As MD of UK-based EGA Distro, Charley Snook is a key exec in the flourishing British hip hop scene.
Across 12 years at the company, which offers distribution and label services, Snook has worked closely with the likes of D-Block Europe, who’ve recently reached arena status, Nines, Digga D and Potter Payper, amongst others.
She started her music business career as EGA founder Colin Batsa’s apprentice, which solidified the direction of her future. “When I joined the apprenticeship company, the course was a live events course,” she explains. “But from the first day that I spent working for EGA and with Colin, I was like, ‘No, this is what I want to do’.
“It was really exciting, very fast paced and every day was different. I didn’t feel like I was stuck in an office looking at the clock, waiting to leave. It was almost like time stood still and I enjoyed every minute.”
EGA began as a management company, working with rapper Devlin, grime MC Griminal, group Code Red and Meridian Dan, who had a hit with German Whip.
Off the back of the campaign for the latter, Batsa and Snook started having conversations with labels and ended up doing a JV with Island Records UK, through which they signed pop duo Oh Wonder.
That also sparked a relationship with what was then Caroline (now Virgin Music UK), where, as consultants, Snook and Batsa brought acts including Aitch, Zoe Wees, Krept & Konan and Rema in to sign distribution deals at UMG. The evolution into records led them to want to start their own distribution company, which today has backing from Virgin Music Group.
At the moment, Snook is busy working on the upcoming campaign for what will be Nines’ sixth and final album, Quit While You’re Ahead, following five that have hit Top 5 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart. She’s also managing Digga D, whose latest album, Back to Square One, hit No.6 in the UK last year, and promises some exciting releases from other EGA artists next year.
Here, we chat to Snook about her career to date, the evolution of EGA, being a working parent in music, and much more besides.
Do you have any habits or rituals that ensure you bring your best self to work?
My time on the train in the morning is quite important. I live in between Colchester and Ipswich and it takes just over two hours door-to-door to get into London. I wake up, being a mom, getting my daughter ready for school and feeling a million miles away from the music industry. As soon as I’m on the train, I take that time for myself, put my headphones in, go through my emails, check in with my team and artists and prepare myself for the day.
Although it’s a long journey, I love going out to the countryside and I love where I live. I feel like that’s my way of keeping myself sane. I’m lucky to have flexible working hours and don’t have to come in super-early. When I became a mom and could no longer wake up, get into work early and leave as late as I wanted, I had to adapt to that and make the hours count when I am in the office.
What would you say ARE the biggest lessons that you’ve learned across your career?
Never take for granted the opportunity you’ve been given. Success requires a whole lot of patience, loyalty to your team and consistency. Also, my biggest moments of growth have come from failure, so never be afraid of it because failure is what can bring your most beautiful lesson.
WHAT’S the best advice that you’ve been given in your career?
I’ve always been told that success requires sacrifice and this really is something I stand by. At the start of my career, I had to work two jobs at the weekend just to be able to afford my travel into London and it was this commitment that taught me to manage my time and prioritize my goals. I just knew I had to grab this opportunity with both hands as tight as I could and never let go!
EGA is working with some of the biggest acts in the British rap scene. What’s the secret to landing a competitive deal with new talent?
I think we’re unique in the sense of the deals that we offer. We give artists the option of being on a distribution deal, which could be, for example, an 80/20 royalty split in favour of the artist, or more of a label services/licensing deal, which is 50/50.
If you’re on a distribution deal, you’re the label and we’re distributing you, so you have a lot of free rein on marketing ideas and what singles you want to release.
We have more involvement in a licensing deal and we also offer management services. We have Colin Batsa at the forefront of the deals, which is a major reason why artists want to sign here. Artists seeing how dedicated and hardworking the team are is also a massive selling point for us as ultimately, people sign to people.
What’s next in the evolution of EGA as a company?
We’re looking to diversify over the next few years and branch out into other areas of the industry, such as EGA Publishing and EGA Films. We’ve signed some documentaries that we’re releasing. We also have our own tech company called EGA Tech, which is pretty cool.
Building our brand identity is really important to us. In order to sustain the success and grow, we need to continue focusing on nurturing long-term relationships with artists, investing in their growth, as well as investing in the growth of our team and helping them turn into excellent music executives who can continue our legacy.
“We’re creating a hub for Black music and want to be the biggest distribution company in Europe. Or the world!”
With EGA Distro, we want to build it up as much as we can over the next few years. We’re creating a hub for Black music and want to be the biggest distribution company in Europe. Or the world! We’re focusing on being the biggest and the best at what we do so that every artist wants to sign here and everyone wants to work here. We want to create a legacy so that generations to come know our name.
How do you see the independent sector generally evolving in future?
It’s the way forward for artists. A lot more artists are able to do things themselves, especially with the marketing tools you have these days, like TikTok and social media. People are realising you don’t need to sell your rights to a label to be able to make it in music.
As long as you have a good team around you, and you’re in the right place, you’re able to be an artist independently and make way more money. It’s not about taking a huge advance. You’ve seen people in the past make bad decisions by wanting to get the money fast but it’s about longevity. If you want a long career, being independent with a good team around you is the way forward.
What’s the most exciting development happening in the music business right now?
Different things come to mind. Artists becoming their own entrepreneurs and making a career for themselves outside of just rap music, like you see with Potter Payper and Nines, who have their own labels and businesses. What D-Block Europe are doing at the moment and what’s to come for them next year. They just sold out four O2 arenas. Where do you go from there?
What’s the biggest challenge about working in today’s music business?
Keeping the attention of consumers and staying relevant.
These days, they have so many options, whether it’s YouTubers, podcasts or gaming. Listening to your favourite artist and buying their record isn’t always at the front of people’s minds like it used to be. You have to be open to change, success in the industry requires adaptability and resilience.
“you always have to be looking for the next trend and keeping up with the times”
You can’t take it for granted that something might be relevant right now, you always have to be looking for the next trend and keeping up with the times. There’s all sorts of different ways to market yourself now and if you’re not keeping up with those, it makes it a lot more difficult.
We’ve spoken previously about the flexibility you had from EGA when you had your daughter aged 23. What impact did that have on you?
It was a massive turning point in my life and my career. I grew up in seconds and it made me realise that I’m not just working for someone, we’re actually building something as a family and a team.
It was shortly after that that Colin and [EGA Partner] Victor [Omos] decided to give me 20% of the company. It made me realise how much they value me.
Getting pregnant can be a scary time for a woman, there are a lot of things that you’re worrying about. One thing that I didn’t have to worry about was security in my job. They made me feel really comfortable to come back when I wanted to come back and when I did, it was flexible. I could work a few days a week and was bringing my daughter to places. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.
I knew then that this is where I’m going to be for the rest of my life. From the day I joined, I never saw EGA as a stepping stone. I felt like I was going to be part of the furniture from early on.
Is there anything you’d like to see across the music industry generally that would better support working parents?
A nursery with free childcare in every major music company would be ideal. Only joking!
I could sit here and say we could create a more flexible and supportive working environment, embrace family-friendly schedules, and all of that is true. However, the most important thing to me is to actively work towards eliminating the stigma around being a working mother in music. No one should have to feel like they’re choosing between their passion for their career and the judgment or limitations placed on them for being a dedicated parent. I want to be that person to prove we can do both.
What would you change about the music industry and why?
I’d give a lot more young people a voice. Young people that are working in the industry, and young artists, are our future.
You have a lot of people making decisions, who are experienced and know what they’re doing, but at the same time, they’re a little bit past what the times are now. You need young people in the top meetings with the chairmen of the companies who are taken seriously and can bring a voice for what young consumers and young artists are feeling.
If you could go back to the beginning of your career and tell yourself one thing, what would it be?
I’d say to myself, ‘You know what you’re doing and you are good enough’. I spent so much time not feeling confident enough of my voice and whether what I was saying was the right thing, so I didn’t say anything at all, and I think that’s worse.
I would tell myself, ‘You’re actually going to do quite well. You’re going to do all right by the time you’re 30, you’re going to look back and be happy with what you’ve done. So calm down, stop overthinking things, and just enjoy the time.’
We’ve spoken about the future for EGA, do you have any personal plans or ambitions to add to that?
I want to keep building the company, leading my team and creating great executives. My little sister works with us, who started at 18. She’s going to be even better than me because she’s amazing at what she does.
Eventually, I’d love to do something like life coaching where I can help young females and young mothers in the industry and advise them throughout their career.
Virgin Music Group is the global independent music division of Universal Music Group, which brings together UMG’s label and artist service businesses including Virgin and Ingrooves.Music Business Worldwide