For the last 20 years I’ve provided strategic marketing consultancy for some of the world’s biggest brands including evian, Nivea and Vodafone. When I set up Major Labl my aim was to bring proven advertising best practice and marketing theory from the brand world to the band world.

​​Alongside brand consultancy, I also have over 10 years experience as an artist manager and new music champion. My work with The Daydream Club was recognised with a nomination for Best Digital Campaign at The Music Ally Awards (the only unsigned artist to be nominated). The band now have over 100m Spotify Streams as an independent artist.

In 2010 I founded Right Chord Music (a top 10 ranked indie music blog) and The Lost On Radio Podcast which has attracted listeners from over 150 countries.

In 2016, I set myself an audacious challenge to find and break an unsigned band in just 10 weeks without using radio or press. The project took me to the main stage in Cannes. The band ‘Broken Witt Rebels’ are now signed to Universal Music.

​In 2020 I launched The Takeover, a summer online music festival and winter online music conference specifically for unsigned and DIY musicians. In its first year the festival attracted 600,000 viewers and we had Badly Drawn Boy headline.

​Over past 10 years, I’ve lectured on music marketing at MIDEM, Off The Record and Liverpool Sound City, written for The Guardian, Unsigned Guide, Reverbnation, Music Think Tank and judged the Music Week Awards.

​These experiences have shaped the services Major Labl provide.

Using Best Practice Principles From Brand Marketing To Help Promote Independent Musicians

After 10 years spent managing and working with independent artists, we’ve concluded the traditional model (radio, press and live) of music promotion designed for major label artists in the 80s does not work for unsigned / independent artists in the 00’s.

​Provocations

Radio spot plays don’t deliver the reach or frequency required to build fame or a fanbase
Press appears on niche, unread blogs with poor SEO optimization
Live has limited ability to reach new listeners and convert them into fans at scale

In response we created a new approach specifically for independent artists:

We start with the channels you can control. (social media and websites) Not the channels you can’t control. (radio & press).

We borrow from advertising best practices to reach, engage, convert and retarget the audiences most into your music. We create thumb stopping social content and advertising campaigns to drive your play and follower count.

We positively impact the five key metrics required to convert listeners into fans

Engagement rate
Play count
Repeat listener rate
Save rate
Follower rate