Nic Fanciulli: How to run a record label in 2009

Nic Fanciulli: How to run a record label in 2009

13 May, 2009 | 2.22AM

• Written by: Industry Boy
• Filed under: Music News: nic fanciulli, nic fanciulli tour, saved records

Nic Fanciulli sits in a bar named Suite 701 in Montreal on a lazy Sunday. He sips on a beer, and admits he messed up.

“I took my eye off the ball a bit with the label and I’ve held my hands up so many times about it,” he says, hiding his hands under the table. “I got sidetracked with touring, and I got sidetracked with remixes and lots of other stuff that I wasn’t used to at the time...I was signing records by mistake, I was signing the wrong records, I was signing records and not putting them out for a year...there were so many faults that I did and I’ve learnt from the mistakes.”

That slippery period was two years ago. Since then, Nic Fanciulli’s Saved Records has become one of the most consistent labels hailing from the UK with a wealth of excellent house and techno artists releasing music through the label. Saved has become so successful that London’s newest superclub Matter offered Nic Fanciulli a bi-monthly residency.

Here in a lengthy audio interview, Nic Fanciulli talks about how to run a dance music record label in 2009, and how he saved Saved Records. Our chat discusses everything from online promotion, the A&R process, building a family of artists, digital versus physical, piracy, and brand identity.

How to run a label in 2009

Because the audio interview is 25 minutes long, I’ve broken down the main discussion points into easy-to-digest tips. Hopefully both existing labels and artists who are considering setting up their own imprint find these pointers helpful.

1. One good reason for launching your own record label is for the release of your own music. However, you should only do this once you’ve established that there is a demand for your music in the first place. Nic Fanciulli along with his recording partner Andy Chatterley, released many successful tracks under their The Buick Project moniker before they launched Saved Records.

2. Another good reason for launching your own label is to retain control. When you run a label, you get to decide which artists will do remixes and when to release tracks.

3. The main intial business plan of a record label should be to break even. Don’t launch one, thinking you’re going to make loads of money. By setting yourself the goal of breaking even, you’ll learn to keep costs low and the pressure to break even should hopefully lead to you releasing only quality music that is in demand.

4. Only launch a label if you’re able to give it enough attention and time.  At the beginning Nic Fanciulli didn’t realise this, but now he’s realised what he’s capable of. He signs records and produces music for the label, and he has a small team who take care of everything else.

5. Don’t sign records and release them one year later. Music these days moves fast, and people don’t like to wait for a release they heard one year ago.

6. Have a direction. This can be a particular sound, or a particular style. The A&R process should always fit with your direction. Don’t just sign any good record, only sign music that 100% fits with your brand.

7. Create personal relationships with artists. Aim on building a family to retain quality. Nic has developed strong relationships with Joel Mull, Mark Broom, Matt Nordstrum, Steve Mac and Rolando (to name a few). Building relationships means keeping in contact, and finding out what they’re doing. If you do events, book them to play and aim on gaining mutual respect and cooperation. The best labels operate more like a family than a faceless business.

8. Plan six months ahead. If you’re a DJ or a label owner, you should aim to still be supporting a record when it is out.

9. Quality control is more important than ever in the digital era. Just because you can release as much music as you want, it does not mean you should. Saved Records releases one to two quality releases a month. Every single release was played by Nic in clubs, and given the necessary care and attention before its release. Ask yourself, does this record truly fit with my label’s vision and will it bring value to my imprint before you sign it.

9. Get physical? Only release music on vinyl if you think there is a demand for your music amongst vinyl DJs. If you can identify a solid market, than do it.

10. If you do do physical, be sure you have a strong brand identity and good artwork. If you’re a digital only label, that’s still no excuse for shoddy creative. Your art should compliment your label, communicate its direction, and be recognisable. The name of your label can be equally as important. Imagine your label’s name is the voice of your imprint. If your label could speak would it have a serious voice, or a fun voice? Is it enthusiastic, or aggressive? The artwork should mirror that voice.

11. Taking the label on the road is an excellent way of building an audience. Nic regularly tours with Saved Records, and uses it as a platform for supporting his artist friends. If you think your label has a big enough name, consider a club residency.

12. Don’t be afraid to bridge genres. Saved Records puts out both house and techno, and anything goes, so long as it fits with the brand ideals.

13. Confront the digital promotion challenge. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter - these are all possible tools for online promotion but it takes time, understanding and effort to manage and organise campaigns online. Consider hiring an intern or a digital PR firm to manage the online side of promoting your releases.

14. Consider not promoting a record until it’s available to purchase online. Hype in the digital era only leads to an increase in piracy and illegal downloading. Dance music consumers are generally willing to pay for a track, but they aren’t prepared to wait for it. Internet consumers want it now, so if it is still a few weeks until the release date, don’t promote it. And watch out for Myspace and other sites that allow you to upload tracks. Some DJs out there are so desperate for tracks that they’ll rip a badly compressed mp3 off Myspace and play it in a club, if they can’t purchase a legit copy somewhere. And that’s bad for everybody.

15. Consider a counter-offensive against mp3 blogs and piracy. You can employ a company like ripblock.com, who will actively help to remove illegal links for $73 or £50 per release.

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