“Music and football have always gone hand in hand. That cultural idea of following your team around, following a band around… we’re just trying to work on building that relationship,” says Kris Tomkinson, joint Head of Label at Wolves Records. On a Zoom call alongside his business partner Ricky Hill, he tells NME about becoming the first people in the UK to launch a record label under the umbrella of a football club.
“We’ve got an existing audience that’s interested in any messages that Wolves might put out,” he explains. “What we’re trying to do is plug artists into that existing audience. It’s a record label with the influence of a football club.” By utilising the global online reach, experienced media team, and instantly recognisable brand of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wolves Records are looking to give artists a headstart, offering large social media audiences, distribution expertise, big sponsorship deals, and packed-out shows at Molineux stadium. Since launching in September 2021 in conjunction with Warner Music UK’s Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA), they’ve been determined the show Wolves fans and the wider music industry the value of the project.
In recent years, Wolves have launched similarly forward-thinking projects, including an Esports division and various fashion collaborations. According to Hill, the fact that the club doesn’t have the financial might of giants like Manchester United or Liverpool means “there’s an understanding that a club like Wolverhampton Wanderers needs to do things slightly out of the box and progress off the pitch to enable progression on the pitch.”
That being said, not all fans immediately appreciate the football club’s movements within the music industry. One of Wolves Records’ first signings, London-based singer-songwriter (and lifelong Wolves fan) Ben Kidson, knew some people wouldn’t get it. “You get those little guys in the back going, ‘This is shit, we need to focus on the football!'” Kidson, however, instantly saw the project’s potential.
“It’s a pre-made fanbase. Getting your music out there is so much easier with Wolves, especially if you’re a Wolves fan like me,” he says. “It has the scope of a major, because we’re using the distribution through Warner, but we also have a lot of the benefits you might get with an indie.” Over a FaceTime call with Kidson, it’s clear how proud he is to be onboard. “It’s very difficult to describe how moving I find the fact my football club wants to release my music, when no one else really did. It’s a hugely personal relationship that you end up having with them, because that record label has in a way been with you your whole life.”
In mid-March, Kidson experienced a landmark moment in his young career, performing new single ‘Joking’ live on the pitch of Molineux at half-time during a Premier League clash with Leeds United. The applause of a 32,000-strong crowd underlined that special local connection; however, the Wolves Records team aren’t focused entirely on artists from Wolverhampton. As well as Wolverhampton born-and-bred artists like Reepa, their roster also includes artists from further afield, including London-raised Kidson and Swiss-born vocalist Roux.
“We’re just going off talent, and that really is part of our mantra — music above metrics,” says Hill. The ready-made audience created by the football club helps facilitate that model, as the label attempts to move away from an industry-wide over-reliance on data. With a built-in “Stormzy-sized audience” ready to listen to messages from the football club, the job is converting these people into serious fans of the music.
“The best way of doing that is to consistently feed through good quality music and content, and build out that story and narrative,” says Hill. “Alongside growing the profile of artists, the ambition here is to also create jobs in the Midlands. We want to be hiring people that maybe can’t afford to move to London to work in this industry, because it’s challenging.” While the Wolves Records team see their mission as a unique one, they also recognise they’re part of a broader drive to provide greater support to artists across the Midlands and the North, a movement also encapsulated by the recent launch of Leeds-based label EMI North.
Shifting their gaze outside the capital, the label soon landed on Reading-based solo act Split The Dealer. Another recent signing, his brand of anthemic pop-rock has already built him a strong core fanbase, and landed him features on the last two Dream League Soccer games, a testament to his investment in the football-music relationship.
“Being tied in with the football, it’s a unique perspective for a label,” says Split (born Sam Brett) over a phone call. “It’s one of those ideas that it’s crazy no one’s done it before.” Just like Kidson, his break came after submitting his music to Syncr, a platform developed by Hill that enables artists to send in music, which is then organised and compartmentalised via an intricate playlisting system.
“The personal touch,” says Brett, reflecting on his reasons for picking Wolves. “When you get people like that that are willing to back you so much at this stage, you’re loyal to eachother.” That point is an important one — throughout NME‘s conversations with Wolves Records and its artists, it’s evident that a family-like culture is being fostered across the organisation.
One experience that helped build the relationships across the label was the Amex Gold Unsigned Competition (won by Nottingham artist Jazzie Martian), a project organised and judged in part by Hill and Tomkinson, in which both Ben Kidson and Split The Dealer were shortlisted.
“It’s so difficult to get your music out there as an unsigned act, so someone from AMEX coming and saying that they’re interested in promoting you was a huge opportunity,” says Kidson. According to Hill, as well as providing “a huge opportunity for artists all around the country to be involved in a massive campaign to have their music seen,” the competition also gave the label the opportunity to spend quality time with prospective signings, and see them live. When building a movement to help energise the city of Wolverhampton, that interaction was crucial.
“Ricky and I both went to uni in Wolverhampton, so we’ve got a lot of affection for the city,” says Tomkinson. “We want to try and energise the city but we don’t view that just as an export thing, we think that bringing amazing talent to the city via our channels is a good way of doing it too.”
Whether through securing free studio time at Warner, enlisting the club’s media team to develop high-quality footballer-style signing videos, or using Wolves’ owners Fosun (a Chinese multinational who also own China’s biggest label Modern Sky) to market songs abroad, Wolves Records are leaning into their unique sports-influenced perspective. However, they also need to be trusted as a label in their own right.
One key way the label is democratising things and pushing for a fairer landscape for new artists is through open submission. “We have got open call-out for artists to send us music,” says Hill. “On the Syncr platform, you can send us your music… and absolutely everything gets listened to. We will sign people based on music alone and help develop them and their profile.”
It’s that mantra again — music over metrics. And in an industry dominated by conversations about streaming figures, social media following, and online content, it’s refreshing to hear. By using the substantial finances and commercial reach of a Premier League football club, Wolves Records have created a new way to introduce global audiences to brand new artists. As early signings like Ben Kidson, Split The Dealer, and local rapper Reepa make inroads within the UK music scene, the power of the football and music partnership is becoming increasingly clear.
“This could be the start of a lot of football teams doing this,” says Split The Dealer, picturing the future for his new label. “I feel like we’re at the start of something big.”
Wolves Records is currently accepting submissions from artists, bands and producers. Fans can submit their music here.