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Ankit Desai is the founder and CEO of Snafu Records, the world’s first AI-enabled artist services company. Snafu’s algorithms identify talented artists from all over the world, which the company then invests in growing and supporting. Before starting Snafu, Ankit was at Universal Music, where he worked with artists like Tove Lo, Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, and Shawn Mendes. For his work at Snafu and Universal, Ankit was recognized by Forbes 30 under 30 Europe, and Nordic Music Business’ 20 under 30.
Mira Howard currently serves as the head of Snafu’s Song Fund. While she has an education in physics and economics and an MBA from Cambridge, she also has had a lifelong love for music and writes and plays music in her own time. In her career Mira has worked scaling creative startups, and is passionate about bringing Snafu to the artists of the world.
This week, Ari is joined by Ankit Desai and Mira Howard of SNAFU records, to discuss how they built a completely new type of record label from the ground up. They aim to change the way artists think about their music as a business asset, encouraging artists to invest in their catalogs and not just focus on new releases. Ankit and Miar explain how SNAFU aims to change the game and create a win-win situation for all of its artists, maximizing success and longevity all while keeping the rights in the hands of the artists.
00:00 – Discovering and Investing in Unsigned Artists
13:05 – Improving and Increasing Artists’ Listenership
29:34 – Don’t Give Up on Your Catalog: The Value of Old Songs
39:29 – Social Media Strategies: Coaching Artists for Success
44:53 – Playlist Power: Investing in Catalogs
51:48 – Snafu’s Business Model: Partnering with Undervalued Artists
56:31 – Supporting Female Creators: The Snafu Women’s Creator Fund
Edited and mixed by Ari Davids
Music by Brassroots District
Produced by the team at Ari’s Take
