label, and his new album, Música, marks the start of a different kind of future — one defined not by gatekeepers, but by creators.

The album is a vibrant, deeply personal journey: a conversation across continents and centuries. It pairs rarely heard gems from Brazilian masters with works by Brahms, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Scarlatti — a rich, human tapestry of sound and story.

The Way Music Looks Matters Too

I believe the way music is presented is part of its meaning. That’s why we knew from the start that the Artist-First label needed a visual language equal to its mission.

We found that voice in Jack Fowler, an Oklahoma City-based painter whose work is rooted in storytelling, identity, and a profound sense of place.

Born in Ada and raised in eastern Oklahoma, Jack has been a journalist, schoolteacher, cowboy, and musician. Since 2011, he has exhibited his paintings from Arizona to Uganda — portraits, public art, custom sneakers, contemporary western landscapes — all with a signature quality: the ability to distill humanity, history, and cultural memory into bold visual form.

One of his most striking projects projected Woody Guthrie’s image onto the Oklahoma State Capitol — a poetic, provocative act that challenged power and sparked public conversation. (Read more here.)

Jack’s work doesn’t decorate. It speaks. It engages. It expands the conversation.

That’s the energy we want Artist-First to carry into the world.

The Art of Sound: A Collaboration with Ken Rosfeld

This project has also been an opportunity to partner with my longtime friend and collaborator, Ken Rosfeld — a master audio engineer whose life’s work has been devoted to the craft of capturing sound at its most authentic.

Ken grew up immersed in music. Both of his parents were college music professors, and from an early age he was fascinated not just by the notes themselves but by the technology behind them. By the time most kids were still figuring out cassette players, Ken was already experimenting with recording gear, exploring hi-fi stereo systems, and learning how sound could be shaped, refined, and elevated.

After interning at a local studio, a stroke of luck — and preparation — launched his career: when an engineer failed to show up for a session, Ken stepped in, successfully ran the recording, and quickly moved into professional work. Those early years were steeped in analog: 24-track tape machines, razor-blade edits, and the physical craft of sound engineering. It was demanding, competitive work — especially in a city like Oklahoma City, where major studios were few and coveted — but Ken’s passion and technical expertise earned him a place behind the console.

Eventually, he co-founded his own recording business, weathering the tough early years and building a reputation for sonic excellence. Along the way, he engineered projects for artists ranging from Toby Keith to Tris Imboden of Chicago, honing a versatility that has become one of his defining traits. He also followed an unexpected calling into education, designing a comprehensive music production program and state-of-the-art recording facility from the ground up — a leap he describes as “a call from God” that fundamentally shaped the next chapter of his career.

“Be as versatile as possible,” Ken advises young engineers. “Curiosity is everything — learn how things work, even beyond music. History, art, science — they all feed back into the music you help create.”

Working with Ken on the Música project has been a reminder that recording is its own form of artistry — one that requires not only technical skill but empathy, patience, and imagination. His ear and insight have helped shape the sound of this record in ways that mirror the values of Artist-First itself: deep respect for the artist, a commitment to excellence, and a belief that music deserves to be heard in its most honest and beautiful form.

Looking Forward

This is where the story begins — with a world-class artist, a bold new vision, and a shared belief that music’s future must belong to the people who make it.

If It Is Elemental was about why music matters, this is about how we make it matter more — how we design systems worthy of the art, the labor, the humanity behind it.

The next chapters of this story will not be written by corporations. They will be written by communities. By collaboration. By artists.

Author’s Note

by Matthew Denman

This essay is more than a statement of principle — it’s a reflection of the world I hope to help build. I’ve watched brilliant musicians pour their hearts into work that changes lives, only to be diminished by systems that fail to honor them. Artist-First is my answer to that imbalance — a philosophy shaped by decades as a performer, educator, and advocate.

The way we treat artists is a measure of who we are as a culture. And for me, that conviction is what led to the creation of the Leyenda Foundation — an organization designed to champion artists, amplify their voices, and build a future where creativity and dignity are inseparable.

This is not just a label initiative. It’s the heartbeat of everything we do.

👉 www.leyendafoundation.com

📧 matthew@leyendafoundation.com

📞 (405) 535-7940