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Q&A w/ Darren Braddick

Darren Braddick is the man behind a slew of successful labels that all live under the umbrella of Krafted Music Group that he runs with Paul Sawyer. You might recognise Endemic Digital and of course Unrivaled Music, who we just featured on our Deep House United Vol 2 compilation alongside other labels like UM Records, Wind Horse Records, Lagaffe Tales and several other quality House labels that live on the deeper side of sound.

Q. How long have you been running your label and how did you come up with the name? 

I have been running my label group for exactly a year today, I inherited the name from Wez Saunders who I bought the labels from. Then when joining forces with Paul we became Krafted Music Group.  (editors note: this was written a few months ago, so congratulations Darren on running Krafted for well over a year now!)

Q. Is it more rewarding to run the Krafted Music Group or working your day job?

I run Krafted Music Group full time.

Q. What is the hardest part about running a label?

Managing your time, being available 24/7 with all the different time zones etc.

Q. Favorite Genre of music outside of what you release on your labels?

Classic House (that’s what got me into this)

Q. Must have tool for running a label?

Tweetdeck & Dropbox.

Q. Favorite Social Media site for spreading the word about music?

Twitter, Facebook & Soundcloud.

Q. What makes all the effort of running a label worth it? 

Being appreciated by artists, doing a job that I really love & also being recognised by DJ’s/Producers at ADE last year was cool.

Q. What are your favourite labels?

Defected, Sweep the Floor, Something Different and Toolroom.

Favourite Producers?

Soultrak & KEFFISH

What do you get up to outside of music?

Music is my life.

Thanks for taking the time to give us a little look into your label life Darren and we look forward to seeing what you do with Krafted in the years to come!

Now check out the track he contributed from Unrivaled Music for the latest Deep House United Va to get a feel for the great sounds coming from his label.

Choosing Your Artist Name

As a label owner, there are certain issues I deal with on a pretty regular basis. One of these is Artists names. Now to understand why it can be such a problem, you don’t have to look any farther than the large digital download stores such as Beatport and Traxsource. Have you ever listened to an artists catalogue and stumbled upon music that is just clearly not the artists you were listening to? This is most likely due to someone looking to steal some sales off the association or because they simply didn’t take the time to check and see if the name was already taken.

With more producers cropping up every week, it is essential you try to remain original and take the time to check the availability of the name before you start releasing under it. Think of your name as the first introduction to your audience. To be frank, there are artists we have refused to work with because of their names (either extremely unprofessional or offensive). You should also consider the fact, you want people to actually be able to find YOUR music. If you are producing Deep House, you definitely don’t want your music going on another persons Beatport page that makes Trance. My best advice, use your Original name or a variation of it.

On a side note, if you find another person has started using your artists name, you should contact the label the music was released under as well as the artist themselves if you can find them and ask them to change their name. You can also ask a label you work with for assistance.