Our Story:
Porto Franco (a free port) is a record label based in the Mission District of San Francisco. It was founded by a father and son team to support the vibrant and eclectic music scene of the Mission by producing, distributing and promoting records by local artists as well as musicians who pass through San Francisco. The label is modeled around the idea of a port - a place where music from around the world is imported to San Francisco, and the local music is exported to the world.

Porto Franco is an international term of Italian origin. It means free port - a zone of relaxed jurisdiction that is established around any big port with international trade. San Francisco, New Orleans, New York, Venice, St. Petersburg are free ports.

We first had the idea to start a label in December 2008, and we founded Porto Franco on January 20, 2009. We had a lot of friends in the San Francisco Mission district music scene, and we wanted to be able to help them create music, distribute it and ultimately make more of their living with music. We think that by gathering a lot of the musicians under our label, we'll be able to provide them much more publicity and much wider distribution than they would each get on their own. We are also looking to get involved in booking and tour support.

In the modern music world artists have many opportunities to produce and distribute their music independently, however a label can offer financial support and human resources to create larger promotion and distribution campaigns. We offer nonexclusive one-album contracts, high royalties and simple, transparent accounting. We pay for production and publicity expenses and we are looking for nontraditional ways of marketing music to reach wider audiences locally and nationally.

The music of the Mission district is incredibly eclectic. Modern rock, vintage blues, contemporary jazz and classical music can be heard at small dive bars, caf?and listening venues within a few blocks from each other. Many musicians participate in numerous projects of seemingly disparate styles. We are looking to export the feeling of a tight and diverse musical community to get audiences outside of San Francisco excited about the musical melting pot and the immense talent pool of San Francisco Bay Area.