“I bought a lot of
stuff from the label when I was a kid. I have a huge amount of love for it”
ANDY DANIELL, FFRR
explains. “We created a custom bit of TikTok audio and essentially made a 15-second version of the track.”
Recording at the Grammys. “Not only do FFRR excel in amplifying a campaign in their territories, the thing I’ve been most pleased with has been how much they individually bring to the table creatively,”
says Diplo’s manager Renee Brodeur. “From remixer suggestions to creative input on digital and traditional marketing strategies, the team has been very hands-on.”
D
igital marketing has been vital over the last 12 months, emerging as the only real answer to the question: how do you promote a club-orientated single during a pandemic?
“It’s obviously a hugely challenging moment for everyone, within dance culture and, obviously, outside of dance culture,” admits Daniell. “A lot of contextualisation for dance recordings has been removed. But, as much as it is challenging, I’m exceptionally excited about the opportunities that this situation is presenting. It’s forcing a lot of fast innovation, we’re having to really look at how we market records.”
Daniell points to the areas that have opened up, such as streaming live events and considering how to work with different social media platforms. The campaign for On My Mind is a prime example. “We just had to adapt to different areas that could give oxygen to the record,” he says. “Everyone knows the power of TikTok…” The team at FFRR used the music video and some of the track’s voiceovers.
“We identified one part of the voiceover where a character says, ‘Do you dance? You look like a good dancer. We could dance together’,” Daniell
64 | Music Week
Free Range: FFRR’s Andy Daniell (top), Sidepiece (middle) and Diplo (below)
After the label seeded it with some influencers, the campaign “kicked off”, taking on a life of its own. The mini-track has now been used around 340,000 times on the platform. Outside of TikTok, it has been streamed 67,322,699 times on Spotify, while the YouTube audio clip has 14m views, with the recent official video at almost 2m so far. Like many label heads at the moment, Daniell is laser-focused on livestreaming and is currently looking at “what feels unique and innovative and how it can work.”
“It’s exciting,” he says. “But live in the traditional sense will come back
too. It’s such a visceral, important part of music. So how can livestreaming complement that? I feel we’ve identified what is almost a new sector and one that will be viable post-Covid too.” The physical music world is still in Daniell’s mind and his heart. The last time he went to a gig was an Annie Mac Presents night at Printworks in London. “It’s an iconic venue, but it seems so long ago…” he laments.
Even further back, prior to his stint at Defected, Daniell spent two years working in London’s Metro Records and he still feels the romantic pull of vinyl records. “I really love that side of things, that you can feel, smell, touch,” he smiles. FFRR’s new webstore, launching as a part of the rebrand, will carry records, but also slipmats, clothing and other merchandise.
“For rock, the iconic things are the Marshall amp and the Fender guitar, and for dance music it’s the 1210s,” he says of Technics’ inimitable turntable that was first launched in the early 1970s. “Even in this streaming digital age, they still have a place culturally.”
The label has also collaborated with vinyl audio specialists Master Sounds on a range of vinyl weights, and with New York artist Peter Paid on a one-off series of artworks showing five key FFRR records. The past, as always, dances alongside the present, the digital with the physical, the cultural with the commercial. It is always all about the mix at FFRR. “I see myself as a custodian of the label,” Daniell concludes. “It’s already had 35 years and I would hope there are many more decades to come. I’m just looking after it for a bit…”
FREQUENCY A NEW
Designer Trevor Jackson on FFRR’s new look…
What were your aims for the design? “My aim was to create something bold, dynamic and new, while referencing – and fully respecting – the legacy of the label’s historic past.”
How does the design represent the label?
“The label releases strong and iconic records and I wanted the branding to represent this with a modern, direct and simple approach with a powerful message. I deconstructed the complex original logo into separate elements that can be used across a variety of campaigns and releases. The black and silver colour-way is directly taken from one of FFRR’s key early ’90s compilation titles and the statement ‘Music That Moves You’ was originally used on the back of the early house bags. This statement has become the label’s new manifesto and represents the quality and diversity of its past and future catalogue.”
What does FFRR represent as a label? Where do you feel it sits in dance culture?
“FFRR is one of the most important British dance labels ever. I’ve been a fan since the late ’80s, so it’s been an incredibly exciting project to work on. Not only does Andy Daniell have brilliant A&R skills, but his attention for detail and passion for the culture of dance music is exemplary. It’s always a pleasure working with people who genuinely care about what they do.”
musicweek.com
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