Bar/None Records’ Glenn Morrow Transfers Label’s Ownership to Emmy Black

Bar/None Records’ Glenn Morrow is passing the torch to employee Emmy Black, who will become the label’s new owner. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Morrow will stay on as a consultant and retain a financial interest in Bar/None.

Black, who began her music industry career as an intern for Bar/None in 2008, has signed artists including The Front Bottoms to the label.

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“Bar/None has always been a special place,” Black said in a statement. “It’s been a home for artists who have unique visions and want to make one-of-a-kind music. It’s a label that bucked trends and found so many great songs along the way. As a teenager I listened to many Bar/None artists. I’m excited to have the opportunity to shape the label that shaped me.”

While Black began her career at Bar/None, she also worked at The Orchard and royalty accounting platform eddy.app. She also ran her own imprint, Rhyme & Reason, before returning to Bar/None in 2024, where she did everything from back-office work to frontline A&R in the three-person operation, according to the announcement. Going forward, Bar/None label manager Mike Sansevere will help her oversee its operation.

Last year, Bar/None lost a key member of the team when CEO Mark Lipsitz passed away.

“After 40 years in this business, it feels good to hand things off to someone who really gets it,” Morrow said in a statement. “Emmy’s got the ears, the instincts, and most importantly, the heart for this work. Her enthusiasm was always infectious and inspiring and I’m so happy she wants to take this on.”

Under Morrow’s leadership, Bar/None has issued hundreds of albums from artists including They Might Be Giants, Freedy Johnston, Alex Chilton, the Feelies, Ivy and Yo La Tengo, as well as solo outings from Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield. The label also brought Esquivel to the attention of modern music fans when it issued a compilation album of his music from the 1950s and 1960s under the name Space Age Bachelor Pad Music in 1994. It also issued the Langley Schools Music Project album Innocence and Despair, which some say inspired the 2003 film School of Rock.

Along with record store Pier Platters and the sorely missed rock club Maxwell’s, Bar/None helped turn Hoboken, N.J., into a rock music mecca — or, as the announcement of the label’s ownership transfer puts it, “Hoboken had a sound all its own — jangly guitars, clever lyrics, and more heart than hype.”

Looking ahead, upcoming releases from Bar/None include albums from Emperor X, former Sonic Youth band member Bob Bert and the first solo album from The Front Bottoms’ Brian Sella.

While Bar/None Records was initially founded by Tom Prendergast, co-owner of Pier Platters, in 1986, the first album it put out was by Morrow’s then-band Rage to Live. Morrow subsequently became Pendergast’s partner, and then the label’s sole owner. In keeping with tradition, one of the new regime’s first releases will be the third album from Morrow’s current band, Cry For Help, titled Our Final Album Vol. 1.