DFTBA Records, commonly known as DFTBA.com, is an
e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...
merchandise company that was co-founded by
Hank Green
William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American vlogger, science communicator, entrepreneur, author, internet producer, and musician. He is known for producing the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green ...
and Alan Lastufka in 2008.
Originally a record label, the company now focuses on selling merchandise for prominent
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
content creators, such as Green himself, his brother the novelist
John Green
John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including '' The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is ...
,
Charlie McDonnell
Charlie McDonnell (born 1 October 1990) is a British filmmaker, screenwriter, musician, former vlogger, author and Twitch streamer from Bath, Somerset. On 15 June 2011, her YouTube channel charlieissocoollike became the first in the UK to r ...
,
CGP Grey
CGP Grey is an American-Irish educational YouTuber, podcaster, and live streamer who creates short explanatory videos on subjects including politics, geography, economics, sociology, history, and culture. In addition to video production, Gre ...
,
Kurzgesagt
Kurzgesagt (; German for "In a nutshell" or "in a few words") is a German-made animation and design studio founded by Philipp Dettmer. The studio's YouTube channel focuses on minimalist animated educational content, using the flat and 3D desig ...
, and
Charles Trippy
Charles Paul Trippy III (born September 2, 1984) is an American musician, vlogger and internet personality based in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is a member of Bradenton-based rock band We the Kings. Trippy recorded his first album with We the ...
, among several others. DFTBA is an initialism for "don't forget to be awesome", a catchphrase of the Green brothers.
Name
The name of the company originates from the
initialism "Don't Forget to Be Awesome". The initialism is generally seen as the motto for the
VlogBrothers
Vlogbrothers (sometimes stylized as VlogBrothers or vlogbrothers) is a video blog channel on YouTube. The Internet-based show is created and hosted by the Green brothers: John Green and Hank Green. The first incarnation of the brothers' online ...
(consisting of Green, and his brother,
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
), as well as their fan base, known as
Nerdfighteria
Nerdfighteria is a mainly online-based community subculture that originated on YouTube in 2007, when the VlogBrothers (John and Hank Green) rose to prominence in the YouTube community. As their popularity grew, so did coverage on Nerdfighteria, w ...
. The original goal of the record label, as Lastufka stated in a video on the subject, is to provide a distribution network for talented artists of YouTube and to make sure their music reaches out to the "largest audience possible."
History
![Hank Green](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Hank_Green.jpg)
The offices of DFTBA Records were in
Manhattan, Illinois
Manhattan is a village in Will County, Illinois. The population was 9,385 at the time of the 2020 census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population to be 10,037 . The community is located in northeastern Illinois approximately 50 miles (80&nb ...
, until early 2013 when they were relocated to Green's current residence,
Missoula, Montana
Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork ...
. In Illinois, the company had operated out of Lastufka's home. Upon moving to Missoula, they set up their warehouse in a small building that was formerly a preschool, but soon moved to a larger warehouse. During this time, they increased their number of employees from five to ten, and started another webseries called The Warehouse, hosted by warehouse manager Matthew Gaydos. This channel no longer uploads content as Matthew Gaydos is now working on other YouTube channels. Distribution of records by DFTBA Records is largely independent; Lastufka himself generally oversaw most of the distribution during his tenure as co-owner. On June 18, 2014, Lustufka announced his decision to sell his stake in the record label, and resigned as president, to pursue other projects. In April 2015, DFTBA Records was officially issued a business license in the city of Missoula.
In March 2014, several artists signed under DFTBA Records, including
Alex Day
Alex Richard George Day (born 8 April 1989) is an English musician, vlogger and writer. Day has released seven studio albums, two EPs, and had three UK Top 40 hits.Holiday, RyanYouTube and Chart Sensation Alex Day the Future of Music? ''Forbes ...
and Tom Milsom, were involved in sexual abuse accusations. Following the breaking of this news, all artists that had been accused of having sexual encounters with their fans, or of being perpetrators of sexual abuse were dropped from the label. Lastufka also made a $1000 donation to the
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is an American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, as well as the Department of Defense Safe Helpline ...
.
Both Hank and John Green made public announcements on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
and
Tumblr
Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
regarding the situation.
Around the same time, a former DFTBA Record-signed artist, Michael Lombardo was sentenced to five years in prison due to pleading guilty on eleven counts of child pornography charges. Lombardo's ex-girlfriend, Hayley G. Hoover, who is also signed under DFTBA Records, spoke out against him.
Merchandise
![Craig Benzine (7485833168)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Craig_Benzine_%287485833168%29.jpg)
DFTBA Records was originally founded as a music record label. However, the company now primarily sells merchandise, ranging from T-shirts to buttons.
Artists signed to DFTBA Records are not exclusively musical artists. For example, official ''
The Fault in Our Stars
''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar'', in which the noble ...
'' merchandise was sold on the website, including a limited-edition box set including an
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
version of the novel. Additionally, the artists responsible for the designs on merchandise, such as apparel or accessories, will receive royalties for their contributions.
Artists signed under the label have seen their shares of success, as well as unforeseen growth due to signing with the label, such as
Craig Benzine
Craig Gene Benzine (born October 5, 1980) is an American video producer, musician, and vlogger better known by his YouTube channel name of WheezyWaiter. On July 15, 2020, his channel hit 1 million subscribers and has over 155 million total vide ...
and his band,
Driftless Pony Club.
In 2009, speaking about the artists signed under the label, Lastufka stated, "A lot of
ur artistsare very nichey."
[ Within two years, the record label was able to garner over $1 million in total sales, including music and merchandise.]
References
External links
DFTBA Records Official Website
{{Authority control
American record labels
DFTBA Records creators
Green brothers
Record labels established in 2008
Record labels based in Montana
American companies established in 2008