Interview: Music Management & Talent Discovery with Songololo Music
Have you heard any music by Knower, ANIMA!, Jake Sherman, Pollyn or Usman Riaz? If so, you’re going to be pretty amped to to read the insight shared by their artist management company - Songololo Music.
Artist managers are constantly searching for talent. The passion and effort that goes in to the search is always made worth it when that one good find suddenly blows up. We reached out to Alliz from Songololo to find out about the process, the changes in industry and maybe one or two more cool things that you’re just going to have to read about below.
When did Songololo Music come to be, and why?
Songololo Music is an artist management company for new music ahead of the curve. I want to put artists out there that you will have never heard of before. All our artists are true to that. Give them a listen:
I founded it in 2014 after I finished my studies in Music Business Management at Berklee. While I was studying, I met some artists in the U.S. that I loved. We had a connection and jumped into management. My game was to develop them in the there, and then push them in the U.K./European market.
It’s definitely worth mentioning though, that for about 6 months after graduation, I was turned away from countless music industry jobs — the age of the CV was over. U.S. businesses preferred to hire a U.S. citizen over a Brit with a visa-cycle. I figured ‘oh well, too bad for them, I’m building this ship and sailing it, see you out there’.
How do you get the word out to find new artists to work with? And how has your approach changed over time?
I stay open and listen to what’s recommended to me. I discover music on the web of things, through the artists I work with, collaborations, friends, producers, anyone or anything and…*cough cough SubmitHub*.
This hasn’t changed. I’m always listening.
You’re in a pretty cool role as both a discoverer of new talent and a promoter of new music. On the topic of the latter, what are some of your most-effective techniques for exposing your acts, and what are some of your measures for “success”?
Thanks! It is lifetime job, and I love the artists I work with.
- Work with people who love the music too:
Save time, and work with people who love the music. Passion is everything, and you need that magic in genuine promotion. - Quality
Never skimp on quality; a solid production, mix, and master is a must for making the emotional connection that touches people. - Get the word out with new technology:
Promote on every music consumer platform, but also try push releases with new apps, tech or platforms. They can be great tools for new exposure. - Let artists take hold of their promotion and drive it with content:
Fans relate more to the artist’s actual content, ideas and aesthetic. KNOWER for example, groomed their aesthetic with YouTube. People who watch their wild videos also appreciate how DIY they are as independents and feel more connected to the fact that without the fans’ help, they wouldn’t be touring internationally, or even making more albums. So, the fans buy the music & support them however they can. How does that translate to selling music? Well, in 2016, KNOWER were the only artists on my roster who earned more from complete album sales than streaming. - Blogs and Indie music discovery platforms:
They will never die, because it’s driven by real people with real tastes and passion for new music. - Accept the market interest and mine it:
You could be surprised where something will take today, whether it’s that 1Mil Spotify playlist, sync for a film or demand for shows in a new territory. You have to respect it and there is always a reason or a person behind it. Try to understand why, and use it as an avenue for more development. - No compromise, don’t give up:
Over time, you’ll find your market. You’ll find and meet the people who really love the artists, they are the trends, data, and can inform your new opportunities to persue.
Measures for success?
The numbers are a part of it, sure, but really, it’s supporting an artist to make a living and make more, do more, and to help them explore a lot of avenues for their art and expression. If that’s a hit, syncs, international touring or other things, then great!
Measures of success?
Hmm, that depends how you define success. Today, attention is the currency, so I’m glad that each artist and their new music is growing and getting attention.
If you were to identify two trends in digital music distribution over the last 24 months, what would they be?
In the future, what we like and where we choose to go will be much more integrated with playlist algorithms to discover music. I know Spotify already have playlist curation for stores or brands, which maybe some music licensing companies should be worried about, but ultimately, brands are the ones with the saying-power and budget that a lot of independent artists can benefit from through new distribution and exposure (without major label support or need to splash on PR and Radio).
A cool example recently, is how a lot of fans, friends, and industry people say “hey, I walked into H&M and ANIMA!’s Moving Mountains started playing!”. They’ve been spotted in Tokyo, London, Warsaw, New York, LA and a lot of other places.
Sure, I’ve had the song licensed to a fashion curation team who love it, but what is interesting is that that kind of discovery means a fan will go one step further and Shazam the song to find out what it is because of a genuine discovery experience. It’s also a great environment to step away from what you’re prescribing yourself, and into a bigger aesthetic world with less preconceived ideas and move away from “listen to this hit” or “this is the top viral chart”. That act of discovery is what’s magic about music… I’m sure it’s a matter of time before artists can drop a special promotion in these stores. Think of it as a Pokemon Go for music.
The future: I think distribution could be driven more by exclusive releases in gaming, fashion shows, sports events, tech and brands.
Lastly, what were/are you listening to while responding to these questions?
Moving Mountains from ANIMA!’s new EP. — it’s done and there’s more to come real soooooon ;)
A really good Song Exploder’s interview with Sylvan Esso:
Caribou — Swim
Louis Cole — Weird Part of The Night — my anthem really.
Did you enjoy this interview? If so, check out our interview with Sodwee.
