How Atlantic Records UK scaled marketing ops with Airtable
Atlantic Records UK revolutionized its marketing with Airtable, moving from 25+ spreadsheets to a single source of truth. This centralized system streamlines release planning, artist management, and budgeting, fostering rapid adoption and a global rollout across Warner Music Group.
25+
Spreadsheets replaced with a unified system.
100%
Streamlined weekly release planning and cross-functional coordination.
1
Entertainment label expanded to a global solution across Warner Music Group
How Atlantic Records UK scaled marketing ops with Airtable
A week ago, your team built a rollout plan for a priority artist. Since then, the focus single changed, the street date was moved, the music video treatment was scrapped, and execs are asking for updates. But the information is spread across various spreadsheets, inboxes, and Slack threads.
So where do you even start?
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Atlantic Records UK was in the same position until they rebuilt their entire company operating systems on Airtable. By moving from scattered tools to a single, connected platform, they created a central source of truth that unites artists, timelines, releases, pitches, budgets, and campaigns.
The challenge: fast-paced chaos with no source of truth
The music industry moves fast. Every Friday brings a wave of releases, and each one needs marketing, digital, A&R admin, production and streaming support.
For Sam Spencer, EVP at Atlantic Records UK, the pace was intense but the systems were outdated. He inherited 25+ spreadsheets and no consistent way to track campaigns, budgets, or team workload.
Multiple versions of the release schedule were floating around. Key updates were buried in emails or chats. And data lived everywhere except in a single, trusted system.
“I’d worked at labels for 14 years. I’d had enough of duplicating info and trying to send it to everyone in the right format. It wasn’t sustainable.”
The turning point: rebuilding with Airtable
In early 2023, Sam partnered with Max Bernstein, founder of Relationl, to change how Atlantic worked, not just what tools they used.
Together, they built a custom Airtable system that gave every team—from marketing to A&R to Finance—a shared, reliable place to plan and execute.
It wasn’t just a system swap. It was an infrastructure shift.
The solution: a centralized system across 3 pillars
The Airtable system was built around three core workflows:
1. Release planning
Every artist, every release, every format—tracked in one place. The system lets teams toggle between “Planning” and “Scheduled” statuses, offers different views for execs, admin, streaming, finance and production, and becomes the definitive calendar for what’s coming next.
“If it’s not in the Airtable release schedule, it’s not happening,”
2. Artist and roster management
Each artist has a profile: external contacts, current releases, social links, historical data, OKRs and contract information. The system also maps each team member to their artist roster, helping leaders track workloads and responsibilities.
3. Budget tracking
Budgets are set quarterly by artist. Teams get clear allocations, track spend, and submit new expenses—all within Airtable. Dashboards show budgets vs. actual spends in real time, with zero guesswork or back-and-forth.
“It’s become the single source of truth. Everyone from execs to interns uses it,”
The impact: rapid adoption and global rollout
Atlantic UK saw faster adoption of Airtable than any tool they’d used before. Teams that were resistant to change became some of the most engaged users.
The system has now expanded across Warner Music UK—including Warner Records/Parlophone, Rhino, ADA plus central teams like Artist Relations and Commerical—and is rolling out globally.
Each label can customize their own setup, and all data syncs to a central hub that gives global leadership visibility across the company.
Key outcomes
Replaced 25+ spreadsheets with a unified system
Streamlined weekly release planning and cross-functional coordination
Empowered each department to own and customize their workflows
Increased data trust and reduced internal noise
Enabled real-time campaign and budget visibility for execs
Expanded from one label to a global solution across Warner Music Group
What other teams can learn
Atlantic UK’s story highlights a few key lessons for modern marketing ops:
Start with your foundation: In their case, that was the release schedule. What’s your core record of truth?
Don’t force a one-size-fits-all tool: Build around how your teams actually work and speak.
Assign owners: Make it clear who’s responsible for updates to keep data clean and trusted.
Centralize first, then scale: Once your structure is solid, other teams will want in.
Ready to see how it all works?
Atlantic Records UK didn’t just replace old tools—they reimagined how their entire team works together. If your marketing org is drowning in spreadsheets, misalignment, or siloed systems, this is worth a closer look.
See them in action by watching the full webinar now.