Sondela Talks A&R, Recoupment, And Building Afro-Electronic Artists

Sondela Recordings is expanding its world with Sondela Volt, a new imprint built for the deeper, darker, and more club-focused edges of African electronic music. The first release, “Ascendance,” landed back on July 24 and pairs returning Sondela artist Phila De Giant with newcomer Ayden J on a peak-time Afro Tech record built around hypnotic [...] Read More... from Sondela Talks A&R, Recoupment, And Building Afro-Electronic Artists The post Sondela Talks A&R, Recoupment, And Building Afro-Electronic Artists appeared first on Magnetic Magazine .

Sondela Recordings is expanding its world with Sondela Volt, a new imprint built for the deeper, darker, and more club-focused edges of African electronic music.

The first release, “Ascendance,” landed back on July 24 and pairs returning Sondela artist Phila De Giant with newcomer Ayden J on a peak-time Afro Tech record built around hypnotic percussion, rolling grooves, and dancefloor pressure.

The launch gives Sondela a more direct underground outlet beside the broader cultural and musical mission of Sondela Recordings. Since its 2021 launch under Defected Records and later evolution into an independent label, Sondela has become a visible platform for African electronic music and the artists pushing Afro House, Afro Tech, and adjacent club forms forward. Volt sharpens that focus. It is less about widening the whole map at once and more about giving tougher, club-first records a clear home.

That makes this interview especially practical.

Instead of speaking only about the sound of “Ascendance,” Sondela breaks down what actually happens behind a label decision: how many demos to send, what makes a submission less appealing, why artist responsiveness matters, how release investment is discussed, and how a label can turn a record into a longer artist-building plan. For new producers trying to understand what an A&R team is actually weighing, the answers below are blunt in the right way.

Interview With Sondela

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When you first open a demo submission, what helps you get a quick read on the artist and the track? What submission mistakes tend to slow the process down or stop you from following up?

Our opinion quality of the music is the most important factor when signing a record!

If we love a track enough and believe it is unique and stands out within our catalog of music, this is a major driver to signing a track. For us, artist profile or artist information is not an important factor initially.

However, if we can see in the email that the demo has also been sent to other record labels at the same time, that does make a track less appealing.

To ensure the process proceeds smoothly, we also expect the artist to be responsive. We may reply first with questions about the release, particularly regarding where a vocal is sourced, or, nowadays, whether any AI is incorporated into the project. If an artist is not responsive, it is a turn-off for us, as we recognize it could be a sign of how the working relationship will go going forward.

@rossdavidsonphoto

What information do you need before you can seriously consider signing a record? Beyond the music itself, what details help you make an informed decision?

For Sondela, as mentioned music is the most important factor. It is our job to amplify the track and expose it to the right DJ’s and consumers.

Therefore, we don’t take other external factors into account if it is a standout track. This is even more the case now that we have launched our platform Sondela Volt – a label focused more on the underground 7 club side of Afro, but also on bringing new producers into the scene.

We don’t see any track or relationship we build with artists as a temporary or one-time thing. The goal is to strategise with the artists, making sure we can create moments for them as well as ourselves as a label with the release.

How do you decide which track an artist should send when they have several finished records? Is it better to send one carefully selected track or a small collection that demonstrates range?

Sending three to four tracks is a good number to send at one time.

Often people try and assume the track we will connect to based off our previous releases, but we are always looking for the next, fresh sound, so by sending one track this rarely works out. Any more than three or four becomes frustrating for the A&R team, as we may be shifting through tracks from 100 different artists that day.

So make sure to pick your best three or four to send over.

@visionseven

Beyond releasing and promoting the music, what can Sondela offer an artist in terms of long-term development, creative opportunities and career growth? What does a meaningful label-artist partnership look like to you?

Sondela are invested in growing artists through releases, events, public relations and more. Releasing on the label is the first step, in which often we will pair it with an event booking, where we can capture footage of the artist playing the release. From this point we will use that footage to help build the artist on social media & other platforms. This is the first step in the artist-label relationship, but the artist must also be at a level where the booking makes sense in the relevant region for this to work well.

An artist’s profile does not grow overnight, so this ongoing partnership is key to success here. This consists of consistent releases on the label, of which some may have some success commercially & therefore leads to repeat bookings at our parties. The trust for one another in this sense is key, that

Transparency around investment and recoupment is increasingly important to artists. How does Sondela approach these conversations, and what should artists understand about how release costs are invested and recovered?

If we believe in the track, Sondela is willing to invest to make it a success.

This is a must in getting visibility in a very crowded market, however all investment is mutually agreed with the artist. It is therefore recognized between both parties that this or some of the investment into the track is recoupable.

@lensoflouis

When planning your release schedule, how do you decide which records to invest more heavily in? Can you recognise a track’s potential before release, or is that decision shaped by early feedback, DJ support and audience response?

We always try and calculate a tracks