Toolshed is Dick Huey’s 22-year digital consultancy and advisory company. Dick moved to New York City in 1997 to work for independent label powerhouse the Beggars Group (XL Recordings, 4AD, Matador Records, Rough Trade), after signing several management clients to the label. He created and staffed the group’s digital media department as Beggar’s first Global Head of Digital in the early days of digital music, conceptualized and implemented the group’s strategic approach to digital music, and established digital licensing frameworks for its groundbreaking catalog of world-class independent music from artists like the Pixies, the Prodigy, The Cult, Cat Power, Guided By Voices, Pavement, Throwing Muses, Peter Murphy, and many others.

Huey launched Toolshed on a working farm in NY’s Hudson Valley in 2002, putting many miles on his car driving to late night shows in NYC. Toolshed was one of the first independent-label focused consultancies to offer label and artist digital marketing, direct music service licensing, and download hosting service in a complete package. Toolshed created groundbreaking digital campaigns for over 350 ground-breaking artists and record labels including Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, Aimee Mann, Matador Records, Beggars Group, The Orchard, Touch and Go, PIAS, Righteous Babe, Merge Records and many, many others.

In 2010 Toolshed expanded into music rights acquisition and digital engagement tactics for consumer brands, media, tech, sports, and entertainment companies. Spotify contracted with Huey to lead its US independent label licensing efforts prior to and during Spotify’s US launch in 2011. Red Bull Music Radio, SoundExchange, 8tracks, Digital Rights Agency, Red Mountain Ski Resort (British Columbia, Canada), Jaxsta (Sydney, Australia), and Tunecore are all past clients or advisory relationships.

Huey is currently a Business Development Consultant to Blurb, which scales content creation for music companies, AIMS API, a market-leading artificial intelligence music search platform, as well as to Entertainment Intelligence, a highly regarded music analytics and sales analysis platform for direct-license content owners. He is a digital music license consultant to the artist-owned independent record label Merge Records, an advisor to African DMS Josplay (launch 2024), an advisor to Australian personal social media monetization platform OkTY, and the sound design collective Visual Aid run by artist Sanders Bohlke.