Industry sources have told us many times that Simon Dunmore, the man in charge of the increasingly vast Defected empire, is a man who prides himself on attention to detail. And not only does he demand it in himself, he insists others who operate in the company do so too.

So with this in mind, some in the A&R department at Defected might be forgiven for feeling a little nervous at the performance of one of their most recent releases, “Calabria”. The song was originally released on Credence in 2003 by Rune Reilly Kølsch and has seen a few outings since then – two tracks in the charts currently sample it.

However, early signs are that the release has not been the money spinner Defected might have hoped for. Taking a look at the dance music stores, “Calabria” has failed to reach number one on a single platform. At the time of writing, it’s at numbers 3 and 7 respectively on the Beatport and Traxsource house charts. Those numbers are 3 and 9 on the overall top 100.

Might the lack of support from the Defected machine be responsible? At the time of writing, “Calabria” has appeared on 37 charts on Traxsource – but none of them are from the label’s own artists. Since the track was released on July 1st, no chart from any artist who has had a release on Defected in the past few months is supporting it.

Even Simon Dunmore’s own chart, released yesterday, doesn’t feature the song. For a label which prides itself on a sense of loyalty towards its artists, this apparent snub must surely hurt. As far as Ears To The House can establish, the only artist with a recent release on Defected who has actually charted it – and remember, these charts do ultimately influence DJs – is… Claptone himself.

Then again, it’s possible this is one release Defected aren’t doing with DJs in mind. The shorter length of the song plus lack of promotion in DJ charts and even their own social media pages could suggest they have a different audience in their sights.

We spoke once more to a source who says he’s had “many dealings with Defected” for his thoughts. He replied with “I think this is one that’s targeted more at streamers. Calabria is one of those songs which never seems to die. It comes back every few years and never goes away entirely. Think of it as a long-term investment – if you look at Simon’s career, you’ll notice he often tries to attach Defected to good things that rarely go out of fashion. From his brands like Glitterbox harking back to the likes of Studio 54 to the publishing company acquiring old catalogue material, it’s all about playing a longer game. So is Calabria.”.

You can make your own minds up, as ever…