IDOL Signs Full Time Hobby & Hassle Records, Hires UK DSP Editorial & Partnerships Manager

• Deal covers digital distribution, marketing, international coordination and audience development 

• IDOL to service new releases from Canty, Tunng, BRUTUS, Dead Pioneers, and more in the coming months

• Hires ex-[PIAS] Rayen Gonzalez to support growing UK roster

 Independent distributor IDOL, which provides world-leading artist and label services to its curated roster, has agreed a global partnership with Full Time Hobby and its sister alternative rock imprint, Hassle Records. 

IDOL will handle worldwide digital distribution, marketing and audience development for both London-based labels’ frontline and catalogue releases, excluding Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

IDOL’s specialist marketing and audience development division will work closely with Full Time Hobby, Hassle Records, and their artists, to build their respective international audiences and online fan communities. IDOL will also apply its analytical expertise, using state-of-the-art tools to monitor playlists additions and consumption.

2025 will mark Full Time Hobby’s 21st anniversary, with FTH and its Hassle imprint having developed artists including GHOSTWOMAN, Michael Nau, Squirrel Flower, The Saxophones, Casey and more. Under the agreement, IDOL will service new releases from artists including Bananagun, Canty and Tunng, as well as upcoming Hassle Records music from BRUTUS, Dead Pioneers and Jools. 

Roo Currier, UK General Manager at IDOL, said: “We have long been admirers of Full Time Hobby and Hassle Records, with both sharing IDOL’s artist-first ethos and independent values. We look forward to further developing both label’s eclectic rosters as they embark on an ambitious new phase of growth.

Nigel Adams, co-founder of Full Time Hobby & Hassle Records, commented:  “‘In an ever-changing music industry landscape, Wez and I were drawn to work with IDOL as they’re independent, have a focus and attention to detail combined with an ability to compete on a global scale. We share much the same ethos and feel like we’ve found the ideal partner to grow our labels further – we’re excited to celebrate our 21st anniversary with them next year and work together on new releases from artists like Tunng, Canty, Dead Pioneers, Ghostwoman and more …”

To support its growing client base, IDOL has appointed Rayen Gonzalez as DSP Editorial & Partnerships Manager (UK). Based in London, Gonzalez has previously held a Digital Coordinator role at [PIAS], and will report to IDOL’s UK General Manager Roo Currier, and Head of DSP Editorial & Partnerships Paul Pétel.

IDOL continues to expand its European footprint, with the distributor signing Berlin-based label City Slang in September. Other deals within the last year include US labels Le Plan Recordings, Old Soul Music, and TOKiMONSTA’s own Young Art Records, as well as Japan imprint Schole Records. 

In July, IDOL also integrated royalty accounting software from Details and Eddy to automate delivery of its distributed clients monthly sales data.

About IDOL

IDOL is a digital distributor that provides world-leading service to some of the most prestigious names in independent music. Its diverse roster, built around the highest standards of artistic curation, includes City Slang, Erased Tapes, Fire Records, Glitterbeat, Gondwana, Kitsuné, Local Action, Soundway, SRD, Young Art Records, Ubisoft, and Bandai Namco, while it also works directly with artists including Erick The Architect, La Femme, L’Impératrice, and Ibrahim Maalouf.

IDOL was founded in 2006 by Pascal Bittard as one of the first fully digital aggregators, with “independence is a strength” as its core belief. Its offering combines unbeatable label management and marketing services with a focus on long-term catalogue development – a combination that consistently achieves better results for its clients.

IDOL operates its own digital distribution platform, Labelcamp, which offers state-of-the-art supply chain management tools and analytics dashboards to its distributed partners. Labelcamp is also available as a SaaS product for third-party labels and distributors, and is used by the likes of [PIAS], Because, Concord and Ditto.  

The company has offices in Paris, London, Berlin and Johannesburg, and a presence in New York, LA and Nashville.

About Full Time Hobby

Full Time Hobby came into life in 2004, set up by Nigel Adams and Wez. They met while working for Mushroom / Infectious Records and decided to start a label when it was clear that Mushroom was going to sell out to Warners. Inspired by the likes of the original Jac Holzman era Elektra Records, Creation Records and Rough Trade Records and mirroring their personal tastes they created the Full Time Hobby & Hassle labels to champion original and creative new music that they loved and did not see finding a home elsewhere. Since inception Full Time Hobby has been home to the likes of Tunng, The Hold Steady, Timber Timbre, White Denim, Ghostwoman, Squirrel Flower, School Of Seven Bells and more while the heavier Hassle label has fostered the talents of BRUTUS, Alkaline Trio, Juliette Lewis, We Are The Ocean, Lonely The Brave, Cancer Bats & Alexisonfire, amongst many others.

Full Time Hobby is and always has been wholly independent.