Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes are in the running for a high chart entry this week with their album What Kinda Music (Caroline/Blue Note).
The collaboration was heading for No.2 in the early Midweek sales flash, according to the Official Charts Company. While it’s a quiet week in sales terms, it’s a strong performance by an album combining progressive jazz, electronica and hip-hop.
“In artist and label services, we work directly for artist, management and indie label teams, so our role amidst all the uncertainty is to assess, advise on and help navigate the ever-changing situation,” said Nicola Spokes, Caroline International UK label head. “Each team, project and roll-out plan is unique, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy."
Misch’s widely praised 2018 breakthrough Geography (Beyond The Groove/Kobalt) has sales of 61,691, according to the Official Charts Company.
With the absence of many traditional promotional routes during the lockdown, Caroline has worked with Misch and Dayes on marketing strategies during release. The duo hosted an online listening party on release day (April 24) via Dice, and they have shared a documentary on the collaboration.
“The Caroline team are working really closely with management, the artists and promo team to come up with innovative ways of helping Tom and Yussef connect with their fans to share this fantastic album they’ve created,” said Spokes.
Our role amidst all the uncertainty is to assess, advise on and help navigate the ever-changing situation
Nicola Spokes
While many major acts and labels have held back releases, Music Week has reported on how it’s almost business as usual for artist and label services companies.
There was a strong chart performance by ADA in partnership with the SKC M29 label on Insomnia by Skepta, Chip & Young Adz.
Absolute was behind the release of Matt Lucas’ charity single Thank You Baked Potato, and has an upcoming album partnership with Newton Faulkner, among others.
Meanwhile, Gerry Cinnamon stuck to his original release date and went to No.1 last week with AWAL, which provides the Scottish singer-songwriter with distribution and marketing services. Proper Music fulfilled the physical distribution and earned their first No.1 for the company’s sales team.
Absolute Label Services, ADA, AWAL and Caroline International are all nominated in the Label/Artist Services Company category at the Music Week Awards.
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