Q&A: Frank Cotela, onelove Talent Agency

Yesterday, Frank Cotela, CEO of local independent label and club brand onelove, announced onelove Talent Agency.

Operating as a division of onelove, the agency was set up to provide the label’s roster with local and global tour support, tying in the label’s A&R, marketing and scheduling assets to offer a full service and cutting out the need to engage multiple companies.

In the short Q&A below, Cotela chats to TMN about what spurred the agency arm, what lessons he has brought over from his more than 14 years as the head of an indie label, and why artists don’t have to be signed to onelove to ink a deal with its agency.

When did you decide to launch an agency division and what sparked it?

We’ve flirted with the idea of an agency side for a long time! It’s no secret most of the big names in Australian dance from the last ten years came out of residencies at our club nights or shows we put out under the onelove banner – so now the label is gaining traction internationally it feels like a good time to add ‘live' to our business.

What do you consider to be the key principles dictating the running of onelove Talent Agency?

To keep it about talent above all and roster wise – keep it manage-able so artists have the support to build their touring story.

What have you learned through running onelove that has influenced the operation of the Talent Agency?

We’ve always looked after the artists we work with because we know decisions we make can have significant impact on their careers – so be mindfull to have the artists best interests at heart. Being creative is also a big part of our identity and thats something we hope to bring to all new branches of the brand.

Do artists have to be onelove-afilliated to get signed?

No but if they are making unsigned music we’d love to hear it first! If you’re an artist in 2015, being able to tie A&R, PR, release schedules andtour planning together into a one stop shop should seem like a good model.

What's the best way for unsigned artists to get in touch with you?

You can reach out online to our A&R team Matt Nugent ([email protected]) and Ant Celestino ([email protected]) but i’ve always felt the best way to be discovered is to make yourself more visable – create some noise around yourself!

Another option is almost all the staff working at onelove from promo team to social media to compilation manager to digital co-ordinator are DJs (which helps keep our ears forward) – so if you see one of them out and about don’t be afraid to go and have a chat and let them know what you’re doing face to face.