Mystery Class Records is a DIY record label made up of a few friends who have a passion for music, creation and connection. They provide a variety of services to the Oklahoma music community, including HIFI in-house cassette duplication, graphic design, videography, marketing services, record deals, vinyl orders and physical media distribution. Their mission is to provide resources and assistance to artists in their community so that they can fulfill their unique and creative visions.
Can you tell us how and why you started your business?
Mystery Class Records started as a music collective in 2018. Our goal was to record and release music as a group of friends and be able to upload that music to streaming without breaking the bank. It was cheaper for us to just create a label and all contribute financially rather than using something like DistroKid and all have to pay more.
Between 2018 and 2024 we continued to release within our group of friends as a collective, but began to gear up to provide more services to the Oklahoma music community. With the release of the freshman album “Of Course I Will” by Cryhard, we were able to learn the ins and outs of doing a whole rollout for a release. From social media advertising to album release shows, we saw a good amount of success for this release and believed we could use these skills to highlight the massive amount of underrated talent within Oklahoma. We would always see Oklahoma bands sign with labels out of state and wonder why there couldn’t be a local option for the amazing artists in our state to work with people within their own community. These two things are what pushed us to open up our services to the public.
In January of 2025 we publicly announced ourselves to the Oklahoma community and have already been able to do a handful of great releases, with more on the way!
What services do you provide within the music industry?
We are a full service record label. We provide a variety of services, including HIFI in-house cassette duplication, graphic design, videography, marketing services, PR, record deals, vinyl orders and physical media distribution. We’re constantly researching new services that we can provide to our artists to make sure their music is heard everywhere around the state and hopefully the country.
How has your company grown to meet the needs of Oklahoma’s music industry over the last 3-5 years?
We’re a very young company that has only just begun its public-facing journey, however we’ve already been able to sign a handful of Oklahoma artists with releases planned for the next year. We also released a compilation album to highlight Oklahoma artists called “Side Quests Vol. 1.” We sold out of 50 cassette tapes comprised of ten unique songs. The hope was to bring a platform to underground and upcoming artists in our community. We’re already working on “Side Quests Vol. 2,” which we hope will be bigger and better!
What are the benefits of basing your company’s operations in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma is a very cheap state to operate out of and we have a surprisingly active music scene for being a smaller state. With all the music venues popping up in our state, it’s helped our scene to grow immensely. These venues do a great job in creating a community by bringing in awesome touring bands and locals to play. Without the excellent music community here in Oklahoma, I don’t think Mystery Class could exist in the way that our team knows is possible!
What would you consider your business’s greatest accomplishment to date?
Definitely the release of “Side Quests Vol. 1.” It was a great way to begin our public-facing phase of Mystery Class and make a splash in the music community here in Oklahoma. That alongside our branding is what I believe has already solidified us as a part of the local scene. I believe people want to be associated with something that looks “official” and in my opinion we’ve pulled that off! We’ve been able to create a brand that people want to be associated with, and then back up our cool look by being personable and community driven.
Are there any recent successes your company would like to highlight related to work within the Oklahoma music industry?
On July 25 we were able to release our first EP as a public-facing label with “Settle Pain” by powdr. We’re super proud of this release and so stoked on the music that these guys make. They’re vets of the scene and it shows.
What are you working on now/next?
Our big focus is “Side Quests Vol. 2,” which we’ll be announcing in the winter of 2026. We’ve got ten artists contributing, some returning and some new. We’ve also got about five artists that we’re working with to prep releases for late 2025/early 2026. Some of these are currently in recording stages, with some happening at our Mystery Class Records home studio.
What is your goal/vision for the future of your company?
We want to always be a resource for and focus first on the Oklahoma music community. So we’ll always be plugged into what is happening here first, but we’d also like to branch out into regional and potentially national services as well. That’s far down the road but it’d be really cool to see bands from all over the country being affiliated with Oklahoma. There are so many labels that take advantage of their artists as well and we hope that we can be a label that provides great services and treats all their artists fairly! Hopefully in the near future we’re able to build out our own dedicated studio and have a storefront where we can host shows. That’d be really cool
What advice do you have for others who are considering starting a music business in Oklahoma?
It seems daunting and it might not be the most lucrative business, but I’ve had more fun working on Mystery Class than I have in a long time. It’s so fulfilling to be a part of an awesome community of really cool and down to earth people. If you have a talent or a service that you can provide for others, consider doing that at a reduced rate or for free. If you can do something of value for someone else without expecting things in return, they’ll respect you and see you as an asset to the scene. You don’t need to burn yourself out or do this to your detriment, but I’ve found a lot of success doing this and I’ve been able to make some friends that I know will be lifelong as well.
What opportunities do you believe await Oklahoma’s music industry in the future?
Each featured individual or business is given the provided questions to answer in their own voice. Other than formatting and grammar, the answers are personal to each featured voice, and are not provided by the Oklahoma Film + Music Office.
