Ryan Farley (Cooking Vinyl Publishing)
Hi, I’m Ryan.
I’m Managing Director of Cooking Vinyl Publishing – a London-based independent music publishing business and part of the Cooking Vinyl Group.
My career has focussed on working directly with talent and helping guide the development of successful songwriting careers.
I started out in 2000 while at university, interning in London with stints at Radio X, BBC Radio 1, Columbia Records, RCA, Polydor Records, SuperVision Mgmt and Steve Budd Mgmt. During this time I also managed artists – developing their brand and industry profile via release campaigns, live shows & MySpace (what?!). Following university (and several crappy jobs and more interning for free) I was asked to become assistant manager, booking agent and tour manager of a newly-signed rock band and tasked with getting them out on the road around the UK. Through my contacts I was able to negotiate an album licence deal for them in Japan, which led us to tour that country as well. 18months and thousands of miles in a transit van was…fun, but I’d never do it again out of choice!
Once back in the UK, I joined Warner/Chappell Publishing as a talent scout, gaining promotion to A&R Manager within 18months. Songwriters I signed had cuts on six UK No.1 albums, with worldwide sales totalling over 7 million records. These included Madeon (Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding, Porter Robinson), Starsmith (Ellie Goulding), Wolfgang (now known as Max Wolfgang), Cold Specks, Man Without Country, Hannah Yadi & Olivia Sebastianelli.
Whilst at Warner/Chappell I started a club night in East London called Knew Knowledge to promote the exciting new Rap & R&B talent I was discovering. Artists to have performed live included Jacob Banks, Krept n Konan, Riz MC (Riz Ahmed), George The Poet, A Dot, Lil Simz, Cleo Sol, Sinnead Harnett, No Lay and Shystie.
I have also mentored songwriting and production students at London’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP), Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) and Westminster University.
After leaving Warner in 2014, I developed the Knew Knowledge brand into a management and consultancy business and worked with the likes of F Block Studios & Publishing, A-List Management, Boy Wonder Publishing and Saulty Songs, and held artist development consultancies with Montana, Matt Linnen, Denmark’s Wafande/Black Dylan and Nashville artist Sarah Darling, who’s album ‘Wonderland’ I A&Red and which led to her first UK Country Album Chart #1.
In summer 2018 I became Managing Director of Cooking Vinyl Publishing where I am responsible for a diverse song catalogue of over 8,000 titles and some 240 writer clients. I have overseen a complete modernisation of CV’s publishing business with a focus on brilliant new music, pro-active A&R and songwriter development.
I am privileged to work with talent such as The Waterboys, The Orb, Avelino, Isobel Campbell, Somebody’s Child, Skerryvore, Raf Riley, July Jones, Robbie Jay, Matt Attard, Jacob Attwooll & Matty Benbrook amongst many others, helping to guide and shape their careers.
