BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:

Todd Simon leads a lifestyle that would drive the average musician mad with envy. The Van Nuys resident belongs to two bands — one funk, one reggae — that both have albums scheduled for release this winter.

He produces his own music without corporate suits ordering him around. On the side, he works as an arranger, producer, trumpeter and recording engineer for some of his best friends.

A resume like that usually fits two kinds of people: a billionaire rock star who calls the shots in the industry, or an independent artist who sells his music online between meals of Ramen noodles.

Simon, though, fits neither description. He’s one of the hundreds of musicians who record for Costa Mesa’s Ubiquity Records, a Westside-headquartered label that gives artists exposure — however limited — without grinding them through the excesses of the corporate rock world.

“It seems like the records that have worked out really well with other artists are when the artist has a lot of say on where it’s going,” said Simon, who has also played trumpet with Macy Gray, the Black Eyed Peas and other major-label stars. “In every project I’ve had with the [Ubiquity] label, I’ve never been told how to do something.”

Ubiquity Records is tough to spot on the street — its headquarters at the far end of West 17th Street blend into a nondescript row of industrial buildings — but in its own quiet way, the label has thrived since founders Michael and Jody McFadin started it in the Bay Area in the early 1990s.

The couple, who have since relocated to Orange County, started as record shop owners in San Francisco’s Lower Haight neighborhood and launched a label to support independent artists and rerelease obscure funk and soul records from the 1960s and 1970s.

“We were on such a budget that we would order the records without jackets, and I would drive 30 miles on an as-needed basis and buy generic jackets each time we made a sale,” Michael McFadin said. “Luckily, after a year of struggling, we got hot and developed a reputation for having good musical taste and delivering quality products, and it’s been mostly uphill since.”

Ubiquity now maintains clients from around the world and produces CDs, vinyl and clothing accessories. The latter has grown more vital in recent years as online trading continues to drive down record sales, but for artists, Ubiquity still offers a foot in the door. According to Publicity and Promotions Director Andrew Meza, the label has had songs played on the BBC, on college and Internet radio stations, on movie soundtracks and even on one episode of “Grey’s Anatomy.”

“We kind of make our own little path and it’s been working for us this long, so we believe we’re doing the right thing,” Meza said.

Founders: Michael and Jody McFadin

Specialty: Recording and distributing music by independent artists

Address: 1010 W. 17th St., Costa Mesa

Contact: (949) 764-9012

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.