{"id":362,"date":"2025-05-15T16:41:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T16:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.evansvilleschools.org\/?p=362"},"modified":"2025-07-25T15:17:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T15:17:36","slug":"club-first-algorithm-later-toolroom-coo-reveals-ar-strategy-behind-beatports-top-selling-label","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.evansvilleschools.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/15\/club-first-algorithm-later-toolroom-coo-reveals-ar-strategy-behind-beatports-top-selling-label\/","title":{"rendered":"“Club First, Algorithm Later”: Toolroom COO Reveals A&R Strategy Behind Beatport's Top-Selling Label"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some might call it swimming against the current. Toolroom Records<\/a>, however, would call it knowing what actually makes us all dance.<\/p>\n

In a digital age where streaming all too often dominates the conversation, Mark Knight’s storied record label has defiantly proven that culture still matters most. The independent electronic music powerhouse recently claimed Beatport’s prestigious “Best Selling Label of the Year” award for the second consecutive year, reinforcing its position as a juggernaut in the DJing ecosystem.<\/p>\n

With Beatport’s massive footprint of 36 million users and nearly half a million DJ customers, the achievement represents the true verdict of the global dancefloor. The platform’s sales-based metrics offer an unfiltered glimpse into what’s actually moving bodies in clubs worldwide.<\/p>\n

There’s a sad “stream or die” mentality in 2025, and it can corrode the mentalities of even the most talented artists. But Toolroom COO Miles Shackleton knows that true longevity in dance music is measured on dancefloor impact, not data dashboards.<\/p>\n

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Toolroom Records COO Miles Shackleton (L) and Founder, Mark Knight (R) accepting their Beatport Award for “Best Selling Label of the Year” at IMS Ibiza.<\/em><\/p>\n

c&sol;o Press<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two decades since launching, the label continues to demonstrate remarkable adaptability in an industry that transforms as quickly as a TikTok DJ’s dignity. As they focus on mashing genres into new microgenres no one asked for, Shackleton has stayed hyper-aware of dancefloor trends through superior A&R instincts and marketing savvy.<\/p>\n

We caught up with him to highlight the secret sauce behind Toolroom’s industry-leading A&R and marketing strategies. Read on to discover Shackleton’s insights in his own words.<\/p>\n

1. Our A&R strategy: sign with your ears, not for the algorithm<\/h2>\n

After lockdown, we took a long look in the mirror. The world had changed, and so had the dance music industry. It was time to realign with the reason Toolroom existed in the first place: to move people, both physically and emotionally, on the dancefloor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That meant cutting the noise, tuning back into the clubs, focusing on signing music that truly works in the room. We called it \u201csigning with our ears, not for the algorithm.\u201d We focused on music that carried cultural weight, music that DJs would reach for instinctively.<\/p>\n

That shift in thinking led directly to our biggest Beatport success stories of the past two years. Essel\u2019s “Lennon,” which emerged from Toolroom Academy, became a clubland essential long before it cracked streaming platforms. And this year, “Dance to the Music” by Tony Romera and Low Steppa followed the same arc: club first, algorithm later.<\/p>\n