Stefano Poillucci, the man behind Sono Music, has always worked in the music industry, since he was 18. He started as a backliner in big events for an audio service company. Then he started to work in live events production, organizing concerts in companies like Live Nation, Billboard Italy and others. Between one concert and another he founded a local pub with two friends, where he organized 4 festivals and hundreds of small gigs in Rome’ suburbs, managing the artistic direction, marketing, branding and promotion of both the pub and the events. Artists were orbiting more and more around SONO, and, during Covid pandemy he dedicated his time to develop SONO Music by making connections with friends and supporters that today help him to run the company.
Please tell us more about SONO Music’s philosophy!
At SONO, we want to leave the world more colorful than we found it, and music is fundamental for the cause, it all starts from here! We’re calling ourselves an “unconventional record label” because we aim to disrupt the conception and management of traditional record labels. Especially nowadays, also due to a huge quantity of DIY resources, tools and services, artists are losing trust in record labels. SONO aims to be artists’ friends by working in a familiar-like environment, not asking artists to give up on creativity and authenticity, control and ownership or having strict timing limits or highly binding agreements.
What are some of the most interesting or memorable artists you’ve worked with and why?
There’s no “most interesting” artists, any project has its own vision and authenticity, and they’re all great.
At the moment, we’re closely working with Dontmesswithjuan, an electronic music producer from Canada who is crafting her own genre/imagery: Surrealist Electronica as well as landing on the Metaverse by exploring and creating realities in the Web3, through NFTs, music, artworks… and of course Juan!
Juan & The Pursuit of Happiness was Dontmesswithjuan’s first album, released in June 2021, and we’re currently working on her second album…
What are the obstacles faced by SONO Music in the industry today?
SONO Music is trying to address several issues, just to name a few:
For what it concerns the music industry, we’re in a time where 60k+ of songs are being uploaded on Spotify everyday, so a huge overload of content, which is not always checked and supported in terms of quality and strategy and lowers the industry and market overall quality/expectations from both parties labels and artists, on the other hand, it gives more chances to talented creators to get out. We exist because we love good music, and we want to support those highly talented people grow.
For what it concerns artists support, there’s also a cognitive overload due to the huge quantity of DIY services, tools and education for artists and it’s getting harder and harder to find legit and really useful services, we’re collecting and creating partnerships in order to unify the source of real and trusted services and opportunities into SONO for Artists platform.
Who are the main artists you are working with this year?
Please see question 2
Which artists would you like to partner with next?
At SONO we work everyday to enlarge the family in order to enhance the synergy and connection between artists, creators and SONO’s team. There are no particular names in our mind, but we know for sure that we’re always looking for quality, dedication, passion and creativity in our collaborators and artists.
What is your secret for crafting a synergic environment for both artists and industry professionals within SONO Music?
The answer is simple: SONO for Artists platform (soon app – spoiler alert). Through these realms of SONO for Artists, and SONO for Creators we’re starting to connect people in order to work together and live on their passions for a unique goal: great music and great content.
We’ve read that you founded SONO Music after working as an event organizer for companies like LIve Nation and Billboard. What are some of the most important lessons learned at that time that have helped you succeed when you launched SONO Music?
The answer might seem obvious, passion, dedication and, surely, multitasking skills. Working for those companies always led me to live and learn from great experiences as well as allowing me to connect with wonderful people who dedicate his/her lives to make Music & Entertainment a quality and innovative industry day by day.
What are some of your upcoming projects this year?
This year at SONO, we’ll be mostly working on SONO for Artists/for Creators platforms and Apps in order to start focusing on artist development, SONO’s community and make this whole family a better place.
