Two of the music industry’s most reliable hitmakers are coming together for a new label as Theron Thomas and Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman are launching Haven Houzin House, the two reveal exclusively with The Hollywood Reporter.
Thomas and Gitelman started discussing plans for a label venture together about a year ago while collaborating on a project for an artist they’re currently looking to sign (they can’t disclose who the artist is yet), and their process with the artist helped them realize they had an opportunity for something bigger.
“We saw that there’s a gap in the music industry,” Gitelman says. “What we’re missing is more artists that could last and stay. And part of that is because the modern music business is lacking songs. The marketing is there before the actual songs are. Working this project, Theron and I got together and kind of said ‘we have a power.’ We can market songs, but we can bring them too.”
At the launch, Haven Houzin House is launching with upcoming acts Tiger Lewis and Sekou on its roster. Thomas says they’re “entertaining options” with record labels across the major label system for a partnership, but that for now “we’re doing as much as we can on our own.”
Gitelman and Thomas are two of the most respected writer-producers in the music industry. Gitelman is known for his production work with the likes of Jessie Murph, Hozier and H.E.R. among others, and he received a Grammy nomination in 2024 for record of the year as a producer on Victoria Monet’s breakout hit “On My Mama.” Thomas, meanwhile, won the Grammy for songwriter of the year back in 2024, and his songwriting credits include Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” Rosé and Bruno Mars’s “APT,” Iaz’s “Replay” and Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop.”
The duo describe Haven Houzin House as “going back to an older model” in the industry focused more around artist and record development. Gitelman says he and Thomas will be active at every step from writing and recording songs with the acts they sign, to marketing the records as well.
“We want to go back to where it was ok for artists to take outside songs, it didn’t have to be ‘I wrote and produced this myself,” Gitelman says. “When Sinatra sings ‘it was a very good year,’ does it matter who wrote it? It’s gotten to a place where so-called authenticity is so valued, it’s diluting the product. Theron and I can offer this creative service and help artists find their identity. It’s not just us about us giving them a record, it’s about setting them up to win in the long term.”
As Thomas adds: “Our motto is may the best song win. We want to create a place where great songwriters, great producers and great artists have a voice. It won’t be every song is written by me. Every song won’t have to start with Jeff. That’s unrealistic. We just want to focus on following what is going to make for the best music.”
Gitelman and Thomas say they have a couple people on their staff and are working with managers, though their team is small. They didn’t give a specific number of how many artists they’d like to bring onto their roster, but they don’t seem to think they need to give themselves any hard limitations.
“We don’t want to sound arrogant, but we’re really fast,” Thomas says. “We’re making full projects, 21, 24 songs. And we can do it in less time than most people, we know it’s fast paced.”
Still, as Thomas says the main focus is development, reiterating that they started the label because they feel it’s been deprioritized by the labels for too long.
“Artists write with 78 producers and writers on an album, we don’t think that’s a good way to do it,” Thomas says. “No artist development, no one taking their time. I go to Korea and work on K-Pop songs and see the way they do it, it takes at least five years before they release an act. And we want to operate like that. We’re willing to take a year or two years before we drop your first single. And when we show the world who you are, you’ll be ready and there isn’t a mistake.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.hollywoodreporter.com ’
