About Motive Unknown

Motive Unknown was founded by Darren Hemmings in September 2011. At launch it was a one-man consultancy, though it has since grown to be one of the largest strategic digital marketing agencies working in music.

Originally the company was a strategic marketing business, advising on best practices – particularly online – for album campaigns. It saw early success with artists like alt-J, who won the Mercury Prize and went on to reach Platinum-level sales in the UK in 2012.

Since then, the company has been involved in countless UK No. 1 album campaigns and has built a global reputation as smart innovators in the marketing space.

As of 2025, the company has around 30 international record labels as clients, as well as 10 or more artist management companies. Examples of long-standing label clients include Partisan, Sub Pop, Domino and Dirty Hit. The company’s artist clients include the likes of Chase and Status, Run The Jewels, the Spice Girls and The Hives.

The company’s core focus has grown over time, and it now takes in campaign strategy, communication strategy, e-commerce optimisation, CRM and community management, paid media execution and management and more. Its work has helped clients grow revenues whilst also building long-term fan relationships.

As the client base and scope of work has grown, Motive Unknown has grown to over 20 now. We’re now a team of marketing professionals, (and music lovers and makers), drawn from a variety of backgrounds, including labels, management, e-commerce, social content agencies, paid media and growth agencies, widening the expertise and experience across the company

In 2018, the company created its Music Tech division, focusing initially on performance marketing for companies whose products targeted artists and producers. Since then, the Music Tech division has grown to be an fundamental part of our service offering and business, representing a host of cutting edge music production-related businesses such as Rhodes Pianos, UJAM, Crow Hill, Lunacy, SoundLabs, Unfiltered Audio and more. This division of the business also manages all paid marketing for the Beatport Group.

The Music Tech division takes a more technical approach to growth marketing than the Recorded Music division, reflecting the more complex nature of direct to consumer retailing.

Throughout the company’s existence, founder Darren Hemmings has also maintained an industry newsletter, initially called The Daily Digest, subsequently renamed Network Notes back in 2023, which has become an influential commentary on the recorded music industry.