An independent music company

What we do

FMKR signs artists, makes records, and works them properly. That means artist development over release cycles, creative direction that starts before the first session, and distribution that treats a catalogue as an asset rather than a feed of new titles.

We have released fourteen records since 2019 across singles, EPs, albums and compilations. Eight artists are on the roster. Most of them are still here from their first release, which is the number we actually pay attention to.

How we work

A record gets made when it is ready. We do not run a release calendar that artists have to feed, and we do not sign for volume. The catalogue is small on purpose and it will stay that way.

Every record is engineered in-house, mastered by people we have worked with for years, and released with the artist holding a meaningful position in what it earns. Contracts are written to be read. Splits are agreed before a session, not after a placement.

The structure

Behind the label is a company. Fat Man Kills Records Publishing LLP is the legal entity that holds the rights, signs the agreements, administers the publishing and pays the royalties. It exists so that the people making the records are not also the people chasing a licensing invoice.

FMKR is what that company does in public. Boom Bap Bombay is what it does when the subject is the culture around the records rather than the release schedule. Both run on the same infrastructure — the same rights administration, the same accounting, the same contracts desk.

That arrangement is deliberate. A label that only releases songs is dependent on its next release. A company that owns catalogue, administers publishing and builds brands is not.

Where it goes

The group is built to add ventures without rebuilding itself. Live programming is the next one. Others will follow when there is a reason for them and someone to run them, and not before.