What is Madcap Records?
A Modern Day "Brill Building"
Madcap Music Group is an independent record label and production firm in Northern California, founded by former major-label executive and producer Kelly Rutledge. Built on decades of industry experience, Madcap combines the craftsmanship of traditional artist development with a modern, independent approach to discovering, developing, and releasing music.
We believe great records start with great songs and in an industry increasingly driven by fake algorithms and fake music, Madcap remains committed to authentic story telling and recordings. Our singles-first release strategy allows us to move quickly while maintaining the same level of quality, and creative attention, that every artist deserves.
Madcap brings together label services, publishing administration, production coordination, and interim artist management for strategic career development under one "roof". Based in Nevada City, California we pair old school recording techniques with innovative technologies—such as including Sony 360 Reality Audio—to create music that stands the test of time while connecting with today’s audiences.
The Madcap behind it...
About the Founder of Madcap Music Group
Madcap was founded by Kelly Rutledge who is an experienced major-label A&R executive, producer, engineer, songwriter and entrepreneur. She began her career as a young studio engineer at The Village in Los Angeles, where she worked alongside some of the industry’s most respected producers and engineers.
Later she was brought into Virgin Records as an A&R, where she was mentored by Ron Fair (Christina Aguilera, The Black Eyed Peas)—both in the studio as a producer, and within the label as an executive—developing the "quality-first" philosophy that continues to define her work today. At Virgin, Rutledge helped develop emerging artists including Bastille and Grizfolk before joining Capitol Records where she played an early A&R role in the development of break out artist Maggie Rogers. In addition, she contributed to projects like Katy Perry and Cold War Kids and consulted as an A&R for Motown Records and APG/Atlantic.
Beyond the major-label system, Rutledge lived in London working as a songwriter and producer, while working within the creative community at Tileyard London and collaborating on international songwriting camps, like Eurovision. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience across major labels, recording studios, and the songwriter community, Rutledge founded Madcap Music Group to bring the depth of her knowledge into one place.
