Music Business UK Q3 2020 by musicbizworldwide

Q3 2020

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FROM EVERYONE AT UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING

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JAMIE N COMMONS, WILL JENNINGS TOM HODGE AND GRIFF FROM EVERYONE AT UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING

In this issue... 12

Shani Gonzales

Guy Moot

Steve Mac

Michael Adex

Sarita Borge

Jamie Nelson & Gemma Reilly

Sipho Dlamini

Paul Conroy

Koby ‘Posty’ Hagan & Kate Shepherd

Riki Bleau

Warner Chappell UK

Warner Chappell Music

Rokstone

YMU Group

BMG

Universal Music Group

Ex-Virgin Records

GRM Daily / Warner

Since 93

WELCOME

EDITOR’S LETTER What does a successful record release out of the United Kingdom look like in 2020? If a sub-editor got hold of that sentence, they’d likely wrap my knuckles for its seemingly unnecessary verbosity. But every word is essential – because I’m very deliberately not asking, ‘What does a successful record release in the United Kingdom look like in 2020?’ We already know the answer to that, of course. We have an Official Chart for such matters, and have done for decades, reflecting the most popular releases across the land each week. (And yes, there are plenty of issues with its regularly-updated methodology in the streaming age. But I wouldn’t fancy taking on the challenge of wrestling it into the modern era – what with game-playing BTS and Ariana fan goosing their Chosen One’s numbers, and even some record companies allegedly splashing cash on stream farms to goose theirs. Not the good, honest record companies of Great Britain, you understand...) The point of me specifically asking what a successful record release out of the United Kingdom looks like is to nod towards a divide that’s opening up in the British industry. In this issue of Music Business UK, you’ll hear from Warner Chappell Music CEO, Guy Moot – one of the most successful British publishing execs of the past half-decade – decrying the fact that in his view, a few years back, some working in the UK started “to redefine what success meant”. His wider point is that, in Moot’s eyes, a true British music success story cannot only triumph in their home nation any longer. “I know how much the UK market is worth,” in terms of relative global revenues, notes Moot – a top-down perspective he now adopts as global boss of a major music company. He goes on to suggest that, for some UK artist deals, when those artists aren’t likely to attract largescale popularity abroad, the “cheques are a bit

Tim Ingham

“Guy Moot concludes that the UK industry needs ‘more international ambition’.”

out of kilter with the [commercial realities]”. Moot concludes that the UK industry needs “more ambition, particularly more international ambition”. This is all part of the logic as to why Moot himself has moved an American exec with pedigree for getting British talent involved in global priority records – Shani Gonzales – to run the UK office of Warner Chappell. At this point, it should be clarified that publishing – simply by virtue of the fact that there are more songwriters and producers involved in a typical hit than there artists – offers more opportunities for British talent to gain credits on global smashes than the recorded music space does. Still, it’s interesting to contrast Moot’s comments with those from the French founder of distribution and services giant Believe, Denis Ladegaillerie, in our previous issue. Said Ladegaillerie. “In the UK right now, 60% to 70% of the market is international artists, particularly from the US. This means that the opportunity for UK artists in the UK market is limited. My best advice to the UK indie sector would be pull all the levers you can to transform your market into a local-first market.” So, in one corner you’ve got the leader of a major global music company saying that localonly success isn’t good enough. On the other you’ve got an influential indie suggesting that recalibrating the UK industry for a local-first approach is actually the right and fiscally wise direction to move in. Both execs can be right for different levels of ambition, of course. And you can certainly run a decent, profitable music company on UK-only success stories. Then again, if you’re spending the kind of “out of kilter” cheques Moot’s talking about, you’re probably going to need to achieve the kind of international success he’s talking about too – sooner rather than later, anyway.

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Contributors CLIFF FLUET

DAVE ROBERTS

EAMONN FORDE

Cliff Fluet is a partner within Lewis Silkin’s Creators, Makers and Innovators Division and founded its media practice. He previously worked at Warner Music and Capital Radio PLC. He is also Managing Director at Eleven, an advisory firm working with incumbents and insurgents in digital media and leading companies in the AI space.

Dave Roberts is the Associate Publisher of Music Business UK and its parent, Music Business Worldwide (MBW). Before joining MBW in 2017, Roberts was the publisher of Music Week. In this issue, he interviews the likes of GRM Daily co-founder & CEO, Posty, plus former Virgin Records boss Paul Conroy and BMG’s Jamie Nelson and Gemma Reilly.

Eamonn Forde has been writing about all areas of the music business since 2001. He is Reports Editor at Music Ally and regularly writes for IQ, The Guardian, The Big Issue, Q and The Quietus among other titles. He completed his PhD at University of Westminster in 2001. His book, The Final Days of EMI: Selling The Pig, is out now via Omnibus Press.

KIERON DONOGHUE

PETER ROBINSON

RHIAN JONES

Peter Robinson has been a music journalist for over 20 years, and keeps a keen eye on the global entertainment industry. Robinson has written for the likes of The Guardian, The Times, TIME, Noisey, i-D, Smash Hits, Q Magazine, Time Out, Attitude, Notion and The Telegraph, and runs his own must-read online publication over on Popjustice.

Rhian Jones is a respected freelance journalist who often focuses on the music industry. In addition to writing regularly for Music Business UK and Hits Daily Double, she is a Contributing Editor for Music Business Worldwide. In this issue, Jones interviews NQ founder Michael Adex and YMU’s Sarita Borge, and writes about the health of artists.

Kieron Donoghue is the founder of Humble Angel Records, and the creator of Warner Music Group’s flagship playlist brand, Topsify. Donoghue became global streaming playlist strategy boss at Warner after the major acquired his Playlists.net in 2014. Donoghue led Topsify’s global strategy at Warner for the subsequent three years.

‘I WANT TO SEE OUR WRITERS GETTING CUTS WITH THE BIGGEST SUPERSTARS AROUND THE WORLD’ Shani Gonzales is bringing 16 years of experience in the US business to her new role as the head of Warner Chappell UK. What’s her masterplan?

ack when Shani Gonzales was earning her A&R stripes, she was handed some wisdom she’s never forgotten: ‘When you’re in the midst of a superstar, the oxygen in the room changes.’ Gonzales has felt such an atmospheric metamorphosis a few times in her career – not least when signing a young Travis Scott during a stint at Epic Records in New York during the early 2010s. Now, she’s hoping to experience it again – in the UK. Gonzales has just been named Managing Director of Warner Chappell Music UK, and will be relocating from the US in January 2021 to take up the role. Reporting to Warner Chappell CEO and Co-Chair, Guy Moot, Gonzales says that item one on her agenda is to help UK-based songwriters achieve more global success, rather than just see their creations only climb the charts in their homeland. Gonzales has form in this area. The New York native started her career at Warner Chappell as an A&R Assistant in 2004, before leaving in 2008 to join Def Jam, and then Epic Records. In 2014, she joined BMG, where she rose to Co-Head of A&R across both North America and the UK, signing the likes of Bibi Bourelly (who co-wrote Rihanna’s Bitch Better Have My Money), Nate Cyphert (who co-wrote No.1 country hit H.O.L.Y. by Florida Georgia Line) and WondaGurl (now an established hitmaker/producer for the likes of Travis Scott, Drake and Rihanna). At BMG, Gonzales made it her business to spend plenty of time each year in the UK, signing the likes of Platinum-seller Labrinth and Pro2Jay (P2J), the Londonbased producer who’s worked with the likes of Beyoncé, Chris Brown, Burna Boy and Doja Cat.

Gonzales jumped back to Warner Chappell last year, being named Head of International and EVP of US A&R at the company by Moot. She now succeeds Mike Smith as the head of Warner Chappell UK, working with signed talent such as Dave, Stormzy, J Hus and Gorillaz – as well as respected A&R execs including WCM’s Head of A&R in the UK, Amber Davis. Here, Gonzales answers our questions on her grand plan for the UK company, her experiences to date – and why her little black book might soon lead to giant opportunities for British writers... You’ve had a great deal of success in the US during your career. Why did you take a job that’s UK focused?

showing the whole world what the modern UK looks like. There is an opportunity for me to continue to drive that and to make sure we’re finding even more great British writers and artists, and putting them on a world stage. I don’t know that there is an option anymore for a songwriter [and their music] to just work in one country; I think that’s an outdated notion today. You were born in New York, but is it correct that one of your parents is Trinidadian? Well, first of all, I have to say this: my mother’s Jamaican, so if she sees that I only talk about my father, who’s Trinidadian, she might disown me! And I don’t want to be disowned, because I don’t have a family backup plan [laughs]. I’m first generation born in the United States, but the minute you stepped into my home growing up, it was very Caribbean, from the music to the culture to everything in-between. So I have a very natural kinship with West Indian people in the UK, and I grew up going back and forth to London. I actually think that was a great foundation for the job that I’m doing now, be it on the international stage or my new role in the UK; those surroundings feel very comfortable and familiar to me.

“I think it’s an outdated notion for a songwriter to just work in one country today.”

The UK to me is one of the most important music scenes in the world, a leader on the global stage, and I’ve always had a particular love for it. The world [of the music industry] is getting flatter every day, but the UK has been adopting that mindset for a long time. You guys have always created music that is successful across the whole globe. There’s this level of diverse influences and taste in UK music – other places are now trying to catch up with you guys on that score. Amber [Davis] and her team have already signed some amazing artists, whether that’s Dave or Stormzy or many others. A lot of our writers and artists are shaping youth culture,

You studied at Temple University in Philadelphia: how did you get from there to working at Warner Chappell as an A&R Assistant? I went to university at the time when the neo-soul movement was taking off. There were a lot of cool artists coming from Philadelphia – Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, The Roots and others – and there were also a lot of artists coming to Philadelphia at

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Travis Scott, who Gonzales signed to Epic Records earlier in her career

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that time to work with local producers and songwriters including The Roots, James Poyser, Larry Gold, and many more. I got to meet a lot of great people and influential executives. I was lucky; by the time I graduated school and moved back to New York, somebody that I’d met named Marc Byers [now GM of Motown Records] connected me to the person that I ended up working for at Warner Chappell, Chris Hicks [former Head of Urban Music at WC]. I became Chris’s assistant. It’s funny, A&R was the one thing I swore I didn’t want to do in the music business; I was like, it’s too volatile. But sometimes whatever you say you don’t want to do in this business is exactly where you end up! Chris was an executive within the company, but also incredibly smart and shrewd about publishing because of how he had built his own catalogue, which was also signed to Warner. He was tough on me in the best way. I started with him at Warner Chappell, but also at Atlantic as he was one of the only executives doing [A&R across] publishing and records. That gave me a great view of the entire Warner Music Group. And now I’m back because, clearly, I never got it out of my system!

all these other paths that you could take in the music business, because I’d always had working in music at the back of my mind. And, by chance, it worked out! You were at Chappell for four years during that first stint, then went into records. How was that experience? Those were my L.A. Reid years, as he was the Chairman of both Def Jam and then Epic Records. I spent four years across both companies, two and a half at Def Jam and one and a half at Epic. Working there was like getting your graduate degree in this business; it was intense and crazy . I wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world. I was a junior A&R at Def Jam, and I was given the project that wasn’t the most obvious pick in that building, where you had Kanye, Rihanna and all these top

on a young rapper that I was obsessed with; I thought he was the future, and it was Travis Scott. I left Epic on really good terms, but I had started to get frustrated with having to [abide] by data and numbers so much. These days, we obviously have a more sophisticated understanding of the right balance between that and listening to your gut, but back then that wasn’t the case. I started consulting for Craig Kallman [Atlantic Records CEO] for a bit, and even told my mum I was going to become a chef at one point. She said: ‘You can’t even cook toast – think of something else!’ I ultimately ended up at BMG [in 2014]. [Then-BMG US boss] Zach Katz said everything I needed to hear, and it was a blank slate, an opportunity to build something from the ground up. I was there for five and a half years and it was a great opportunity, which brought me to the UK very often. By the time I left [my role] had sort of evolved into Co-Head of [A&R in] North America and in the UK, and I was in London about once a month.

“I started to get frustrated with having to abide by data and numbers so much.”

When you were in Philadelphia, what were you studying? And what was your life plan at that point? When I picked that school, I wanted to be a writer – not a songwriter, a writer, an author. I look back and think, ‘Oh God, you were so earnest.’ I thought I was going to be the next Toni Morrison or Sonia Sanchez – Sonia Sanchez [an acclaimed poet and an author] was actually a professor at Temple, and she was extraordinary. But I quickly realized that it wasn’t for me; I was in classes with people that wanted to hold hands and clap for nature. And I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ I changed my major and went into Communications, and I had an older cousin who was working at Vibe magazine at the time – I thought she was the coolest thing ever. She started talking to me about

artists just killing it. I was given this kid and told to figure it out – and that kid ended up being Justin Bieber. It was really cool to be this junior person and watch [Bieber’s career] go from zero to 1,000 so quickly. Over that first maybe two years of Justin’s career, I think we put out four projects, and we started on a Christmas album right before I left. It was intense, and it became my whole existence for a while. Then I went to Epic when L.A was starting out there, when he was doing X Factor. I can’t say that was the easiest time because the music business was very much in a state of change, and kind of turmoil. It was the early days of data, and A&R was becoming a lot more about research and numbers. We were all trying to figure out how to marry personal A&R ability with this new area of research. Still, I got lucky again: I took a chance

Can you tell us a bit more about the Travis Scott story – being involved so early on in the career of someone who has become a global superstar? From the minute that I met him, I was flabbergasted. His influences, his taste, his ability; his dreams were huge, and they were scary. He was different, and polarizing – people had so many opinions about him. For all of those reasons I was really excited by him. When I was in high school, you hung out with the kids in the lunchroom that listened to the same music as you; you had the kids who were into rap and R&B and then the punk kids and then the heavy metal kids etc. But nowadays that’s not the case at all. Travis was the encapsulation of that; he was referencing rock artists, really cool indie artists, everything – he wasn’t afraid to go there and touch on all of these influences he was a fan of and put it in his music. 15

L.A used to say this thing that when you’re in the midst of a superstar, the oxygen in the room changes. With Travis, I definitely experienced that on a whole other level. From the moment I met him, I was obsessed with getting that deal done.

Dave

What were your highlights from your time at BMG, especially in terms of working with UK writers? We got to do some amazing things with UK writers and producers that put them in an international space. One highlight was Beyoncé’s Lion King: The Gift project. We had signed a producer named P2J, and I found out very early on that Beyoncé wanted this Lion King album to celebrate the Afrobeat movement, and artists on the continent of Africa. P2J had been heavily involved in that, working with Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage and others. He ended up having nine songs on the [Lion King] project. That was one of my most rewarding moments, but there were so many others. Why come back to Warner Chappell last year? Did Guy Moot play a role? Absolutely. I’ve always been a huge fan of Guy’s. There was never a person better than him, just the way he signed songwriters and artists, his level of taste for people and culture, from Salaam Remi to Calvin Harris and Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith and on and on; to have all these people signed by one person is just extraordinary. He’s had the kind of career I’ve always wanted to have. I started spending a lot of time in the UK [at BMG], and sometimes, that kind of admiration leads to competitiveness. I keep telling Guy this is a heinous allegation, but there’s a theory that basically I got hold of a copy of his roster and was trying to steal his writers, spending time with them when I was in London. I will neither confirm nor deny these rumors; I don’t have any legal representation with me! All that matters is that I was a huge fan of Guy’s, and when I heard he was going to Warner Chappell, I thought that he was 16

the coolest and most obvious person to do the job. Then we started talking [about Gonzales joining WCM], and then I also started meeting with Carianne [Marshall], and I could see that what they were building together, the culture, was wild. I kept telling my lawyer like, ‘No I don’t want to talk to anybody else. That’s nice, I’m flattered by their interest, but no, no, no – focus on Warner Chappell because we need to figure this out.’ You’re quite a relentless signer, aren’t you? You don’t give up on talent you want to bring in? Definitely. It’s a quality about myself I love and hate at the same time, because while I’m doing it, I hear myself and I’m like,

‘Just stop it,’ and I can’t. Luckily for me, it’s worked out quite a bit. A lot of managers that read this would obviously like to get a jump start on knowing what presses your buttons; what makes you fall in love with a writer when you meet them or hear their songs for the first time? The obvious thing is you want them to be great. But that’s also not that obvious, because great means so many different things. I definitely like writers and producers who have a point of view, people who aren’t afraid to be disruptive and stand out from everything else. Another important thing is you’re not just getting into bed with the

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J Hus

writer, you’re also getting into bed with their team. So you want people around them that are going to help the journey – where we can all come together to help them realize each and every dream that they have. That still applies as a writer’s dreams evolve, too: Are we giving them room to grow and challenge themselves? I have worked in the US for a long time, and I have incredible relationships there. I also have the support of the Warner Chappell A&R team, led by [the publisher’s US President of A&R] Ryan Press, who has been an incredible advocate for me since I got here and critical to the things that we’ve been able to achieve globally –

connecting the dots and prioritizing that with his team. A global A&R network doesn’t work unless you have an insanely passionate

for our writers. It only makes me more confident that this next move is absolutely going to work. What’s your number one ambition as Warner Chappell’s leader in the UK? To make sure that we plug all of our UK roster even more into the Warner Chappell global network. That’s already happening. But for me, that’s the huge priority. That’s the culture that we are building here. I want to see our UK writers getting cuts with the biggest superstars around the world. And I want them to build their careers on the global stage. n

“I like writers and producers who have a point of view, who aren’t afraid to be disruptive.” and talented group of people that are like, ‘Yes, how do we plug into this?’ Even in quarantine, we haven’t slowed down at all, and are still connecting the dots globally

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‘THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOMEONE WITH A CHEQUEBOOK AND A MUSIC PUBLISHER’ Guy Moot has been global CEO of Warner Chappell for 18 months – leading a worldwide team working from home for the past half-year due to the pandemic. Fresh from hiring a new head of the UK, Moot tells his story, then and now…

hree-and-a-bit decades ago, Guy Moot would leisurely stroll back from work through the streets of Cheltenham, a pretty spa town on the cusp of the Cotswolds, taking in his surroundings. In your head, it's probably an idyllic milieu. It was, in fact, a little less picturesque; having left school at 16, Moot spent his weeks working gruelling hours as a welder on a building site – in an era, he hastens to remind us, “before supermarkets, before gastropubs... and a long time before Soho Farmhouse”. Bespattered in grime and red oxide primer, the 18-year-old Moot would traipse through the town, peering into the windows of offices, marvelling at “just how clean everyone was”. There was no career plan, no intricately mapped-out route to becoming one of the highest-ranked executives in the global music industry. (That trajectory would be kickstarted later, by selling vinyl to local DJs.) Instead, Moot lived only for a shallow stack of cash, handed over by his employers at the end of each week in a brown envelope. Much of that stack, he admits, got spent down the pub on payday. You might think it difficult for 2020’s Guy Moot – gym-going, clean-living, adopted Los Angeleno that his is – to trace any direct modern influence from his grubbier, boozier teenage days working in construction. But he’d challenge you on that idea. He's thankful for the work ethic it instilled in him, of course, as well as the motivation that, with a couple of wrong moves, we could all one day swiftly tumble back to the low-paid, high-risk jobs of our youth. But there’s also something more: the prolonged bouts of tedium Moot experienced on those building sites — combined with a relieved appreciation for 15-minute tea breaks, listening to music of all stripes on the radio. 19

Moot recalls a TV documentary on Calvin Harris – now the world’s biggest DJ – in which the exec spotted a kindred spirit. Harris spent a portion of his youth working at a fish factory in Scotland, dreaming of making it as an electronic music producer. “Boredom can be very inspiring,” notes Moot. “The modern world gives us very little chance to be bored, and I often encourage songwriters to try and escape that.” Harris was one of Moot’s biggest clients at Sony/ATV, where – inclusive of his time at EMI Music Publishing – the exec spent 30 years, climbing to the position of President, Worldwide Creative & UK Managing Director, before being appointed as global CEO and Co-chair of Warner Chappell in April 2019. During those three decades at EMI-slash-Sony ATV, Moot signed the likes of Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey, Mark Ronson, Sia, Nile Rodgers, Arctic Monkeys, Jamiroquai and Stargate, as well as overseeing the signings of Ed Sheeran, Harris and Sam Smith. Moot’s first 18 months as CEO of Warner Chappell have kept his dance-card full. In addition to welcoming marquee signings to the company – including Lizzo, Frank Ocean, Tones and I and more – Moot has developed a successful coalition with his coChair (and Warner Chappell COO), Carianne Marshall. The duo have not only facilitated a more globalised creative structure at Warner Chappell, but have also led the company through macro world developments, including a social justice reckoning, and the COVID-19 pandemic. (If the young Guy Moot pressed his nose up against the glass of Warner Chappell’s Los Angeles offices right now, he’d find them empty. They will remain so until 2021.) Here, Moot tells the story of his rise through the music industry, while giving his unique viewpoint on Warner Chappell’s place in the modern business, upstart competitors – and running a global company during quarantine...

which is actually quite empowering and entrepreneurial compared to the last place. Why do you find WMG’s structure more empowering than Sony/ATV? [Warner Chappell] is a smaller entity, for one thing. When I got to Warner Chapell, I found an entrepreneurial spirit, but within that, the discipline of a corporate company. It’s less silo’d because it’s not this huge company that’s been bolted together. Also look at Warner’s investments; they’ll [put money] into startups, apps, musicals and films. That all enriches Warner Chappell’s catalogue and our sales pitch – because when you sign to Warner Chapell, you also get the benefit of Warner Music Group. What are the things you had to solve after you came in? Improving global collaboration – having an open culture where people at whatever level, in whatever territory, have input. I now feel we’re more globally co-operational than anybody else, and not just in A&R – although we really are connecting German hiphop producers, for example, with US artists. We’ve got this global song pitching tool, ARROW, so someone in China can go, ‘I need an up-tempo, Bruno Mars-like record,’ and quickly find a load of options. There’s still a certain cynicism out there – ‘What do publishers actually do?’ type of thing. We’re trying to turn that around, adding real value. In terms of our A&R strategy, we’re decisive and selective in what we sign. I don’t want us to be at the table for artists and writers just because every lawyer wants us to be. The [music industry] wastes a lot of time in the chase, because people think they have to be at those tables. It’s like, no, let’s focus. Recently, we’ve seen [companies] chasing these huge TikTok phenomenons that ultimately don’t have legs and wouldn’t be able to tour, even in non-COVID times. We’ve deliberately avoided those, and concentrated on signing real quality – rather than blowing six or seven million on a TikTok record that doesn’t have longevity and leaves you going, ‘Oh shit.’ We’re building a culture, and major signings are obviously key to that. Signing Lizzo was so important: what she stood for, the broadness of the music, but also the fact she was so incredibly well defined as an artist.

“Boredom can be very inspiring. The modern world gives us little chance to be bored.”

In the last few years of your career, many people rumoured that you’d end up in a top job somewhere – and 18 months ago, Warner Chappell became that place. How have you found it so far? I knew from the beginning, like any job of this magnitude, that it was going to be both challenging and rewarding. Even so, it’s been quite a first year. No-one predicted the world would be dealing with COVID, and no-one predicted the world was going to be [addressing] racial discrimination and Black Lives Matter to the extent that we have. Also, no-one told me I’d be dealing with technically almost two IPOs – one [for Warner Music Group] where it didn’t quite happen due to the pandemic, and one where it did, in June. I always knew coming into Warner Chappell that it was a great and stable company with incredible catalogues and assets, and many really good people. We’ve augmented all those positive things. And I’ve gotten used to a different corporate structure, 20

Is there a concern on your side that the industry is getting drawn towards tracks rather than artists, especially in the TikTok age? People are definitely being drawn to the chase and the competition. Warner Chappell has money to spend – we’re very well financed and competitive – but I’ve never gone to work a single day in my career and thought, ‘I’m just gonna overpay for that thing because I want to look good and I don’t want the other company getting it.’ We have to restore where publishers sit in the food chain;

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Moot watched Warner Chappell UK signing Celeste win a Rising Star Brit Award in February

One of the first big signings for the Guy Moot-led Warner Chappell was Tones & I, whose Dance Monkey now has over 1.8 billion streams on Spotify

somehow as an industry we’ve let publishing A&R be devalued over the years – and some of that was down to bad A&R people, frankly, who got lazy and went to the pub all day. But in an age where anybody can get discovered very quickly, real A&R, real talent development, is more important than ever. I want to see us develop more stuff from an early stage. We want to build real support and collaboration with our roster. The UK is an interesting example. I know how much the UK market is worth [in a global context], and how much having a No.1 record in the UK is worth. I can’t blame UK managers and artists for taking big cheques, but I think those cheques are a bit out of kilter [with the commercial realities of a UK-only hit] and a little bit about vanity at the moment. What needs to change in the UK market? Even when I was still working in the UK, some people were starting to redefine what ‘success’ meant. To be considered [a real success] in my view you have to look at global and international impact, and I’m not just talking about revenue. How many people are really hearing your music? How many streams is it getting globally? The music industry needs ambitious people who want to be stars – that’s part of what makes working in the music industry so exciting. It’s great people can monetize their own streams [without a label or publishing partner], but in the step 22

beyond that, some parts of the UK industry have been given a false impression of what success really looks like. We need more ambition, particularly more international ambition. Why has there been a big change at Warner Chappell in the UK, with Mike Smith leaving and Shani Gonzales coming in? And why hire an American to run the British company? Mike and I came to an agreement. Mike and I have a high respect for each other, but we have slightly different views – nothing was acrimonious about it. Then I started looking at candidates [to run Warner Chappell UK], and I needed to find someone dynamic. Shani was... well, Shani was a pain in my butt for years when I was at Sony [and she was at BMG]; every deal I signed or had signed, she would come after, including Labrinth. And I was like, ‘Who is this Shani person? She’s based in LA but she’s all over my shit from the UK!’ I kind of admired it. But then when I met her, I saw her incredible passion and affinity with songwriters. We brought her into Chappell last year [as Head of International] and she was an overnight sensation. The Europeans loved her, and producers in different countries were suddenly getting connected to big records all over the globe. I genuinely believe we’ve got the best A&R team in the world. If someone in France calls up and goes: ‘We really need some

FEATURE

help getting this writer signed,’ we actually make it happen. Shani was in LA originally when she worked at BMG, and we brought her to New York where she had family. And then it was like: this is crazy, you’ve got such a good record in the UK, and you’re internationally-minded, would you be interested in [the UK job]? It became apparent she could be fantastic.

Welding is a dangerous job, no? I would start at 7am, three stories up, holding an iron girder while somebody welded it. It was physical work; we weren’t exactly following every safety rule. We got jobs because most people hired a crane and we didn’t – it was a cowboy outfit. Being the youngest on a building site, you get the shit ripped out of you every day, and it toughens you up a bit. My treat would be a 15 minute tea break in the transit van listening to the radio; that was my main source of entertainment. At the end of each day your eyes would hurt because of all the ultra-violet, I’d come in and wash my overalls, covered in oil and red oxide. I was living just outside Cheltenham, and I’d be like the guy passing the posh offices at the window, ‘Those people are so clean!’ It was tough, but aren’t we all much better for doing shit jobs? I want my kids to go and get shit jobs today, because it helps your perspective on life forever more. However bad your day is going now, if you do a job that you love, you’re so lucky.

How was that? Amazing: I’d come from a provincial town, and I was suddenly in an office in Mayfair, with an expense account. They gave me a [VW] Golf. That was the first time my late father looked at me and went, ‘German? You’re doing alright son!’ Everything was great… then Michael Jackson bought the company and fired everybody. After that, I was at Chrysalis Records for about 18 months where I met Danny D, Roy Eldridge, loads of great people. That was when I learned that I didn’t much like records; I liked publishing. I was so passionate about the music, I couldn’t understand why somebody in the promotion department didn’t quite ‘get’ the record I wanted to sign. I signed one artist at Chrysalis, Ian Broudie [of the Lightning Seeds], for records and publishing, and my boss, who was Head of A&R at that time, said: ‘He’s never going to happen, Guy, he looks too weedy.’ [Amongst multiple hits, Iain Broudie would go on to write and perform the platinum-selling Three Lions with Baddiel and Skinner.] At Chrysalis there were a lot of leather trousers and bad jumpers, and most probably a lot of cocaine going on – which wasn’t my thing, by the way. The only person who survived at ATV Music was Sally Perryman, who went to SBK, and I called her and said: ‘I really wanted to get back into publishing.’ She gave me a job as a talent scout. Marty Bandier interviewed me in, by his standards, a very small office, sat there with a cigar, braces, feet up on the desk. He smelt of wealth and power, like someone from a TV show, but he had this very common touch. My first signing [at ATV] was We Call It Acieed by Danny D’s D Mob, then Ten City, the early Chicago house group, and then I signed Jamiroquai. I was living the life — rare groove, Norman Jay, all of that. I used to go out to clubs a lot, but as a music head. It was the summer of love, then rare groove and funk came in, then it was early house music. I went through every genre at the time. Then When You Gonna Learn? and Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai happened, and that really was the breakthrough moment in my career: I suddenly got a 50% pay rise. And then SBK became part of EMI.

Then you started selling records? I was in Banbury at the time, selling records to DJs: ‘You’ve got to play this mate!’ Then I started ordering and stocking 12-inch imports from the US. They came with a high wholesale price, but I was passionate about it – this was early electro, early hip-hop, early dance. And I suddenly realised: ‘This is almost like A&R; that’s what I want to do with my life!’ So I bought a really shitty car, drove around the Midlands and southwest watching bands and sending in gig reports to record companies, meeting sales reps – just trying to get noticed. And eventually [in 1984] I got my first job at what was ATV Music.

What was your experience of EMI under Terra Firma? When Terra Firma had just bought the company, I was Head of A&R for Europe, and I was getting a bacon sandwich from the canteen. The then-head of corporate comms tapped me on the shoulder and said: ‘Guy Hands would like you to introduce him at the company Town Hall in Hammersmith.’ I kept it short and sweet, and then he proceeded to [tell the music company’s staff] about motorway service station toilets and how he’d cleaned them up. I have to say he was always very good to me; he was a very bright man, although he obviously got some things wrong at the time. Then EMI went through a ‘pre-pack’ – a posh word for a

Let’s talk about your personal history: Where did you grow up and how did you get from there into the music business? I grew up in a pretty provincial place; I was born in Cheltenham, but not in the posh part of town. Then I moved to the Cotswolds. Boredom was my catalyst and my stimulation – there was nothing to do. This was before supermarkets, gastropubs, and a long time before Soho Farmhouse. I’m not very proud of this bit: I was bright at school, but I had no patience for school. I wanted to get out into the world and start earning money. My first job at the age of 16 was as an agricultural contractor – I drove tractors, basically. Then I started working on building sites, mainly as a welder, when I was 17 or 18.

“Companies are chasing TikTok phenomenons... we’re signing real quality.”

repossession – and I had 18 months or so of Citigroup owning the company. They didn’t mess with us, and were quite supportive. And then obviously a Sony-led consortium bought EMI [Publishing, in 2012, for $2.2bn]. In terms of big signings for me during that period, Stargate were seminal, and there was also Scissor Sisters, and obviously Ronson and Winehouse. Throughout this time, from SBK through EMI and into Sony/ ATV, Marty Bandier was your boss and mentor. Now you’ve got a bit of distance between today and that tenure, how would you characterise his impact on your life and career? Marty is an incredibly classy guy. He’s very warm, he’s inspiring, and I guess he was a bit of a father figure for me. He would always make me show passion [ahead of signings]. He initially didn’t love the Amy Winehouse deal, and I don’t mind saying that because it was expensive – and I’d have been asking the same questions he did. But in asking those questions he always heard me out, he always made time for me, and he always made me show that passion: ‘We have to do this deal!’ Even when I was a young talent scout, a junior A&R, Marty always gave me time. To this day, and this applies to Steve [Cooper], I enjoy having a boss who you want to do well for, and who makes you want to do well for your owners. You wanted to do well for Marty; he embraced your vision, he empowered you, and once he trusted you he’d let you take risks. Marty would also always say to me during my time at Sony, ‘Who’s your successor?’ That mentorship mentality was very important. At Sony/ATV, I got to develop [the firm’s now-UK heads] David Ventura and Tim Major, who I still think very highly of, are good friends and I’m sure will do a good job there. At EMI, I also went through an era with Roger Faxon who taught me a very different skill set. I learned a lot; much of [Faxon’s] strategy was sound, even if some of the people implementing it weren’t. He taught me another side of running a company; Marty was the flamboyant entrepreneur and [Faxon] was from more of a ‘new management’ school. I was lucky to be able to learn from both.

We immediately got on very well; she wore jeans and trainers to our first meeting and was very down to earth. We started to share more and more about our vision of music publishing, and the further we got, the more we were very aligned. We usually come to the same conclusions and we know where our respective areas of strength are. But on any big decisions, we share responsibility. I must ask about the pandemic. What are the good things that might come out of this for the music industry? Far less jet lag, number one! Seriously, we’ve learned a lot as a team. I’m speaking to my European MDs [as one] every two weeks on Zoom, and thinking, ‘Why didn’t I do this before?’ I would have phoned them individually or tried to travel to see each of them. Hopefully some of the protocols of these times will remain, and obviously there's some great music being made. If they found a vaccine tomorrow, and hopefully they will, I’d be kind of disturbed if we all just went back to ‘normal’. People are addressing their quality of life as a result of this: ‘I don’t just have to do ten [songwriting] sessions in five days; I can do some of that remotely, which gives me more time in my life.’ One major downside for me has been the lack of experiencing culture; going to France, Scandinavia and elsewhere, keeping connected to those local music cultures via that freedom of travel. Most of my life has always been transatlantic, from a very early age going from London to America. I love LA, but I always say I love it more when I leave and come back. And then there’s the energy in the business; we give out a lot to a screen [over Zoom etc.], but you just don’t get as much back, apart from blue light. The other week I was in the UK [where lockdown has largely been lifted] and I had this rise in adrenaline, I was feeling on top of my game, and I realised it was because I’d done four or five meetings in person. On the business side, with bars, clubs, restaurants [all shutting due to COVID] it’s going to have an impact. Anybody who talks about their numbers in publishing and doesn’t mention that just isn’t dealing with the realities. By the way, I don’t think collection societies should be first to sing the blues here. Some are good, some aren’t so good; some feel like allies and partners, but some are inefficient, holding on to money and charging high commission rates. I hope they can do something to push more of this money through to [rightsholders].

“I'm happy having a co-Chair. A lot of the one-person leadership thing is about ego.”

Today you share Chairmanship of Warner Chappell with Carianne Marshall; between the two of you you’ve hired new global heads of Admin, Sync, Strategy and Creative Services. How’s your professional harmony as co-Chairs? We actually, genuinely really like each other. I’m really happy I’ve got a co-Chair. A lot of the one person [leadership] thing in this industry is more about ego than it is the realities of running a large business with many moving parts and different challenges. I could never have taken this job if I didn’t genuinely like Carianne; I just wouldn’t do it. Running a business is difficult enough without friction to deal with. 24

That global network of publishing collection societies, when you see how much money is retained overall, is potentially the most inefficient layer of the modern music business. I could bang on and on about this. When you’re objectively looking at the PRO landscape, you would rightly ask some questions: Why has it gotten more, not less, complicated in the digital age? Why

FEATURE

Recent Warner Chappell signing, Frank Ocean

are some of these guys holding on to so much money? I won’t go into individual cases; I think PRS in the UK is doing a good job, trying to change things. But there are a few around the world that are verging on corrupt. Does a local artist know they’re paying a 23% commission to his or her collection society? Publishing has been so ripped apart for its lack of ‘transparency’ in recent years, and that’s something we take very seriously at Warner Chappell. We get audited by our bigger writers every year, and we come out very clean. We’re open to audit – collection societies aren’t. Nobody asks enough questions of certain collection societies: What are they buying? Why do they have a property portfolio? Whose money are they using?

I have to be responsible for [that process], because we’re a global company. We had a town hall and African American employees talked about their individual experiences. I knew racism goes on, but hearing those [stories] was shocking. We’ve looked at our own company and learned that, not by design, we’ve got a very diverse [workforce], and we’ve had reports and tests to back that up. But we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a new head of diversity and inclusion [at WMG, Dr. Maurice Stinnett] and we started the [$100m anti-racism and social justice] fund. One big thing is that it’s tough in America if you’re from the wrong neighborhood to get your [break in music]: we’ve got to make sure we reach those communities more often to recruit talent.

We’ve seen a number of social justice initiatives in the wake of Blackout Tuesday and the widespread Black Lives Matter movement. How has that impacted on how you run a company? It’s been perhaps the most stressful, but also the most informative, and the most emotional, period of my career. I grew up quite naive; from the moment I moved to London, I had Jamaican friends, African friends, we all went out clubbing. But moving to America and running a worldwide company, feeling the weight of decades of very little progress in terms of racial equality and inclusion, it’s like, ‘Whoa.’

There’s a new wave of acquisitive companies in publishing – not least Hipgnosis, plus Round Hill, Primary Wave, Reservoir, Downtown etc. How does a company like Warner Chappell compete when people are buying rights for huge multiples? I don’t blame writers for selling [their rights]; I used to tell my writers for decades, ‘You should never sell your house.’ But when you’re getting offered an 18/19/20 times multiple? I can’t look them in the eye anymore and say the same thing. There’s a lot of happy writers, a lot of happy managers, and a lot of happy attorneys out there. No one’s getting hurt. And if those 25

Lizzo

investors in a few years find out that they’re not getting what they thought they might be getting, they’ll lose some money – that’s life, and that’s investing. Warner Chappell does acquisitions; we have our own capital and we have access to outside capital too. But as much as there are great songs and great catalogs out there, people are overpaying right now. To be very clear, there’s a difference between someone with a chequebook and a music publisher. Some of those chequebook investors can masquerade as a publisher, but they’re not. They don’t know how to extract real value [from rights] like a publisher does. My analogy on this is that you can buy the garden, but that doesn’t mean you’re a gardener – it doesn’t mean you can maintain it or grow it. That’s what publishers do. Whatever the future holds [for rights ownership] – whether its funds, whether it’s individuals, whether it’s institutions – you’ll always need publishers. In the streaming world, how are you going to keep catalog alive? If you don’t sync your song, or have it sampled, allow someone to work it, I’m not sure. The one thing I don’t think anybody’s really thought through is, what happens when these investors all scatter and sell? When they say, ‘Oh, I’m better off putting money in manufacturing now, or natural resources, or commercial property?’ Who’s going to be doing the sync clearances? Who’s going to be registering the songs? There’s the potential for a lot of confusion in five years’ time. Let’s pick an example: You’re a superstar artist, and you’re going to play the Superbowl. We need clearance [for your song catalog] 26

immediately – we’re going to make the deal, we’ve got 48 hours. ‘Erm, there’s 5% of a song [uncleared] here. We don’t know where it is, or who to contact. It was acquired by a fund and then sold.’ That song doesn’t get performed at the Superbowl. That scenario doesn’t just affect the songwriter; it affects artists, big sync fees etc. I fear it could cause chaos. What about the multiples people are paying for rights today? Where will it end? We’re bullish as a company, but you’ve got to be realistic. There are companies out there with business models that I can see hitting the rocks before too long, particularly with the effects of COVID. There is going to be an impact on live performance [from the pandemic] that will take a year to wash through the [publishing payment] system. Also, the CRB appeal is still not resolved in the US – and that could be an issue. You’re a CEO now: What’s left in terms of your personal ambitions? As far as personal ambition goes, I tend to throw that away at the end of each week. I would like Warner Chappell to be recognised as a company that adds real value for songwriters, while building steady growth for its owners. Most important to me is our reputation; people wanting to sign to us, and work with us. It’s about more than just grabbing another percentage of market share, or writing the biggest cheque. n

KEY SONGS IN THE LIFE OFâ&#x20AC;Ś

Steve Mac

Fresh from being named Songwriter of the Year at The Ivors, renowned hitmaker Steve Mac chooses the tracks that inspired him to become one of the best in the business... 28

PLAYLIST

e can’t lie to you: this feature, the one where Music Business UK asks leaders and influencers of the modern music business to announce and examine the five songs that have changed their life, isn’t an entirely original concept. The name, the Key Songs bit, that’s ours (a shuffle-up of Stevie’s words, obviously). And the content itself is certainly fresh, every time – all killer, no filler. Yet pretending that we were the first faction of Her Majesty’s press to come up with the idea? That would take near-Prime Ministerial levels of truth-bending. Steve Mac, one of the most successful UK songwriter/producers in history, knows this. In his younger years, he reveals, he spurned similar advances from the national media – largely for fear that some dolts might find his clutch of sonic favourites “uncool”. He has, thankfully, since warmed to the idea. “I know people will take the mickey a little bit for my choices, but I’m happy with them,” he says. “I’m confident in my own skin these days. This is me!” Where might Mac’s new-found sense of self-acceptance have sprung from? Well, for one thing, there’s the small matter of his now-irreversible reputation as a global pop mastermind. Not only did Mac co-write and produce Spotify’s biggest track of all time, Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You (2.6 billion Spotify streams and counting), he’s also created standouts with/for the likes of Pink, One Direction, Sam Smith, Camila Cabello, Clean Bandit, Demi Lovato, Rita Ora and Jess Glynne, to name but some, in the past few years.

And there’s his big recent news, too. On September 2, Mac added to a mantelpiece full of career accolades with perhaps the sweetest of all: the much-coveted Songwriter Of The Year award at the prestigious Ivor Novellos. “This is such an honour, I can’t quite believe it,” Mac said in his digital acceptance speech – while noting that the award was made extra special by being presented in the 30th year since he created his very first record. Having since been involved in not one but two billion-streaming mega-smashes (Shape Of You and Happier by Marshmello x Bastille), you might assume that Mac’s professional confidence has now reached unwavering solidity. This wouldn’t quite be accurate. Mac might be one of the most decorated figures in British pop, but he’s also one of its most modest – and uncommonly accepting of the vagaries of this industry’s kindnesses. “The thing to remember in this job is that you’ll go through waves of being popular, and you have to be prepared for the fact that those waves don’t last forever,” says Mac, speaking from his London-based Rokstone studio. Still, Mac continues to stay on the top of his game. He has become a reliable source of hits for a new generation of emergent Brit pop stars – from Mabel to Tom Walker – and says that, sometimes, he actually prefers working with rising unknown acts over global idols. “I’ve been so lucky over the last few years to work with marquee artists,” says Mac. “But that also has its drawbacks, because you

“The essence to so much timeless music is simplicity, not overcomplicating matters.”

CONGRATULATIONS TO STEVE MAC SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR IVOR NOVELLO AWARDS FROM ALL THE TEAM

PLAYLIST

start to panic, thinking, ‘This artist is huge; I can only fail them!’ Honestly, the sleepless nights I had before Shape Of You came out. There was this huge excitement over, ‘I might have Ed Sheeran’s first single!’ mixed with this horrible fear of, ‘Erm, I think I might have just screwed up Ed Sheeran’s career…’” Quite the contrary, obvs: Mac has since worked with Sheeran multiple times, on hits including South Of The Border (with Camila Cabello). Songwriter and artist clearly enjoy an atypical simpatico in their joint creative endeavours. “Shape Of You’s production basically ended up as one log drum with Ed singing over the top of it, plus a beat from his guitar,” says Mac. “You should hear how many versions of that record we did, pulling out all these [sonic] tricks. And every time, Ed was like, ‘Steve, honestly, let’s keep it as it is.’ “He was completely right, of course: the essence to so much timeless music is simplicity, not over-complicating matters.” Speaking of which...

to teach me to dance to it. Every Saturday, she would take me into our front room, hold my hands and just try and show me rhythm, backwards and forwards, to this song. I played it again the other day. And, straight away, I was exactly there, in that room, my mum holding my hands, just rocking backwards and forwards, left, right, trying to count steps, her saying, ‘This is how you dance,’ and, ‘Now do this move.’ It’s funny, with everything that I’ve since learnt musically, today I can really appreciate just how simple this song is, the complete genius of it. I had no idea back then. Obviously there are many tunes like that on Motown, but this one in particular is such a strong memory for me because of my mum trying to teach me to dance – which, by the way, I still can’t do.

“This horrible fear: Erm, I think I might have just screwed up Ed Sheeran’s career...”

1) The Supremes, Baby Love (1964, reissued in the UK in 1974)

Great songs are intrinsically tied to memories; they take you back to the time and place you first heard a tune, and the feelings you had. Baby Love does that to me like no other song. I can’t remember how old I was when this record was on the radio, maybe five or six. But I vividly remember my mum trying

2. Alexander O’Neal, Criticize (1987)

Back at school, I was in a band with Chris – who works with me as an engineer today [at Rokstone Studios]. And I started getting into this idea: What’s production? We can write songs – but how can we make them sound better? Then I heard Alexander O’Neal’s Hearsay album, and it just blew me away. This was the first time that I’d heard songs which, melodically speaking, were perfect pop, mixed with this whole storyline, from the start to the end of the album, about being at a party. You had Criticize on there, which is incredible, you had Fake and a bunch of other amazing songs. 31

PLAYLIST

But the thing that really shone through to me, the thing I started to obsess over and appreciate, was the production. Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, these oversized, larger than life sounds – I was in awe of those guys, and still am to be honest. They were on such a roll with Janet Jackson around this time too. Put simply, Hearsay was the album that made me want to be a record producer.

3) Lionel Richie, Hello (1983)

This is where we start getting a bit mushy! I was a teenager when this came out, starting to get girlfriends and that sort of thing, and starting to understand what love songs were actually about. I’ve gone for Hello here, but it was the whole album, Can’t Slow Down. I just couldn’t stop playing it. I’d get home from school and, every night, while doing homework, I’d be listening to Hello, All Night Long, Stuck On You – an unbelievable run of songs. If Jam & Lewis made me want to be a producer, Lionel Richie, in particular his ballads, made me want to be a songwriter. It helped that I was realising that girls loved that stuff [laughs]; if you could write those kinds of songs, you could probably get a girlfriend! Again, the simplicity of Lionel’s songs really rubbed off on me. They were love songs, but the lyrics were very honest. When I first started writing with Wayne [Hector], I noticed it in his writing too – rather than just being syrupy, actually saying things about love like you’d say them in a conversation. That’s the main thing I got from listening to Lionel, it was like having a conversation – and that’s a marker of the very best songwriting in my book.

4) Whitney Houston, I Will Always Love You (1992)

I’m okay around music people, because that’s just work – it’s when I’m in the same room as film stars that I start acting like a kid. There’s two exceptions to that: I’ve never met Jam & Lewis, and if I did, I doubt I’d be able to play it cool, because I’m such a fan. And it’s the same with David Foster – whose work changed my life. He is still very much The Man in my eyes. I Will Always Love You is an incredible song, full stop, and Dolly Parton’s original version is obviously a masterclass. But I never really knew that version when I was younger. The first time I heard the song was Whitney Houston’s version, and I was knocked out – the best song, the best production, everything that goes with it. David Foster exec-produced The Bodyguard, and all those tracks were great, but I Will Always Love You is especially genius. The bravery to start the song a capella, the sheer belief it shows in Whitney Houston and her voice, and then the way the production just takes over… all of it had a massive impact on me, and why I ended up doing what I do today.

5) Clivillés and Cole, A Deeper Love (1991)

When I first started off writing, it was in the dance music world. A lot of people kind of come in that way, and it has instant rewards – you’re literally seeing people move to the music you’re making, that instantaneous reaction. I used to do a little bit of DJ’ing on the side; I don’t think I was very good, but I had a big record collection. A lot of the dance records I’d play were quite specialist, down a certain lane – R&B, or house, or garage. And then this production team came along, Clivillés and Cole, and very suddenly had this huge influence on what I wanted to do with my life. A Deeper Love was the coolest track, that was still completely commercial, that I’d ever heard. It was a dance classic, but it was obviously going to sell internationally in massive numbers [on mainstream charts] too. I’ve tried to make records that can straddle those two worlds ever since. I love playing the songs I’ve talked about here to my girls when we’re in a car on a long journey – that way they can’t escape! And I try to educate them a little bit in terms of, ‘This was what dad was doing and was into around this time.’ And then later, because of Spotify etc, they start looking stuff up and listening to it. That’s definitely been the case with Clivillés and Cole. Music moves in trends and I’ve noticed there’s a lot of ‘90s sounds coming back around now, especially those big pianos. Clivillés and Cole were the masters, extraordinary producers coming out with this unforgettable, positive message. n

“I’ve never met Jam & Lewis, and if I did I doubt I’d be able to play it cool.”

INTERVIEW

‘IN MUSIC, PEOPLE OFTEN JUST FOCUS ON WHAT THEY CAN MAKE, RATHER THAN WHAT’S AT STAKE’ Manchester-based music company NQ is making big moves in the industry, especially via star client Aitch. Its founder, Michael Adex, explains his philosophy on business...

ost of us, aged 24, were flailing around in entry-level jobs while stuck between the weird middle ground of post-education life and proper adulting. Not Michael Adex. Today, aged 24, he’s the owner of a management company, publisher and record label, NQ, which has major backing from Universal Music. He can also lay claim to the development of one of the buzziest new UK acts in Manchester — rapper Aitch. Do you feel unaccomplished yet? You might be comforted to know that Adex started his music industry journey after a failed attempt at a career as a footballer (he admits he wasn’t the most hardworking sportsman). He then started enjoying his late teens by going out and partying with new artists he’d discovered on SoundCloud. There came a point, as there does for all of us, where Adex thought he better do something more prosperous with his life and find something he was passionate enough about to work hard at. Music was the obvious choice and Manchester, where Adex was based, held a wealth of opportunity. He explains: “Having travelled across the UK and seen loads of different cities, I realised that Manchester was a place that was very unique. Outside of music, it’s got two of the biggest football clubs in the world, the economy was growing and there was talk of launching the [high speed rail network] HS2 too. “Historically, Manchester has had a big music scene with Factory Records and The Haçienda, and in recent years with the emergence of UK rap, there was a lot of talent around [the city] that I felt were just as good, if not better, than the Londonbased and more successful artists.

“I felt that I could utilise my connections, and pick the [artists] I felt had the potential to take it to the next level and make something out of themselves.” One of the first artists Adex picked up was Aitch, who hit No.3 on the UK charts last year with his AitcH20 EP (released via a licensing deal with Sony). He followed that with a No.7 position for Polaris in 2020. Other artists to look out for under the NQ banner include rappers Mastermind (signed to Columbia) and Ayo Britain, plus producers WhyJay and LiTek, both of whom are published by UMPG. NQ is now three years old and has a six-strong

work, the money will come. For me, it was important that I could offer the artist or any talent I want to work with whatever they need, rather than what I want. So if we get an artist that comes to us who already has a manager, cool, we’ll offer you a record deal, and if they’ve already got a record deal, sweet, I want to be your publisher. We always go above and beyond to make the artist a success and to me, it’s irrelevant what we actually do, as long as we have a business relationship with them. What are your business principles? Being as transparent as possible and always seeking to add value — I would never sign somebody that I don’t feel like we can actually help.

“We want to reach for the stars and work with people at the highest level.” team working across A&R, management and publishing. They will soon be based at a newly purchased home in Openshaw — the NQ House — which will exist as a creative space. Adex has further ambitions to buy a merchandise company this year, and outside of music, wants to move into sport, TV and film... You’re a management company, label and publisher. Why offer all three services? I wanted to make sure that I have a level of difference in how I do things. Very early on, I realised that within the music industry, a lot of [companies] are about taking, taking, taking, without giving. I really wanted our point of difference to be the fact that we add value. We’re a business, so of course we need to make money, but I’m a strong believer that if you do good

You’re impressively young for a business owner — how did you learn your business savvy? Is there anyone you’ve learned from? When I want to get into something, I seek knowledge in many different ways. That could be from reading books to being inquisitive when I’m in situations, and researching, looking at different articles and YouTube videos. This is the information age, so if you really want to know something, it’s literally a few clicks away. I did my best at learning the theory and applying it in practice and I tried to utilise other people’s experiences too. I try to live vicariously through other people and learn from their mistakes before I make them myself. Is there anyone in the business who you would call an inspiration? Definitely Jay-Z and what he’s built with Roc Nation, and Scooter Braun and what he’s built with SB Projects. Tim and Danny 35

Aitch

INTERVIEW

[of Stellar Songs] really inspire me too. They are the main reason why I purchased a building in Manchester to be our creative space — when I went down to LA and saw their Stellar House in Venice Beach, it gave me the inspiration to set up something similar in Manchester.

WhyJay

What attracts you to new artists? Talent, but most importantly, dedication and hard work. Early on, the first two artists that I signed were Aitch and another artist from his area called Samurai. At the time, Samurai was a lot bigger than Aitch, but the difference was that [from Adex’s perspective] Samurai wasn’t as hardworking. That taught me a big lesson. So I try not to look at their talent too much and look more at their willingness to listen and their willingness to work hard, because those two things will take you a lot further than just talent by itself. You signed a deal with Universal eight months ago — can you tell us more about the nature of that agreement? We are a fully independent company but we have got a publishing joint venture with Universal and a distribution partnership for our record label. The relationship is there to help give more opportunities to the regional artists we work with and also provide opportunities for southern-based artists to experience a different culture and work with different writers/producers. It’s important to be able to give more opportunities to our talent but also to incubate talent that’s already existing in the Universal system. You signed a short licensing deal with Aitch to Sony — where do you stand on finding major record label deals for your artists? I approach it on a case-by-case basis because every artist has got different needs and ambitions. I still believe that if you truly want to be an international artist, it’s important to have the right resources and major labels are your best bet. If you instead have the ambition to sustain yourself, and you’re generating enough money [to] do music full time –

and if you have the creative control and the control in how you release your music without certain pressures — then I would say maybe an independent setup or label makes more sense.

“I realised that a lot of music companies are about taking, taking, taking...” What are the most significant changes you’re currently witnessing in the music industry? I see that major labels will have to start doing more artist-favourable deals, like profit share, in order to convince artists to sign — especially those who work at a bigger level and have created their

own infrastructure. I think trying to sign someone with a small [advance] nowadays is very difficult unless you’re offering them more favourable terms. A lot of people understand and have access to the information that if it does go well, the label will benefit a lot if [the artist is] on a royalty deal. Also, unless a label really believes in you, they are not going to put in the same amount of money for an established artist than they would for an up-and-coming artist. So it doesn’t really make sense for an upand-coming artist to go to a label that is not going to utilise all their resources and still [ask for] 80% of the artist’s income on a royalty deal. The artist could just do it themselves, build up their leverage, and then ask for a better deal. Do you see those deals changing already? 100% — I feel like the average deal cost 37

Ayo Britain

has gone up because artists are coming in with a bit more leverage or understanding that they know their worth, or their potential worth. Do you see that change having a wider impact on the music industry? Labels right now have less power and that is because there is just much more talent doing it independently. Now you can go on Ditto or DistroKid, pay a fee for a year, upload your music and that music is listenable worldwide. So the barriers to entry are lower, labels are seeing things a lot later, and when they are seeing it they are having to remunerate the artist for the time and effort they’ve put in beforehand. It’s a lot more difficult for [labels] to break 38

through with early acts because of the amount of people trying to pursue music.

— and that we’ve set for the artist — that is all we can work towards.

How do you break an act? We invest in what we believe in, we simply seek to add value where we can. It’s less about what we want to do and more about what the artist wants to do. We always want to reach for the stars and be able to work with people at the highest level possible but those things you can’t really guarantee, so it’s about believing that someone can achieve something and being able to invest in it. That’s all we want to do. If they then become the next Aitch, we are all happy, if they don’t, as long as we’ve done our job, added value and tried to accomplish the targets that the artist has set for themselves

What do you think success means in music today? I think it means a variety of things — one person’s view of success is another person’s view of failure. Success for me, personally? I want to grow my brand to be nationally and internationally recognised, I want to break truly international acts, create opportunities around our brand and grow and develop regional infrastructure to the level that it impacts the world. For someone else, however, success could be the opposite, where they might just be doing music for fun. Again, because the barriers of entry are low, anyone can do anything they want.

INTERVIEW

Michael Adex backstage, keeping an eye on the lens

Xxxx

signing because you’re saying x, y and z, and once they are signed, you’re not giving them x, y and z. It’s all about being honest and delivering on what you’re saying you’re going to deliver on.

There are artists out there who are making serious money off of streaming but aren’t necessarily interested in winning a Brit Award. For a person to have true success they have to run their own race. I want to compete at the highest level and I want to have the accolades, get number one albums and singles. That’s success for me. What would you change about the music industry and why? I would try and make it more honest [when talking about] what you can offer someone and what you can do for them. There are a lot of intangibles that people say they can offer but I think it’s about trying to make those intangibles more tangible so it doesn’t get to a point where an artist is

Do you see a lot of dishonesty going on? I think there is but not necessarily on purpose. In the music business, there are a lot of pressures involved in certain roles where you have to get results at any cost. If you’ve got to tell a white lie here or there just to get a deal across the table, I understand it, but I don’t think that’s fair to the artist and I don’t think telling them or advising them on what’s best for you is best for them. You constantly see that leading to the same thing — the artist gets unhappy when they realise what decisions have been made and now there is a big dispute. Disputes will always happen but I think, even for your own conscience, have the conversation at the beginning and give the pros and cons of the situation. If you go to an investment advisor [for advice], they will tell you yes, you can make half a million [on an investment], but they’ll also say you could lose half a million. In music, I think a lot of times people just focus on what they can make, rather than what’s at stake. It should be about giving people all the information so they can make an informed decision.

What are your ultimate ambitions? Where do you want to be in 10 years? I want to have built an entertainment company that spans different sectors but is true to its mission statement of adding value to all its clients. With the content stuff that we are looking to do, I want to be able to tell interesting stories about people and showcase the creativity within different spaces in the UK. I also want to work on an international level and bridge the gap a bit more by taking artists from the UK and exposing them to different territories by doing international collaborations. I was born in Germany so I understand the size of the world and just how much is out there in terms of opportunity. I never want to get side-tracked in just thinking about Manchester, England and the UK Top 40. That’s why Aitch has toured in Europe already; he was meant to do a New Zealand which couldn’t happen because of the COVID situation, and he’s done a lot of things in America as well. But the main point is to really fulfil our mission statement, which is to be a place of true value. For anyone we work with, we want to be able to help facilitate what they want to do and grow it to something that hopefully is internationally recognised — if that’s the aim for the artist. n 39

THE ONE TRUE FAN THEORY Peter Robinson wonders if the secret to a happy and successful artist career is focusing on your biggest fan – literally... In 2008, Wired’s Kevin Kelly floated an idea that would become influential throughout the music industry and beyond. In 1,000 True Fans he defined a true fan as “someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name.” If you could make $100 profit from each of these fans, it would allow you to ‘make a living’ to the tune of $100k a year. This was all written before streaming saved the music industry and alternatives to streaming saved musicians from streaming, but in February this year Li Jin, a board observer at email subscription site Substack “focused on early-stage consumer investments”, refined the idea further. Rather than getting $100 from a thousand fans, Jin suggested that $1,000 from a hundred would do the trick. Her thinking makes sense: it seems wholly possible that of those 1,000 true fans Kelly proposed in 2008, one in 10 likely would have either a relationship with your work far exceeding the intensity of the remaining 90% or, failing that, simply far more money than sense. Jin proposed a key difference in how to approach this new fanbase of 100 people. She suggested that while the Kelly model required the creator to start with product and for contributions to be fuelled by a fan’s sense of “altruism or fandom”, the $1,000-a-year offering should start with identifying the fan’s needs, and for their $1,000 contribution to be motivated by “self-interest”, which could mean exclusive access. This still sounds like a lot of admin, so I’d like to propose we reduce the number of fans even further, to precisely one. Most decent radio presenters accept that broadcasting as if you’re talking to just one person is the best way to create intimacy on the airwaves, and that phrases like “how’s everyone 40

“I’d like to propose we reduce the number of fans even further, to precisely one.”

doing today?” (shit, thanks, there’s a global pandemic) should be swerved in favour of “how are you doing today?”, and I’ve used italics there to highlight the difference in the two sentences, rather than to suggest all DJs adopt the manner of a Friends cast member, although if you regularly listen to commercial radio you’ll be aware that most of them are doing that already. If you’re a musician, I’d like to invite you to swap your aspirations of millions, thousands, hundreds or even dozens of lowercase fans for something very different: a desire to find and serve your one, true, capital-f Fan. Obviously market research has worked around this principle for a while, with consultants drawing littles picture and saying, “Oh, this is Janet, she has two kids and enjoys karate, she is who will be buying your new electricity tariff,” or whatever. Meetings for the next 18 months will be punctuated by pained howls of “WHAT ABOUT JANET!!!” This is how we end up with TV channels called things like Dave. And obviously the idea is that ‘Janet’ is

COMMENT

Wu-Tang Clan (and RZA, pictured) mastered the one true fan theory – albeit with a disgraced ex-pharma executive

Gonzales Photo / Alamy

actually thousands of people, but that’s not what I’m proposing here. I’m not going to finish this column by saying, “Hey, once you’ve defined your fan, your proposition will be so incredible that thousands more will come!!” That might well be true, but that’s not the point. I’m talking one fan. Can you handle that challenge? And considering my proposal is basically modernday patronage, can you Handel it? Your thoughts may already be wandering in the direction of Wu-Tang Clan’s seventh album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which was released in an edition of one in 2015. Now, fair enough, that album ended up being purchased by a disgraced former pharmaceutical executive who’s currently in prison, and I’m not going to promise that either you or someone else reading this won’t end up living in a little shed at the bottom of a despot’s garden, but I’d invite you to weigh up the ethical pros and cons of this scenario against having to perform a canapé-fuelled media showcase or audition for a label. Also: free rent. Where to find your sponsor? Well, consider this: any song that’s ever charted is surely at least one person’s favourite-ever song, and, with more millionaires in the UK than ever before, there’s a strong chance that person has loads of cash. This is true even if you happen to create the worst song ever recorded, and by that I specifically mean BodyRockers’ I Like The Way, which was Prince William and Kate Middleton’s favourite song, and they’re loaded, thus proving my point. The beauty of this One True Fan model is that you don’t need to be any good in any objective or measurable way, you just need to be the right artist for the right person. Your search for a sponsor may involve putting together a PDF and a PowerPoint and it may involve a laser pointer. Do not fear these tools; embrace them. There are plenty of other benefits to all this. I appreciate the decimation of the live music scene is a contentious topic at the moment, but if there’s one silver lining, other than social distancing ensuring that Rita Ora may now be able to pull off a sold out stadium tour, it’s that you won’t be expected to play to an empty venue. If your Fan does want to experience a full live show, they’ll have to fill the rest of the venue with paid extras. In theory this is no worse than an artist/manager coaching in a load of their mates when an A&R’s on the guestlist, and I’d suggest the transaction is in fact a lot less morally troublesome.

“I’m not going to promise you won’t end up living in a shed at the bottom of a despot’s garden.”

Also: no trolling on social media. Think of the mental health benefits! Nor, without the need to attract more followers, will there be any imperative to demean yourself on new, wildly inappropriate social platforms, which is good news for the 98% of artists who’d rather lose a limb than open yet another management email subject-lined ‘Idea for a new TikTok’. The only (?) potential problem in this plan is that if you do by chance happen to be any good, other people may also want to become your fan. Say you’re required to perform a three-song set at the grand opening of a kitchen extension belonging to your Fan, the billionaire founder of a white goods manufacturer (quite literally, a fridge magnate). What if one of the invited dignitaries wants to hear one of your songs again, or is interested in buying a T-shirt? This will require a difficult conversation with your Fan. They may wish to share you, but I feel you should resist. That would demolish the simplicity and beauty of the whole arrangement. Alternatively, you could approach it like the lovechild of Bryan Adams and everything said by a bassist in Melody Maker during the mid-1990s: “Everything I do I do it for you, and if anyone else likes it that’s a bonus.” I can’t take credit for this idea, by the way. Morrissey obviously twigged many years ago, and has been doing his best to hit the target ever since. 41

WHAT I WISH I’D KNOWN Sarita Borge started her career at Kiss FM before joining Ministry of Sound in an A&R role. She later joined Asylum Records as Label Manager, then moved into management at Roar Global and First Access Entertainment, where she worked with Ray BLK. Today, she works with Clean Bandit at YMU Group where she is Senior Manager... The main thing that I wish I’d known in my early twenties is to not get hung up on mistakes. I used to be too hard on myself and take things too personally. I was so terrified of making a mistake, and if I did I felt like the walls were closing in, the room was spinning; I couldn’t really cope. I used to beat myself up about it, and that probably made me less confident and too scared to make certain calls, because you’re just so fearful of getting something wrong. But you can’t possibly insure against everything, there are too many unpredictable factors involved in anything you do, especially in this industry. Things will always go wrong, there will be mistakes, that’s just standard. Then I’d speak to friends and people running the best global campaigns for the biggest artists, and things mess up there too, of course. I’ve realised that I was actually really good at all of my jobs — I am so diligent and I just wouldn’t leave the office until all of my work was done. To me, that was what you were supposed to do. When I was working under Ben Cook at Ministry and Asylum Records, his attitude was ‘no stone left unturned’. We covered every single angle and we actually had very few things that I’d say went wrong. That, for sure, was a contributor to our pretty high strike rate in terms of hits. Then I worked at more places and got experience of different companies and realised that’s not how everyone worked. So I started to credit myself with not letting anything fall through the net and that probably had a significant impact on the results we got for our artists. It would have been a lot more significant than I ever gave myself credit for at the time. When you’re in the more supportive roles, it’s easy to think that anyone that’s given this role would just do it the same way, but actually, I 42

“After working for some tough management, I’ve now got thick skin.”

was probably doing it really, really well. After working for some quite tough management, I’ve now got a super thick skin and don’t take anything personally — it’s gone the other way. So it’s worked out pretty well. But I feel like I probably would’ve made bigger strides in my earlier years if I perhaps wasn’t so nervous and hard on myself. On the theme of taking things personally, I used to take to heart being told no, or that my idea was not being taken up. I got frustrated by it. Now I’ve moved into more senior roles myself and taken on more responsibility, I’ve realised that it’s actually really hard to have the time to process something that hasn’t been clearly and comprehensively presented to you. I may have gone into a boss’s office with, ‘We should do this and that and blah, blah, blah on that record because…’ and given a short explanation.

FEATURE

Clean Bandit

But people who are running record companies have a lot of responsibility and not a lot of time, so you need to clearly and concisely present your arguments with facts and comparisons. When they did ask for that, I would feel like, ‘Oh you shouldn’t be asking me to do that, you should just trust me’. I took it personally and I shouldn’t have done. In those instances, I could have gone away, written up an email, done a little case study, presented it to them, and would more likely have been heard more positively. I find the same thing now with junior members of staff I’m working with — I might say, ‘Can you find out about ABC?’ and they’ll come back with scrappy information and I realise how my patience gets tried in those instances. It’s like, ‘No, you’re wasting my time now and I needed this answer an hour ago.’ But if your ideas aren’t being encouraged or picked up, that can be quite damaging for your confidence or your will to come up with ideas. I hope that if younger people are reading this, that it might at least plant the seed of thought that you can’t necessarily appreciate what you’re seeing in

“I felt like nothing was ever good enough – and actually, I was probably one of the best.”

management until you’re working more closely to that space. Maybe they don’t hate you, maybe they’re just really busy. Looking back to when I was younger, I never used to get a ‘well done’ or ‘don’t know what we’d do without you’. I wish someone told me, ‘You’re doing a really good job here, we know all your work is making a difference to all of the successes of these artists and these records.’ I felt like nothing was ever good enough, and actually, I was probably one of the best at doing what I was doing. But at least I know now and can be proud of myself for my contribution to all of those acts and releases over the years. It’s made me conscious of being kind to junior staff, especially when you see that they have good intentions and they want to work hard. How can you not encourage that? I think it’s a lovely thing to try and help grow these people, support them and reassure them. So I try to reassure and encourage, even when I’m delivering a criticism — always underlay it with a positive. Sarita Borge was speaking with Rhian Jones 43

‘WE REALLY DIG INTO WHO AN ARTIST IS, AND WHEN YOU DO THAT YOU CAN’T HELP BUT BE PASSIONATE’ Jamie Nelson and Gemma Reilly, the new leadership team for BMG’s frontline recording business in the UK, reflect on the power of being different...

amie Nelson and Gemma Reilly, as befits new UK leaders of a very different music company, have very different backgrounds. And, in the age of Zoom, it’s worth stressing that this isn’t simply the aesthetic merits of a bookcase vs a fireplace. Rather, they are the contrasting but complementary duo “steering BMG’s frontline recording business” in the UK (according to the wording of the official announce release) in the roles of VP A&R (Nelson) and VP Marketing (Reilly) following a management restructure at the start of the year. Their divergent backgrounds, however, go back further – and wider – than their BMG career paths. 44

For Reilly, the route to the music industry was pinball – bumping between the travel industry and a spell as Marketing Director in a company specialising in cosmetic dermatology, before moving to London to work for a music charity, flipping her own management/publishing/consultancy company into a full-time gig at BMG as Senior Product Manager, then working her way up the ranks. Nelson’s course plots more like a dead straight snooker shot – with maybe a little bit of side and judicious use of the odd cushion. He left school at 16, a budding guitarist, determined to get close to music. His first job was as a tea boy/tape op in various studios, becoming a sound engineer before observing

that “the A&R guys who came into the studio seemed to have a more interesting relationship with the artists, and were close to the creative process; I decided that was what I wanted”. He was given his break by Korda Marshall, at RCA, before enjoying a golden period at Parlophone. “I was there for 17 years, working with loads of different artists, Kylie Minogue, Tina Turner, I signed Lilly Allen and worked on various other projects,” he says. “I then got moved over to Universal [following its acquisition of EMI], where I ran the Mercury A&R department for a few years, working with artists like Jake Bugg and Maverick Sabre. And I spent some time at Polydor, working with Ferdy [Unger-

INTERVIEW

Hamilton]. Then I was bought into BMG in 2015; to be back working with Korda [then EVP or recorded music, now a senior A&R consultant to the company] after so long was really fantastic.” The fact that, between them, Nelson and Reilly have covered so much different ground is entirely apt and no doubt useful when at the helm of a company that has enjoyed success with a roster that goes from Kylie to KSI and Rick Astley to Rejjie Snow – with artists like The Shires, Groove Armada, Jack Savoretti and Aled Jones & Russell Watson also in the mix. At BMG, range is important. In their first interview in their new roles, Nelson and Reilly tell MBUK about the power of partnership, the challenges of lockdown, Kylie going DISCO, KSI’s credibility and putting artists at the centre of their own business... Before we hit your BMG days, and your new partnership in particular, Jamie can I just ask you, as someone who has worked at some big labels with some big name execs, is there anyone who made a special impression on you and has influenced how you work? JAMIE NELSON: For me, the one that always shines through is Tony Wadsworth. He was Chairman at EMI, but before that he was my boss at Parlophone. Just everything about Tony represented integrity and fairness, respect for the artists and respect for people. And, because of his hirings, and because of his philosophy, those values bled all the way through the company. It made for a very exciting, but very real place to be. Interestingly, because of the phenomenal success, the assumption might be that there was a real arrogance about the place, or a swagger; in fact, it was the absolute opposite. Tony kept everyone’s feet on the ground, kept us focused on the work and the artists, and the result was that it was a place where everyone felt confident, but confident enough not to feel the need to brag or be arrogant. It was a lovely place to work, a lot of fun, and that’s a culture I’m consistently trying to connect with as I get on with my own work.

And is there an A&R win that you’d pick out from your pre-BMG days as one you’re particularly proud of? JN: Yeah, it’s a strange one, because it isn’t one that you would necessarily think of. Simon Webbe was in Blue. And at a certain point, he was the last one down the pecking order, the one no one imagined would work [as a solo artist]. But I got given that project and we smashed it, we just had great success. We were very focused, really together, and determined to make something out of nothing – or certainly from zero expectations [Webbe enjoyed a Top 5 single and Top 10 album in 2005]. BMG pitches itself as a different kind of music company - what are the differences you notice on the inside? GEMMA REILLY: I came from a corporate background, but I’d also worked for myself,

President, Repertoire & Marketing UK], the mentality and philosophy is very much, as Gemma mentioned, not about ego, the focus is a collection of individuals working together to get the very best outcome for our artists. GR: It’s also exciting to be part of Bertelsmann [Europe’s biggest media company, the 100% shareholder in BMG], with RTL, Fremantle, Penguin, Random House etc. [all part of the same family as BMG]. The creative, contentbased conversations across those divisions can lead to some great projects and create opportunities for our artists. Prior to your promotions, what would you pick out as highlights of your time at BMG? JN: For me, I would say we’re really proud of the work we’ve done with Kylie. We took her at a point similar to when we signed her at Parlophone, following a more difficult period for her. And I think we’ve done a similar job this time around, reenergising the project, really focusing on the creative, working closely and collaboratively with her team. That’s been an amazing experience [Kylie’s first album for BMG, Golden, was a No. 1 in 2018; a compilation, Step Back In Time, reached No. 1 in 2019]. On a different level, I’ve really enjoyed working with Rejjie Snow. It’s a project that took us into a more contemporary area, very much data-led and streaming-led, and I really enjoyed the process of working with Rejjie and his team, it was a lot of fun.

“There’s a culture of collaboration here, between different teams and with colleagues around the world.” and what I liked immediately was that there were elements of both at BMG. I liked the structure and security, and I liked the kind of entrepreneurial elements and creative freedom of the independent world, the excitement of that. I think BMG strikes the perfect balance between the two, culturally and in how it goes about its business. And I think the people it attracts add to that and are very similar in terms of how they approach things. I’m not a fan of egos, put it that way. We’re about the artist and we’re about service. We’re very collaborative, across departments, across territories. And we’re also very good at developing and promoting from within. JN: For me it’s a very similar mentality and attitude to the one I was just talking about at Parlophone. If you spend time with Hartwig [Masuch, CEO] and Alistair [Norbury,

GR: I’d have to go back to one of my first big wins, which was the Rick Astley comeback campaign. That just blew our minds. I mean, it over-delivered ten-fold, if not more. It was an incredible result, and Rick was and is such a wonderful, wonderful person to work with [Astley had a No. 1 album with 50, in 2016, nearly 30 years after his first No. 1 album]. When something takes off like that, and exceeds expectations so spectacularly, presumably you try and analyse exactly what took it to that next level - what do you think it was in this case? GR: You do, of course, and often what you 45

find is that it’s the result of lots of little things. The interesting thing about Rick is, even though he was originally around in the ‘80s, his online numbers, on YouTube particularly, compared to artists of a similar demographic, are really amazing. We also worked really closely with Simon Moran and SJM to make sure the live strategy and the record strategy worked hand in hand, that was really successful. And then, you know, he could get on TV, people wanted to talk to him, and that made a massive difference. And Jack Savoretti, developing and breaking him, and getting a No. 1 album [Singing To Strangers, 2019]... I’ve worked with him on all three records, so to go from where we started to there was a phenomenal result. And then more up to date, [YouTube superstar] KSI, I’ve just loved it. How different has it been working with an artist like that, with a back story like that, compared to the rest of the roster? GR: It’s very different, because he comes with a huge audience, a huge fanbase, so almost whatever he did would deliver a certain volume. Our job was to bed him into the world of music in a credible way, so a lot of work has been done creatively, and within the industry, within the media, to firmly establish him as an artist that radio wants to play, that TV wants to talk to, that press will speak favourably about. That’s meant building a music team around him. That’s been great and those initial targets have definitely been achieved. The other main thing to get right was the streaming strategy: don’t just come and go, keep coming with stuff, keep building your music, keep building your portfolio, keep bringing music to market in a regular manner, chipping away and chipping away and chipping away – and every time we kept chipping away, more support started to come. Now he’s done the feature on the Nathan Dawe track [Lighter, No. 3] and we had success with Houdini [No. 6] and the album itself [Dissimulation, No. 2], both of which are certified Silver. That’s the result of the 46

Kylie

work we put in, and we still feel we’ve got loads more we can do – and that’s really exciting for me. JN: It’s worth adding that if you look at the way a lot of [record] companies, and I’ve worked at enough of them over the years, you’ll notice that projects that come in internationally tend to get served up as they are [in the UK]; that’s the nature of the way things work. With KSI [which was signed out of BMG’s LA office] things were different. As I said earlier, there’s a culture of collaboration here, not just between different teams, but with our colleagues around the world. That means that we’ll connect and refocus on certain projects when they need it. And in this instance, on Houdini in particular, there was a focus on making sure that we were delivering records that had an ability to really grow at UK radio. I think that process of getting involved, supporting and helping them, making sure that, from an A&R perspective, they were getting that support, has resulted in great success.

Let’s talk about the promotion/ management restructure announced at the start of the year. How was it pitched to you in terms of what the new roles would be, what was expected of you, etc? JN: Well, Gemma and I have been working very closely together over a few years and I think Alistair could see that we enjoyed working with each other. I think we’re both very progressive in our thinking in terms of being more focused than ever on streaming and digital, and opportunities for artists, new artists and heritage artists. We want to work with new artists, we want to break artists, but we also know how to work really smartly with heritage artists, artists that bring their own audience and who we can take to the next level. GR: I think we both also have a good track record in developing our teams, taking people at a junior level and building them up. How do you complement each other? JN: We get on as friends, first and foremost, but at the same time, we’re pretty different people, coming in with different skill sets and

KSI

McFly

different histories. I think having that ability to be across so many different elements, but also being very closely connected in the way we think is a real benefit. We’re often very much in sync, but we also approach different issues and different problems from different angles, and that can be very helpful. GR: I think, as well, particularly in the situation we find ourselves in, it’s such an intense way of working, and it can feel very isolated, so to co-steer is a lovely experience. You make decisions together, you’ve got a sounding board who you can trust and rely on when something’s challenging; the support that brings is hugely valuable. On your joint To Do list, how big a priority is it to make BMG known as a record company that breaks new artists? JN: Firstly, I think we need to be realistic about where the market is now. The idea that you come as a total unknown and break through to stadium or arena level – that’s happening less regularly than ever now. 48

The reality is that most artists have some runway behind them, that they built themselves, through live, or, like KSI, on YouTube, or on TV, or on TikTok. There are all these avenues through which artists can develop way before a record company is involved. And I think it highlights, actually, where I feel we sit within all of this, because we can take an artist who is starting to build their own fanbase and their own business, we can come in at the right time and magnify everything they’re doing, give them as much A&R support as they want, join the dots internationally and continue their development, taking them as far as they want to go. I think that’s where we’re at our best and that’s totally in step with where the market is today. You mentioned the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Gemma. You officially took up your new roles in February – and the country was in complete lockdown in March. How did

you deal with that, as company leaders, both in terms of your artists and your staff? GR: Well, initially, it was just unreal. We had to go all the way through the release schedule, look at everything and start again. At the same time, there’s clearly a high level of responsibility for our teams, making sure that they’re well looked after and that there’s regular dialogue. And I think it was crucial to ensure that the collaborative approach that we described earlier continues when it’s done in a virtual world, and I think we’ve done it really well. It does result in a life of Zoom, and I think you do have to deliberately over-communicate, to ensure to make sure everybody knows what’s going on at all times. It’s really intense, it’s tiring, it’s challenging, but I think there are a lot of things that have come out of it that are very positive to take forward. It’s tough, but we’ve done it, we’re doing it, and there are elements to it that are very good.

INTERVIEW

JN: The reality of it is that we’ve ended up doing more deals than we did last year. We’ve managed to connect with artists and managers, and all the records that we needed and wanted to come out this year are coming out. It kind of focuses the mind and it feels to me like, as we get to end of the year, we should be very proud of the job that’s been done, because it wasn’t easy to pull all those things together, but we’re so lucky to have such a great team around us that can help us deliver. So, are you saying that you’ll release the same amount of records this year as you as you aimed to at the start of the year? JN: Some projects, and this will be the same for all companies, had to be paused for a minute, especially those that were reliant very much on physical sales. But we’ve readjusted, we’ve adapted, and when I think about the projects that have come in, like Travis, McFly and Steps, all these deals that weren’t there at the start of the year… and we had no Kylie record to speak of, remember, all that’s been recorded through lockdown, same with Amy MacDonald. You sit and look at it and think, Wow, that’s pretty impressive, to see all of that stuff working and happening despite everything; it’s a credit to all of the brilliant people around us.

GR: What Kylie, the creative team and ourselves have been able to deliver, and the level of quality, is incredible. We’ve been working with her since Golden, we did a really successful Greatest Hits campaign last year, and, every time, momentum was growing and growing. Now, with the launch of this album, with fantastic music, exactly what people want to hear from Kylie, at this time, it’s all come together, and we’re tracking way ahead of Golden. We’ve got a really solid strategy, loads of exciting initiatives through the year, with various partners. Streaming’s off to a brilliant start, the video views are fantastic, pre-orders are great, the multi-format approach is working brilliantly, it feels really right. It’s a very different record to the country-

What else would you pick out between now and the end of the year? GR: McFly’s going great, I’m so excited about that. JN: Yeah, I mean, that’s one of those projects where you feel... it was interesting when Gemma was talking about Rick Astley, you know, there’s been a bit of distance, the appetite is there from the fans. GR: And the media as well, which is encouraging. And then Curtis Waters [described by The Guardian as ‘TikTok king’] is also a project that we’re thoroughly enjoying at the moment, again in partnership with our US team. The number of streams that Stunnin’ is getting [nearly 100m on Spotify alone at time of press] is phenomenal. What would you tell artists looking for a partner is the BMG difference? What’s unique about your pitch? JN: We want to work with artists who want to be at the very centre of their own business. We encourage them to have as much control as they want, creatively, and to tap into our fantastic team as much as they want; it’s their record, and that’s that. But it’s not just a creative thing, it extends to the financial element and the way that projects are pulled together, because it’s their business. We really are facilitators for them, creatively and from a business perspective. We’re here purely to support their ambition and vision, that for me is the crucial part of our philosophy.

“We want to work with artists who want to be at the very centre of their own business.”

Can you tell us a bit about the projects lined up for the rest of the year? JN: Well, we should start with Kylie. Kylie went off and learned how to use all of the stuff she needed to be able to record her own vocals. She worked out how to use Logic, she learned how to edit her own vocal tracks, and that in itself is phenomenal. And the fact is, she’s made an amazing record [DISCO, due 6 November], one we’re very proud of. And then beyond that, to see all of those other assets coming together in such a brilliant, creative way, particularly given the circumstances we’ve already discussed, like I say, I look at the whole project with real pride.

tinged Golden set, how big a part of the conversation are you guys when it comes to going in a different direction? JN: What I would say is, I don’t really work on any other project at BMG in the way that I do with Kylie. Because, historically, we’ve spent a lot of time working together and having hits, so it’s a very collaborative process, we are in constant consultation, discussing the way that the record’s going to sound and what’s going to make the record different this time round. In all honesty, my philosophy at BMG is that artists are welcome to as much support and A&R involvement as they want to have. And the brilliant thing about Kylie is that she’s always been very smart and astute when it comes to having somebody working with her, to collectively get everything in place. Make no mistake, she’s always the boss, but she likes to collaborate and she welcomes ideas. It’s a great process and one that works for all parties.

GR: Yeah, absolutely, and what that requires, what we deliver, is full transparency and genuine collaboration in terms of things like strategy and spend. Another thing I’d say is that we work passionately for every artist. We have an incredibly diverse roster, which means every campaign has to be bespoke, which means we have to really dig into who an artist is and use that to tailor every bit of every campaign. When you do that you can’t help but be passionate. n 49

LESSONS I LEARNED WHILE WRITING A HEALTH-GUIDE FOR ARTISTS The conversation about the health of artists remains a crucial one. Rhian Jones researched the subject for a forthcoming book. Here are some of her findings... Over the last 18 months, I took on the task of writing a health-focused career guide for musicians working in pop alongside my brilliant co-author Lucy Heyman. The idea was sparked by watching the devastating Amy Winehouse story play out, and the growing general conversation about health in the music industry, particularly whether artists are adequately looked after and educated about the risks of their chosen career. You’ll have noticed there’s been a fair few extremely premature deaths of much-loved talents in recent years — as well as Winehouse, Scott Hutchison, Mac Miller, Lil Peep, Keith Flint, Whitney Houston, Avicii and Chester Bennington, to name just a few. Because music is a highly emotive art form, fans, as well as those working in the industry, feel really passionate about their favourite acts. So it’s only natural that the health conversation becomes highly emotive too and I’ll put my hand up and say I was knee-deep in a pool of anger. Why isn’t anyone protecting them? Who is culpable? This business profits off the back of the creativity and performance skills of these people who clearly need a high level of protection. Is the music industry so twisted and evil that it simply doesn’t care if any of them dies because there’s a never-ending conveyor belt of talent that’s ready to grab its golden opportunity? To some extent, there’s validity in those questions. But, as I’ve discovered while writing, there’s also nuance that’s often not considered in the health and music conversation. Here’s what I’ve learned. Blame It’s very easy to play the blame game. We watch a documentary that’s been presented in a particular way and get swept up with the storyline. We form our own perception of how a story is playing out by the filtered version we see online and in headlines. We gather subjective opinions and 50

“It’s natural that the artist health conversation becomes highly emotive.”

statements that have no proof of being factual and draw concrete conclusions. But the truth is that the only person who really knows what went on is the one who is no longer with us. It’s also true that we have no idea how healthy artists who we see suffering would be if they weren’t in the music business. Health issues can be exacerbated by the pressures of the job, but no-one can say that working in music causes severe illness. The reasons for people experiencing mental health illnesses like addiction, depression and eating disorders are often very deep-rooted and can be issues that no environment or one saviour can ‘cure’. This isn’t to say that health problems can’t be better supported and managed, but ultimately, the person who is suffering has to have the will to get better. Winehouse is a case in point. Her friend and manager Nick Shymansky arranged for her to enrol into a rehab clinic and her label Universal agreed to pay for it. Unfortunately, as the song goes, Winehouse decided not to go. Searching for a culprit, therefore, is a pretty futile

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exercise. A productive conversation about how to support those who are suffering with health issues, alongside an understanding that no-one can force anyone to do something beyond their will, will be more helpful than pointing fingers (coming from someone who has pointed many fingers). Defining mental health Because the health and music conversation is relatively new, the language that’s used can be a bit confusing. This is especially true for mental health in particular. We’re all interested in the discussion because mental health is something that impacts everyone (we all have a brain, after all) but what that can result in is conversations that conflate general poor mental health with severe mental illness that requires medical intervention. It’s basically the difference between feeling a bit under the weather physically and having an illness that impacts your quality of life most days. We wouldn’t say that someone suffering from cancer, for example, is on par with someone who has a cold; it’s the same thing with mental health. Experiencing a temporary bout of poor mental health due to lack of engagement with healthpromoting behaviours, bereavement, break-ups or stressful periods isn’t the same as experiencing chronic depression, anxiety or living with bipolar disorder or addiction. There’s different treatment for both — one might require some self-care and the other professional medical support. For the music industry to move into a healthier and more understanding future, this distinction must be understood. That doesn’t mean brushing off any mental health experience as temporary and inconsequential — all of it requires support to help prevent more severe problems later down the line, which is really the key to finding solutions. Ways forward Speaking of solutions, we’re in dire need of some comprehensive research that looks into what works and what doesn’t. We can all hypothesise about what might work for us as individuals, or any artists we work with, but, just like people, needs are very individual. Limiting interaction with fans, for example, might work well for one person whereas another might want as much fan time as possible. Similarly, travelling the world and doing shows every night might be the most exciting and fulfilling parts of the job for one musician, whereas another might

“We’re in dire need of some research that looks into what works and what doesn’t.”

feel drained and reach burnout as a result of the same schedule. As I said earlier, I’ve been a voice in the chorus of, ‘But why isn’t the music industry doing SOMETHING?’, but it’s actually quite difficult to know what to do. And if solutions came about as a result of a knee-jerk reaction, there’s a chance that whatever has been introduced may not end up helping the number of people it needs to. Still, there are some basic tenets that humans need to feel healthy and happy, most of which are obvious: enough sleep, a balanced diet, meaning, nature, exercise, free time and positive relationships. Beyond doing whatever you can to make sure the artists you’re working with are engaging with those things, the jury is still out on sector-wide changes. I’m hopeful that those answers will be found in the coming years. However, the fundamental building blocks for any meaningful long-term change must include raising awareness of issues, education about how to manage them, along with targeted support. Our book is a start — look out for Sound Advice arriving early 2021. It outlines the health issues that are associated with a career in music, alongside expert advice from medical professionals, interviews with artists and execs and signposts to the best support that’s out there at the moment. 51

‘Streaming’s growth in Africa is already exciting, but there’s so much more we can do’ Zimbabwean, British-raised exec Sipho Dlamani is heading up Universal Music Group in much of Africa. He forecasts a big future for the region and its impact around the world...

INTERVIEW

ack in 2015, Universal publicly committed to investing in Africa as a priority global region. Ever since, barely a month has gone by without a major move by UMG on the continent. In 2018 alone, for example, UMG launched a strategic division in Frenchspeaking African markets, launched a new HQ under the Universal Music Nigeria brand in Lagos, and acquired a majority stake in Kenya’s AI Records. Since then, Universal has accelerated its commitment: even in the pandemic-hit 2020, for example, it’s launched Def Jam Africa with offices in both Johannesburg and Lagos, then expanded the label into Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon. It’s also partnered with Nigeria-based Aristokrat Group, best known for discovering and developing breakout African talent Burna Boy. There have been significant deals struck outside of Africa too, with South African star Nasty C becoming the first African act to sign to Def Jam in a global deal in March. And last year, UMG announced another worldwide deal with Nigerian star Tiwa Savage, whose releases are now handled by Motown/Capitol in the US, Island Records in the UK and Def Jam in France. Universal’s latest major move in Africa sees a significant strengthening of its team in the region, via two impressive hires: the former MD of ad giant Ogilvy in South Africa, Elouise Kelly, joins Universal Music Sub-Saharan Africa & South Africa as COO; and Universal Music Nigeria has hired respected live music entrepreneur Chin Okeke as General Manager. Heading up Universal’s activity in much of Africa is Sipho Dlamini, who was recently promoted to CEO of Sub Saharan & South Africa, and also oversees UMG’s activity in Kenya. He says of the new staff expansion: “It’s confirmation that what we’re doing in this marketplace is working. It might not all be perfect, but we’re seeing the right growth in the right spaces.” Adds Dlamini: “Since I joined Universal in 2016, our market share in Africa has grown [every] year. And we’ve maintained

leading market share from a revenue perspective over our competitors.” He credits UMG’s successful local expansion as the catalyst for this performance. UMG’s office in Nigeria, he says, has acted as a base for the company’s efforts across west Africa, while the AI Records acquisition and UMG’s subsequent investment in Kenya has been a springboard for growth in east Africa. Dlamini started his career in the UK, having grown up between Zimbabwe and Shadwell, South East London, promoting club nights and concerts for African artists in England during the 1990s. He took over as head of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa in

The other big thing that excited me was that Universal is an entertainment company, not just a music business. My background leaned toward that, because I’ve done live work and [artist] management, and those were things I felt the major labels should be more involved with and doing better. What’s been the most exciting progress or transformation you’ve seen since 2016? Is Nigeria the hotspot of Africa as a commercial market? It would be fair to say that Nigeria – and Nigerian artists, Afrobeats especially – has received a lot more recognition and consumption globally than some of the other genres in Africa. But the beautiful thing is that each market is different, has different sounds and a different culture. Almost every day of the week in Kenya, for example, you’ll find live venues hosting live performances, and it’s a multiracial experience. You’ll go to a bar on a Tuesday night and there’ll be a reggae band playing, you’ll bump into somebody from Australia, from China, from Australia, from London, from America, all in one space.

“You can’t only have an office in South Africa and claim that you’re looking after the whole continent.” 2016, following three years as the Chief Executive of SAMRO, Africa’s leading music rights organisation. Here, Dlamini, who has orchestrated much of Universal’s rapid-growth strategy across Africa in recent years, gives his view on the hottest African markets right now, Universal’s position as an accelerator of the region’s growth – and why he’d love to see Spotify launch in multiple African countries sooner rather than later... When you took the job at Universal in 2016, did you sense a commitment from UMG to not only South Africa but also Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond? Yes; it was one of the things that excited me. You can’t be a music company that only has an office in South Africa and claim that you are looking after the whole [African] continent. South Africa is not a true representation of Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana or other markets. Each of these territories has its own nuances that you can only learn by operating there.

Is one of the elements holding Africa back as a commercial region for recorded music inaccessible and overly expensive mobile coverage? Totally, and it has a big impact on how people consume music in different countries. For example, South Africa has what I believe are the fourth most expensive [mobile] data costs in the world. Most people in South Africa are reluctant to use their [telco] data to stream. As a result, if you look at platforms like YouTube, the number of views that South African artists get for their music videos are considerably lower than the number of views that artists in Tanzania would get, where the data costs are significantly lower. Data costs in Nigeria are also comparatively lower compared to South Africa; that’s another reason why you also get more streaming [in Nigeria], although there’s also a bigger population. 53

L-R: Sipho, Sir Lucian Grainge, Nasty C and Adam Granite during UMG’s Grammy showcase event, January 2020

Data cost [in areas of Africa] is a barrier to people streaming more, and also to the availability of the global DSPs. Up until a few months ago, when Apple expanded Apple Music, that service was only available in 16 or 17 countries in SubSaharan Africa. Spotify was only available in one country [South Africa, and still is]. People in Zimbabwe don’t have Spotify; people in Ghana don’t have Spotify; people in Nigeria don’t have Spotify – they only have access to Apple Music. And even Apple Music in Nigeria, for example, has had some challenges around its billing in US dollars versus the local currency. That all means that you don’t have a uniform streaming experience across different countries that people can subscribe to locally. Why would you encourage a company like Spotify to look seriously at launching in some of Africa’s 50-plus nations as the next thing on its roadmap? Even with these market conditions, the 54

growth across the African continent in terms of streaming [volume] and revenue is very impressive. And that’s without the support of DSPs being present in all these markets. The IFPI global report showed an overall global increase in revenue by 8.2%. But in Africa, combined with the Middle East, it was about 15% – which places [Africa] as the world’s second highest growth market after Latin America. So you have to think, if that’s happening in the absence of leading DSPs being available in all markets, what would happen if they were available – and if the data costs begin to drop? One would assume, considering the vast population that the African continent holds, even just by [Spotify] focusing on launching in key markets, maybe starting with Nigeria, it would be a significant play [for that business]. Apple Music’s big expansion in Africa happened in April – increasing its

availability to 25 additional countries on the continent. How significant could that announcement be for Universal and the music business? Very significant. We recognise that it takes time to achieve the level of engagement on these platforms that we would ultimately want to see. But it’s definitely a step in the right direction. That one announcement doubled [Apple Music’s] in presence in Africa. And the experience on this service is great. It’s stable, the music delivery works, the discovery works. So yeah, we hope they’ll get to all 54 markets soon – and we hope Spotify will also follow quickly behind. Warner struck a JV with Chocolate City in Nigeria, while Sony has had a presence in that market for years. How does Universal’s strategy differ? We’re very focused on developing local talent and trying to build out the ecosystem. So for us, A&R inside [Universal’s system] is very important – we’re building from

Tiwa Savage

the ground up. That’s why in Nigeria we have recording studios and offices which allow us to do that. We don’t have to book a studio every time we need to record an artist, which allows us to spend more time developing talent. Also, the live space is important for us, because we know that artists very often end up depending on the live performances for their [economic] sustainability. So we can’t only participate on the recording side, [we have to] support the live side too. We have two live divisions in Africa: one does talent bookings, UMG Live, and then the other actually produces and promotes our own concerts, events and festivals. So that, plus the brand [partnerships] business we offer artists, allows us to participate in the entire music ecosystem in Nigeria. We do movie projects too, as you saw recently with [Nigerian producer] Larry Gaaga, releasing the first mainstream music soundtrack for a high-profile Nollywood film [Living In Bondage – Breaking Free]. You’ve struck these big global deals with African talent like Tiwa Savage and Nasty C. But the independent artist world is also thriving in Africa, via Mr. Eazi’s emPawa and other distribution/services offerings. How are you combating that with your major label offering? With a range of opportunities depending on the artists. [Universal] artists have the option of being able to upscale and add in services as success kicks in. If an artist has infrastructure and a team around them – doing their own marketing, PR etc. – at the beginning then we can just provide distribution. But as their career takes off, we can very quickly kick in the digital marketing team, we can build promotion in other regions, we can handle brand [partnerships], sync, live bookings. We have proven to people that we can add a lot of value without forcing anyone to commit to a global deal in the first instance. That’s the real power in what we do: we can upscale very quickly to add on services for artists, both locally and globally. The introduction of Def Jam Africa is interesting – a legendary label name, 56

Nasty C

differentiated from standard Universal Music deals. Why make that move? Africa has a large youth population. And if I’m being totally honest, even when I first came into the major [label] business, hip-hop in South Africa was not taken as a serious genre. Even in the early 2000s, there were labels that wouldn’t sign hiphop or R&B artists, this view that ‘hip-hop won’t sell’ or ‘R&B won’t sell’. As a result, a lot of the hip-hop artists went and did their own things independently, and that created distrust and a negative relationship between major labels and the hip-hop community. We’ve worked hard re-building that relationship over time – it was important that we made a commitment to these youthful genres at a bigger level. That’s what Def Jam Africa is, it’s us saying, ‘If you want to do hip hop, if you want to do Afrobeats or trap, this is the label that you should aspire to sign to.’ And there’s dedicated resources servicing those artists in terms of A&R and marketing that fully understand the culture and understand the consumption. For example, you can’t measure success in South Africa for a hip-hop act, to a certain extent, by just looking at the radio charts. Hip-hop artists stream more than they might get played on radio; and other

genres will get more play on radio but won’t stream as much. So it’s just understanding the nuances of where the culture lives, and how to talk to fans within that culture. Do you have ambitions that maybe you can leverage some of the other label brands that Universal owns in Africa next – Island Records, Capitol, Interscope etc.? And tap into Vivendi’s media power too? Watch this space! That’s the beauty of being in the world’s largest music-based entertainment company. There are so many exciting brands that we potentially have access to. Streaming’s growth in Africa is already exciting, but as a continent, there is so much more we can do here. Look at the [Vivendi/Universal family of brands]: There’s Bravado, a merchandise business; there’s Canal+ and Canal Olympia – with [the latter] having launched multi-purpose venues in 13 or 14 African countries already. The CEO of [Vivendi-owned mobile games company] Gameloft is based in South Africa, and we’re always talking about ideas for collaborations. It’s great to be having a gaming conversation in the morning, an advertising conversation in the afternoon, and then be back in the studio with artists in the evening.

Signing Kenyan Afro-Pop collective Sauti Sol alongside UMG’s Adam Granite and Andrew Kronfeld

There isn’t detailed information about market performances in IFPI figures for various African countries. Outside of Nigeria and Kenya, where do you think the global music industry should be paying particular attention to? I’d definitely say Ghana, for one, partly because there is such a strong Ghanaian diaspora population in the UK and beyond – and they’re also very passionate and very dynamic in the music and in their sound. Fuse ODG has nearly 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify – that’s significant. Other Ghanaian artists like Sarkodie and Stonebwoy are also doing amazing things and getting recognition and support in other markets. Ethiopia is also exciting for me; it’s got such a rich history and culture and the difference in the music coming from there versus anywhere else in the world makes it a market worth watching. There are so many: The Ivory Coast is amazing, Tanzania is a small, but very exciting market – Bongo Flava [from Tanzania] does extremely well. Then you have countries like Zimbabwe that are becoming more prolific with the artists and new sounds that are emerging. But you’re right: out of the 61 countries that report in the IFPI’s [annual global]

report, only one is from Africa – South Africa, which was ranked No.31 in the world [for annual recorded music revenues] in 2019. That’s a very telling data point, because even South Africa has a lot of catching up to do with the global market in terms of revenue generation and streaming. So if South Africa can sit at No. 31, you start to wonder: Where will Nigeria sit in the next five years? Where

pitch to music DSPs in South Africa, they are only really looking at the top playlists in their own country, then maybe they’ll look at other countries in Africa. That’s a totally separate team and process to the US or the UK, where the biggest playlists are [compiled]. That leaves our artists at the mercy of the gatekeepers in Africa, as to whether they can get their guys in the US to even have sight of the music or consider it for their playlists. I would be great if, when you pitch, every playlist [curator] globally linked to that platform gets it and they listen to it because there’s amazing music that’s coming out of Africa. How do you fix that? I mean, obviously one thing, and I’m not picking on them, would be if Spotify did open offices and have curators in many more different regions [in Africa] – that would obviously help. Another big help, and it’s probably a bit controversial to say, would be a commitment from these DSPs to have a percentage – even if it’s a tiny percentage – of music from the continent feature on their global playlists. Literally just 5% on New Music Friday, so you knew that, every time you go to that playlist, they’ll at least be two or three tracks from Africa. That would be a move in the right direction. n

“We’re very focused on developing local talent and trying to build out the ecosystem.” will Kenya sit? It’s great that IFPI has now opened a regional office in Africa, because hopefully some of this data will start to flow and give people a fuller picture. If I could give you a magic wand, and you could change one thing about the music business, domestic or global, what would it be and why? The visibility of African content on global streaming playlists. It’s getting better, but there are still many barriers. When we

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS LOSING ITS STORIES As in-depth specialist music media disintegrates to nothing, Eamonn Forde asks: What are we being left with? The recent closure of Q magazine, two years after the NME printed its final edition, was taken as barbarous proof that music magazines are now beyond salvation. More than the death of print, Q going under marks the start of the end of meaningful access to pop stars and their lives. Q’s writers got to spend days on end with pop stars, to send back dispatches from under their skin. Good journalism wasn’t letting light in on magic here – the journalism was the magic, making musicians definitely more interesting and possibly more heroic than they actually were. Getting such access to these people did not diminish them – it amplified them. I am currently finishing a book that involved speaking to a great number of music archivists and music museum curators. For them, historic pieces in the music papers have proven invaluable to their job of placing the life of a musician into a proper context by weaving all the available narrative threads together into a rich tapestry. The closure of Q really drove home how proper in-depth access is being scrubbed off the PR agenda. It is now seen as an inconvenience, but is actually setting a bomb under the future relevance and resonance of pop stars. It has been a long time coming, with Sylvia Patterson (one of the truly great interviewers and storytellers) in her 2016 book I’m Not With The Band dating the start of the rot to the very late ‘90s with the arrival of Westlife and Destiny’s Child, two acts with little in common except the vapidity of their interviews. They both knew saying anything risked lessening their career ascent. It has carried on to the point where Beyoncé doesn’t even do interviews now. She just sends style magazines stunning photoshoots that she adorns with offcuts from the factory that makes those ‘Live, Love, Laugh’ wall hangings. Other 58

“Q going under marks the start of the end of meaningful access to pop stars and their lives.”

stars prefer to have their friends interview them and present the beige results as a world exclusive. There are still, however, some acts willing to give proper access. NME, in its online incarnation, recently ran an in-depth feature on The Killers that was based on access stretching over six months. The Killers are lovely chaps and impeccably behaved, but if they are the last bastions of open-access music journalism, then we really are in trouble. Michaela Coel’s July interview with Vulture was shared far and wide in genuine awe because Coel – the most articulate and inventive person working in TV right now – got the space to discuss a huge range of topics and reflect on her work. She only had the space to talk about all of that because she gave E Alex Lee months of access across multiple interviews. It was a landmark piece that will, rightfully, shape how people understand her art for years to come – a

kind of Rosetta Stone for her creations. It was only possible as she understood implicitly that greatness cannot be rushed and should never be truncated. The Vulture piece is a total outlier and Hollywood-style PR is the grim, soulless final destination for all this, where ‘access’ is deemed to be 15 minutes on the phone with the director and the star, where the director talks for half of it about camera angles just so the star doesn’t have to offer anything of substance. A few years ago, a friend who works for a highselling, high-end glossy magazine was flown from London to Malibu to interview an A-list TV and film star in their beachfront home. It was done on the condition that it was the cover feature and that the star would get photo approval (they got that) and copy approval (they did not get that, but it took a lot of push back). The entire run time of the interview? 15 minutes. What can anyone learn about another person in 15 minutes? As Andy Warhol didn’t say, in the future everyone who is famous will drone on for 15 minutes. The uncomfortable truth is that these stars – Groundhog Daying through a week of interviews chopped up into tiny slots – are bored of telling the same controlled and hollow stories over and over again and the journalists are equally bored of sitting through them, unable (or unwilling) to call time on their blank soliloquies and ask something interesting that might serve up an equally interesting reply. No one wins here. A bland quote trails a bland interview with a bland star and the vacuum it creates sucks our souls dry. Culture and art and beauty and insight all lie dead in the ditch, the roadkill of an industry that only cares for the surface of now and not for the depth of the future. I once had to endure a one-day press junket for a James Bond film (don’t ask me which, as we were not allowed to see it first) where you were expected to do roundtables with mid-level stars of the film and magic a story out of their monotone platitudes. Daniel Craig, we were told, was only doing one interview. It would not be with any of us. It was either with GQ or Esquire and he invariably spoke about designer watches, cars and expensive tailoring. ‘Oh, look,’ the public said, the words falling like night soil from their mouths, ‘I see Daniel Craig has done his interview again.’

Phil Rees / Alamy

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“A bland quote trails a bland interview with a bland star and the vacuum it creates sucks our souls dry.”

This is the future the music industry is willing itself into and in the long term everyone – the fans, the label executives, the stars themselves – will be all the poorer for it. Really what we need is fewer interviews with pop stars, but better ones. Of all people, Bon Iver may just have stumbled across the solution. For his self-titled album in 2011, he felt he had done too many interviews and they all started to homogenise into a toothless blob. So for his 22, A Million album in 2016, he did two major interviews (one with The Guardian and one with The New York Times) and let the writers spend days with him and ask him anything. Nothing was off limits. The feeling was it was better to do two really good interviews rather than 1,000 repetitive ones in a tedious race to the bottom. If we don’t have the Bon Iver-ification of interviews, what are we losing here? We are losing stories. And music runs on stories as much as it runs on melodies, chords and lyrics that somehow capture what it is to be alive, now, in this moment. Imagine, then, the future. A six-part series on Netflix debuts in 2029 promising to tell the full and incredible story of [someone in the charts today] through… some tweets and a handful of pseudo-inspirational Instagram posts. This is what we risk bringing down on ourselves and down on music – a hagiography in emojis. 59

INTERVIEW

Meet the old boss With a background that included booking Led Zeppelin and compering for Madness, Paul Conroy was probably prepared for pretty much anything that his stint as UK boss of Virgin – during the label’s golden age – had to throw at him. Which was just as well...

wice in his career Paul Conroy accepted a senior role at a famous, maverick UK record label, and twice, before he’d really mastered the photocopier, he was left thinking, What the…? The first time was at Stiff Records, in 1978, when co-founder Jake Riviera persuaded him to become General Manager. Within months, Riviera had left – his volatile relationship with business partner Dave Robinson was never going to reach any landmark anniversaries – taking Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe with him. The second time was at Virgin in 1992, when, as part of a management delegation that included Richard Branson, Simon Draper and Jon Webster, he found himself forced to play the non-speaking role of de facto Darth Vader while Luke, Han and Chewy told the rebel alliance that they’d all been sold to the evil Empire – in this production appearing under the name EMI. In both cases, however, the ominous beginnings were followed by happy and healthy stints packed with hits and adventures. Before Riviera tempted him over to recorded music, he had been a booking agent. Before that, aged 17, he’d worked with Led Zeppelin. Sort of. “I left school, with very few O-levels, having sat them quite a few times, and I went to do my A-levels at Ewell Tech in Surrey. I became the social secretary for the college and the second gig, I booked was a band called the New Yardbirds. In fact, on the Friday before the gig, their manager called and told me they’d changed their name to Led Zeppelin.”

After single-handedly breaking the biggest heavy rock act of the ‘70s, the plan was to go into teaching. But, after the first year at training college, he dropped out and became a booking agent, working first for Terry King Associates, and then, after a brief spell at Red Bus, he launched Charisma Artists, for the Charisma label, founded by Tony Stratton-Smith, who he’d actually met in his ‘pre-Zeppelin’ days. “The first band I booked as social secretary, the one before the New Yardbirds, was The Nice, on the 28th of

management and I was going to go back to university as a mature student. “Then I get a call from Jake saying, ‘Dave Robinson and I want to have lunch with you at the Newborn Cafe in Westbourne Grove.’ They offered me the job of general manager at Stiff. They’d put out about five or six singles by then, but they needed somebody organised to go in, because Jake was more interested in throwing cider bottles through the window. They needed a safe pair of hands, basically. Jake knew me, but I was very wary of Dave Robinson. I think the words ‘dodgy Irishman’ came to mind. “I accepted the job because I had so much respect for Jake, in all honesty; he was a true marketing genius. But, of course, before long he was gone. It was never going to last between him and Dave, they were chalk and cheese. We needed the glaziers on more than one occasion.” Despite feeling somewhat abandoned, Conroy soon settled into the label’s anarchic culture and similarly disorganised West London offices. He recalls: “Stiff was basically 32 Alexander Street, where we all worked out of two or three rooms. When we got bigger, we got 28 Alexander Street as well, and we had to have a thing called ‘Accounts’; can you believe that? “I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Stiff. I went with Elvis [Costello] busking through his Pignose amp, outside the Sony International convention, when it was held in London, because we wanted them to sign him for America. “That ended with me having to go and get Elvis out of West End Central’s police station [the police had been called by an anonymous caller with a distinct Irish

“Jake (Riviera) and Dave (Robinson) were chalk and cheese. We needed glaziers on more than one occasion.” September, 1968, for £150. And that was my first meeting with their manager, Tony Stratton-Smith.” It was whilst working at Charisma Artists that he started taking on a lot of the big pub rock bands of the early/mid ‘70s, including Kilburn and the High Roads, Dr Feelgood and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers. A major player and born chancer within the scene was Riviera, who recommended Conroy manage a Southend band called The Kursaal Flyers. “I did that for a couple of years. We had Little Does She Know, which was a massive hit, we headlined at the Roundhouse (with The Clash at the bottom of the bill), and we toured with The Flying Burrito Brothers, but it was tough, and it was ultimately a bit disappointing. So, in the end I left

Allstar Picture Library / Alamy

The Spice Girls

INTERVIEW

Conroy as lead singer of his short-lived band, Krivoli Rog

accent]. But it did get him signed. These were just the things that we did at Stiff. “When Ian Dury’s Do It Yourself album came out, we went down Oxford Street with a horse and cart, dressed as painters and decorators. And we wallpapered the NME and Melody Maker offices. We got into so many scams. “We did the Be Stiff tour. Unfortunately, that was my idea. I said to Dave Robinson, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to do a tour by train.’ I’d seen somewhere that the Grateful Dead had done it across America. Most people would have said, ‘Oh, fuck off, it costs too much money, it’s stupid, it’s not practical’ – all of which would have been true. Dave just said, ‘Great idea, you organise it’. Oops.” After six years, and huge success with artists like Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Madness, Conroy answered the siren call of the majors, joining Rob Dickins at Warners, first as Marketing Director, then managing the US roster in the UK. “Rob was getting a lot of grief off

Compering at a Madness gig, early ‘80s

America for not spending enough money on their artists, whilst at the same time pouring a lot of money into Echo and the Bunnymen etc. Because we all know that what counts, as far as the ego is concerned, is what you’ve signed to your territory. “So I step in and start looking after the American acts over here. It was great though, I got to work with some of my heroes at Warner – Foreigner, Madonna,

he’ll also do some of the dirty work’. “It was a tough job, and it was also really hard to leave Warner. I don’t think Rob ever thought I’d go. But I do like a challenge, certainly money had nothing to do with it. “The great thing was, I walked through the door and John Kennedy came to see me and said, ‘We’ve got this single by Sinead O’Connor…’ And of course it [Nothing Compares 2 U] was number one around the world. And then I got to work with The Waterboys, which was… [stage cough]. [Lead singer] Mike Scott could certainly be difficult, let’s leave it at that. “And we worked with The Proclaimers, World Party, we did the Red, Hot and Blue Charity event. And we had a massive hit with Chesney Hawkes [The One And Only]. That came to me via [The Who manager] Bill Curbishley, because of my relationship with Bill. It’s contacts; this business is all about contacts. “And then, well, [Chrysalis founder] Chris Wright tells various stories, but I think he got upset with me because

“Webbo gave a speech along the lines of ‘It’s the end of an era’. Thanks Webbo.” ZZ Top, Prince, Sister Sledge, they had such a fabulous roster.” He was then asked to run Chrysalis, just as EMI was taking a 50% stake in the label. “I started to become like Red Adair”, says Conroy. “They were all thinking, ‘Oh, good old Paul, he’s a bundle of laughs, but

I was being pulled from pillar to post. EMI bought half the company and Chris had the other half. It got very difficult to manage the label when I had Jim Fifield saying one thing in one ear, and Chris saying another thing in the other. “Eventually, at a meeting in the St. James Club in LA, I had to get up and say, ‘I can’t deal with this.’ Chris was always, ‘Spend more money’; EMI was always, ‘Keep things tight.’ It was impossible.” An escape route was about to emerge in the form of a call from an old friend from the pub rock days, and the chance of the top UK job at a truly independent label. Finally, no more culture clashes, no more balancing the demands of irresponsible spendthrifts and penny-pinching parent companies. And, sweet relief, no more EMI… How did you get the Virgin job? I think it was Webbo [Jon Webster] who rang me first and asked if I’d have dinner with him. I loved Webbo, and I’d known him since the Kursaal days, but it was still a bit odd for him to ask me to come out to dinner. But I went, and he said, ‘Look, Ken [Berry, Virgin Records President] wants me to do international, and come out of being Managing Director in the UK; would you be interested?’ Well of course I was; it was like going from Atalanta to Juventus. But I went to see my lawyer, Tony Russell, and I said, ‘It’s for sale, isn’t it?’. He was very proper and legal about it, mumbled something non-committal… So I went to see Richard [Branson] at his house. He’d offered me loads of jobs before, so I knew him pretty well. He gave me the impression that the label wasn’t for sale, but I was far from convinced. I actually thought they were going to do the deal with BMG, and it wasn’t until the last moment, I think, that EMI came in and offered more money. But they offered me a good package, it was another challenge and so, yeah, okay, I’ll go for it. Anyway, on the day it was announced that Virgin had been sold, Richard came in and made a speech about how terrible it was and how sad he was that he’d sold the

company for a billion dollars. And then Webbo gave a more impassioned speech along the lines of, ‘It’s the end of the an era, Virgin’s all over’ and things like that. Thanks Webbo. Of course I had just taken the job, and I walked across the bridge back to my office thinking, ‘What the hell have I done?’ Because I had to straddle old Virgin and new Virgin, plus we had to let some people go. Ken Berry had given me very strict instructions on how he saw the label. He wanted Virgin to remain as Virgin had always been, leftfield, but obviously it had to fit into the corporate confines of EMI at the same time. I think he knew that via WEA and Chrysalis, I’d been used to working in a corporate environment, but also that I’d had the Stiff days. And it turned out my timing wasn’t unlucky, it was supremely lucky, because I

friends were... well, I don’t know if they were friends, or if they were just scared for their jobs or whatever. But, somehow, I had to make it work. There were certainly people who viewed me with suspicion, or maybe they just didn’t like me. There were definitely some quite embittered people, people who thought that Richard had taken that money and that he should have shared it more equally among some of his senior staff. There was a lot of angst. But I think were also a lot of people who realised that what I was trying to do is make it work going forward, and help them keep their jobs. Don’t forget, going back in time, Richard used to throw parties at the manor and come down in outrageous outfits and all that. Now, I mean, I like a jolly jape, I like a laugh and everything like that, but we worked hard and we played hard; worked hard first. That was then and this was now, we were a more serious Virgin, we just were. I had responsibilities, not only to Ken, but to EMI and the people who were paying my salary.

“It was very hard to read who was going to stab you in the back.”

had 10 years at Virgin when we were the most successful label of that period We had such a broad roster, and being a child of the John Peel generation, my musical taste has always been broad, eclecticism is everything, so to run a label that’s home to everyone from Michael Nyman to The Spice Girls was a dream. That initial period must have been tough, though. You would have been seen as the outsider parachuted in to dismantle the culture that Virgin had been built on. It was very hard to read who was going to stab you in the back, put it like that. Because, don’t forget, Stiff had gone through Virgin as well, from a sales point of view, so I knew all of them. But, honestly, I can’t say I spent too much time thinking about it because if I had, I don’t think I would have managed to get on. You just had to find out who your

Who were the artists you most enjoyed working with? I think the artists who were the most driven, because they were the easiest and would follow the route maps. That would certainly include the likes of Phil Collins, Meatloaf and The Spice Girls, who had such an incredible work ethic. And then, going back to Stiff, the likes of Madness, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury. It’s hard to pick, because one always had moments with artists, when they would clash with you, or the manager would. We have to speak a little bit more about The Spice Girls, because they were such a huge part of your golden years at Virgin. What do you remember about your first meeting with them? I was in my office and Tony Gordon, who managed Boy George, came in. He used to come in every so often and try and get his royalty check paid early so he could get his commission, he was quite a legendary old school manager.

INTERVIEW

Left: The Be Stiff tour hits Watford, with Elton John there to greet Conroy and Rachel Sweet; Right: A Warner conference with Siggy Loch, Rob Dickins, Max Hole, Nesuhi Ertegun and Phil Straight, with Conroy, looking after the US roster in the UK, dressed as Uncle Sam - obviously

Anyway, in my best Dave Robinson-esque way, I said to him, ‘Have you seen anyone else recently? Anyone you think is worth having a look at?’ And he said, ‘I’ve been approached by this group called The Spice Girls. I don’t think I’ve got them, I think they’re going to Simon Fuller for management. But,’ he said, ‘they’re really good.’ So I went up to the A&R department, to Ashley Newton (there’s nothing better than going up to the A&R department and saying, ‘I’ve got one for you’ – because what you’re really saying is, ‘I think I’m one step ahead of you here…’) and I told him about these girls. Ashley and I had been looking for a pop act with attitude to replace some of the acts that Virgin used to have but had moved on, or got older. Jo McCormack, Mike McCormack’s then wife, who very sadly died some years ago, she was with us at the time and she knew of them through Mike, and through Simon Fuller, because they were friendly. So I said, ‘Great, let’s get them in.’

We got them in, Geri sat on my lap, they played some of their tracks, mimed to them. It was like, ‘Oh my God’. They were really good; they’d been very well honed. I said, ‘We’ve got to sign this act.’ It was quite a battle between ourselves, London and Sony. I had dinner with Simon, and Simon was adamant that he wanted world domination. He really wanted America to happen for them. So, before we even signed them, we flew the girls to meet Virgin in America. And of course eventually we won. I think they were rather frightened off by London, because they’d taken them on a boat trip, and they felt trapped, like they were being got at. And I don’t know what happened with Sony. But we were so lucky, because the girls were brilliant. I mean, it was like a taut spring, you could just let them go. Although at the same time, Ashley and I were like, ‘Oh my God, now we’ve got to prove ourselves.’ It’s all very well doing the dog and pony show, but we had to deliver.

What was the special ingredient that made them go so big, all over the world? Well, like I say, they had incredible drive. And Simon was the glue. When the girls first started, and they were going around the world, they were knackered, absolutely knackered. I remember going to see, Simon when he was in hospital, he was having a small operation or something, and we wanted them to do the MTV Awards in Sweden after they’d got off a plane from Singapore. Simon said, ‘No problem, I’ll sort it out.’ He was great like that. When they got stratospherically big, as well as the upside of wheelbarrows of cash being dumped outside the door on an hourly basis, what challenges did that bring? Well, there’s a sort of distancing all of a sudden. It’s always the way when artists get bigger, you lose that relationship. They would always be in the office, and I think very often managers get a bit paranoid about that. I’m not saying Simon did with 65

Elvis Costello

and tour managing them. Placebo I helped sign, because it was over a Christmas period and everyone else had gone home the day before. I love Brian [Molko], he’s just such an out there guy. Sinead, Howard Jones, Ian Dury, The Chemical Brothers. There’s a few for you.

AF archive / Alamy

What was the most important lesson learned in your time in the industry? I wouldn’t say one lesson in particular, but I certainly learned about the power of persistence, belief, enjoying the challenge, supporting the artist. And knowing when to back out. There are times, as long as you’ve given it your best shot, when you just have to say, ‘Okay, the public doesn’t want it’.

the girls, but there were times when it was, ‘Don’t go in the office without me. I want to know what they’re saying, I want to know what they’re getting you to do’. But then it all came back again when they did their solo records. And they loved Virgin, because they got on so well with everybody. Aside from The Spice Girls, which are the projects you’re proudest to have worked on in your career? Well I’d have to look back at Stiff, and Elvis Costello, because I knew him in Flip City, I knew him as Declan MacManus – and there’s another driven person, by the way. 66

I remember we were just about to launch him, I had all the posters ready to put up, it was ELVIS and a question mark. We were going to put them up all over London, when Jake rang me and said Elvis – the other Elvis – had just died, so I had to quickly pull the plug on the flyposting. But Elvis was great, and he’s remained a very dear friend ever since. Going even further back, to my days as an agent, Lindisfarne – I took them from £15 a night to where they were. Genesis, because I was responsible, with Glenn Colson, for persuading Peter [Gabriel] to put the fox’s head on, and the rest is history. I loved Genesis, touring with them

What was the biggest change in the industry during your time? I think it would have to be breaking acts moving from being an art to a science. When I first started, as with a lot of things I’ve done, it was all a lot more haphazard. When I got to Virgin, it was different. You’d have the planning meeting, and you had to have the video person there, and the press person. My role became partly to do with bringing all the pieces of the jigsaw together, which, in the past, it never had been. And Virgin got very good at it. Now you add data into the mix and it’s definitely more science than art. I think the other change, a regrettable one, was the birth of the email. That has been a curse to me, because I grew up in a time where you used the phone, or you met up, you had a lunch, you had a drink. When I first started, it was the Marquee bar. I would meet you in there, buy you a drink, you’d buy me a drink, and then we’d share things, share stories, swap ideas. As soon as you got emails, people could hide behind them. People would sometimes say things, or write things, they’d never say to you face to face. I always found that difficult; let’s have a conversation about it, let’s go and get a drink and talk about it. How has the role of the label changed in recent years?

INTERVIEW

In my day, we did as much as humanly possible, and a bit more, to develop the career of the artist we signed. We were there to respect their views, enhance their vision and then make damn sure their music was heard by as many people as possible. It kind of breaks my heart, because labels used to be absolutely everything. Artists demanded to be signed by labels. Now you hear so many artists saying they don’t need labels. And in a very real sense there are no labels, I mean actual physical labels, on physical products, those iconic logos that drew artists in and that we, as fans, would instantly recognise. That’s sad. What’s your biggest regret? Not persuading Tony Stratton-Smith to sign a band I knew well, called Queen, in the early days of Charisma. I met them through a friend of mine who was pally with Roger [Taylor]. And then I got to meet the band and I met Roger and Freddie [Mercury]. They’d just finished Smile [the preQueen band featuring Taylor and Brian May], and they were coming up with Queen. I took their demos to Tony, and Tony said, ‘I’m not sure about them Paul, they’ve got a bit of an attitude.’ And of course, that was the thing that sold them. Attitude is good, Tony! I think they strutted into Strat’s office with some of their Kenny market clothes on, and with Freddie being Freddie. Anyway, that never happened. Also, not having accepted various roles and positions. I was offered jobs at certain times and I did make some rickets.

Which side of the water was the one that got away? Well, it’s history, I suppose, so yes, it was the opportunity to go back to Warners. They wanted me to go back, and I had lots of close friends, but at that point, we [Virgin] had The Spice Girls, we had The Verve, we had Massive Attack. I just loved the situation we had at that time, so I stayed. But it was a tough call. Also, when I left Virgin, I had the opportunity to run Live Nation in the UK, but I didn’t take it. I didn’t feel the need to go round kissing promoters’ heads when they put on a show in Sweden or whatever. My bank manager, on the other hand, thought it would have been a great move. Who were the execs that inspired and influenced you most over the years? Jake Riviera, for his passion, marketing flair and just his love of music. He introduced

Ken Berry, for his support and belief in me, bringing me into what was a very difficult situation at Virgin. Gail Coulson, she was MD of Charisma in the early days and was brilliant in her role, especially at a time when men held most of the senior roles in the industry, even more so than now. She really helped and supported me in my early years. And also Seymour Stein, because he was a great record man, with amazing knowledge of songs, but the worst singing voice in the world. Lastly Emmanuel de Buretel, who ran Virgin France and founded Because Music. He was a great competitor, and it was always fierce between the UK and France at Virgin. Thank God he wasn’t at Agincourt, because I’m not sure we’d have got a result. I have huge respect for him, but my God he could be a nightmare! Who were your most trusted lieutenants during your time at Virgin? Ray Cooper and Ashley Newton, without doubt. Ray for his marketing abilities and Ashley for A&R. When I came into Virgin, as I mentioned earlier, who could I trust? They were having a difficult time with Circa, they were spending too much money, and it had to be swallowed up into Virgin. I said to them, ‘Would you happily work with me?’ They said yes and it was fantastic to have them on my side. We made a great combination. Also, I had Dave Boyd running Hut, which was great. Plus Steve Pritchard and Peter Duckworth, who ran commercial marketing and then went on to run the Now series. And of course, I brought Hugh Goldsmith in and he had all that success with Blue and Atomic Kitten and Martine McCutcheon. So, hopefully, we had all bases covered.

“It kind of breaks my heart, because labels used to be absolutely everything.”

Has enough time passed for you to tell us what they were? I’m not sure, but there is definitely one that got away. It was a very difficult decision. I also regret leaving Virgin in 2002, when we had such a wonderful team and wonderful operation. I don’t know if you can call that a regret, because it wasn’t something I did – but I certainly regret the way it happened, or was disappointed about the way it happened.

me to so many great artists and records via the turntable in his flat in Knightsbridge. Tony Powell, who went off to run MCA, he was a very like-minded individual, who came through the marketing route. He was a great sounding board and a valued friend. I mean, although we were in competition, we would share things. Nigel Grainge, he was a real artist’s man; one of the great A&R men: passionate, obstinate, driven, and, sadly, an Arsenal supporter. Rob Dickins, for offering me the chance to play in the big leagues. We didn’t always agree, but we had some brilliant successes at Warner and we had a great time. Dave Robinson. He taught me the value of hard work, never giving up and attempting the impossible. And he also told me to always keep a diary, to write things down, just in case in case a lawyer ever turned up. Dave was a lovable rogue.

What are the most important qualities and skills required to run a label, and what do you think made you in particular a good label boss? This is where you don’t want to sound too 67

Massive Attack

useful, especially when it came to dealing with, shall we say, old school managers, people like Jazz Summers who, bless him, could be quite tricky. I also had a genuine desire to do the best I could for the artists I looked after, and I hope I got my enthusiasm and drive across to staff and colleagues. I think I made it fun, I think I kept people happy. And I looked after people. Because, at those times, I had a number of instances of guys who got really seriously into drugs. And I mean serious drugs. We put them through rehab, we had to deal with all that. There was never a dull moment; there were some volatile individuals and some real problems. But, as the boss, they’re your people, and you have to look after them.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out? Learn as much as possible about the industry, have some believe in yourself, and you have to accept that it’s all encompassing. It never finishes at six o’clock. I know there were years when, because of the job, I caused immense grief to friends and family. The job will become your life. And contacts, you can’t underestimate the importance of contacts. When I started, it wasn’t an industry. When we were going to the Nellie Dean or The Marquee, it was a group of individuals and, to be honest,

Everett Collection / Alamy

big-headed, isn’t it? I’d say confidence, patience, the ability to listen, to be able to handle difficult situations, work ethic, an understanding of company politics, a sense of humour, experience, contacts, stamina, and knowing when to pour oil on troubled waters. By the Virgin stage, I didn’t lack confidence, but I hoped I never had it in a problematic way. I’m probably a dinosaur in many ways, in the sense that I was a singer in a band, I was a social secretary, I was an agent, I was a part-time roadie, I was a tour manager, I was a DJ, I was a compere. I’ve been a jack of all trades, but that knowledge, picked up from the school of hard knocks along the road, that was really

INTERVIEW

the villains who had previously run it were only just starting to be filtered out. Everyone knew each other. A couple of decades after I started, I’d go to the Music Week Awards and think, Who the fuck are all these people? They can’t all be printers [laughs]. How did you feel about the recent reshuffle at Universal, which means there’s now no record label with the word Virgin in its name anymore? Well, what should I say? Disappointed, angry, confused, something of a re-writing of history; certainly not to a decision I’d like to have made. If someone had come to me beforehand and said, ‘We’re going to obliterate Virgin’, I would definitely have thrown my toys out the pram. It’s like destroying a painting, or a work of art. I feel that it’s criminal in a way. It was my life and that of many others. But then, I have to say, I was confronted with difficulties like that on occasions; I had to make tough decisions. And maybe there are no album sleeves or record labels anymore; maybe they don’t matter. Maybe I’m just being a bit of a dinosaur about it. Do you still follow the industry very closely? That’s like asking a junkie if they’d like another shot of heroin; of course I do! And I suppose the truth is that I was upset I never got to continue after Virgin. Because I was 52, 53, I could have done another big gig, another decade or so. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy what we did with Adventures In Music [launched in 2002, with his wife, Katie], especially the success of Mad World [by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, the Christmas No. 1 in 2003], but, I don’t know, there just seemed to be a period where experience was being thrown out the window. What was the toughest moment of your career? Well, going way back, leaving the Kursaals

Breaking records at Warner with Max Hole, Rob Dickins and Phil Straight. They’re ‘breaking records’, do you see?

was very hard, because I managed them, and the manager/artist relationship always has been and still is an extremely close one. Leaving Stiff, which had been my life for seven years. And leaving Virgin, of course, because I’d never been sacked, or asked to leave a job before, so that was tough.

“There were some volatile individuals and some real problems.” How did the end come about and what was that like? I was sat in my office and I knew something was up. David Munns and Alain Levy had just come in. I think Ken had gone by then. This would have been January, 2002. It was the classic, ‘We’ll let him have his Christmas’. I was sat in my office, Mr. Munns came in and said, ‘Conroy, you and I have known each other for a few years.’ And I’m

thinking, ‘Well, I know you, but I don’t know you.’ And then he said, ‘We’re going to let you go.’ There was no beating around the bush. And I thought, ‘Hang on a minute’, because we’d been so successful for EMI, for so long. But it’s The King Is Dead, Long Live The King, as it’s always been. When Ken Berry had gone it was probably inevitable. Also, they wanted to cream people off the top. I’m not suggesting that Tony Wadsworth had put his pitch in for having Virgin under his auspices, but there was an element of that, and I suppose in some ways you could see that made sense. But it did rather pull the rug from under me. I said, ‘How long? What do you need?’ Munns sort of looks at his watch: ‘This afternoon?’ It was quite a sad end? To say it was disappointing would be to put it mildly. But there was nothing I could do. The whole thing for me is, from my years in the music industry, I just think of It’s A Wonderful Life, when the angel comes down and says to Jimmy Stewart, ‘But George, you’ve had a wonderful life.’ And I have. n 69

A GRM fairytale Later this month sees the release of Together We Rise, a fourpart documentary telling the story of GRM Daily â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the UK grime and rap scene that it championed. MBUK speaks to the range of talents behind the creation of what all hope will be a landmark productionâ&#x20AC;Ś

Kano

hen MBUK begins its interview with the team behind Together We Rise, the main player is absent. But with a good excuse. Koby ‘Posty’ Hagan, the co-founder and CEO of GRM Daily is away from his desk supervising some filming for his channel’s prestigious Rated Awards, due to take place (virtually) just days after our chat. The slight hold-up is indicative of the hands-on/ attention to detail/lead by example approach that has seen GRM become one of the most significant, respected and popular platforms for UK grime, rap, drill and more. Then, with the sort of timing that saw GRM simultaneously ride and drive the second great wave of UK grime, he arrives in time for a question only he can really answer: what’s the most important thing a viewer of Together We Rise will take away from this documentary? He says: “I think the biggest misconception about the success of rap and grime music sometimes is people try and attribute it to a company or an artist, whereas what it’s actually about the fact that so many people came together working towards the same goal, which was making UK music the biggest thing. It’s the whole community.

“Initially, English rap music wasn’t the biggest thing in the UK, whereas in America, American rap music is the biggest thing. Same across the world, you go to France and French rap music is the biggest thing in France. So, for us, it was crazy and I think there was a frustration that was felt across the board, by so many people from my generation, and this new generation, that have all come together and tried to attain this goal. That’s what we want to get across. “The idea of a documentary came from wanting to celebrate our anniversary, but once we got started, we wanted to tell a bigger story, a story with more depth, and a story that would inspire others to also carry this torch and try and achieve more togetherness, unity and empowerment.” To tell that bigger story, Posty enlisted the help of Warner Music Entertainment (GRM Daily also has a joint venture with Warner Music’s Parlophone label). And to ensure a bigger audience, You Tube Originals was brought in to complete the production triumvirate. WME came into existence just over a year ago with the arrival of Kate Shepherd to run the division (absorbing The Firepit, Warner’s previous gambit in the content-creation space). She says: “We

“We wanted to tell a bigger story, a story to inspire others to carry this torch.”

FEATURE

Stormzy

spoke about it at the Grammys actually, and Posty really wanted to elevate this into an iconic, important piece, quite rightly. We also agreed there was only one place where it could really go, which was YouTube Originals. So we spoke to Luke [Hyams, Head of Originals] about it and it just felt like the perfect partnership. Hyams adds: “We commission shows that we feel have a resonance with an audience on YouTube. With this idea particularly, we just saw a great opportunity to have a moment of celebration for everything that GRM has done, and all the different careers that they’ve helped to launch, all the tracks that they’ve made so big. “We wanted to help make it stand out amongst everything else, not just on GRM but on the rest of the platform. And, honestly, this is probably the only time in my tenure, over the last three years, when I’ve commissioned anything that was already in production. They were out making it, asked me if I’d like to see the work in progress. I saw it and immediately I was like, ‘Pump the brakes, this has amazing potential. Let’s take a beat and let’s make this much bigger than you have planned; let’s really make an event out of this.’ “This is a subject matter that I’m greatly passionate about myself. I’m a huge fan of GRM; I’m a huge fan of all the artists they’ve helped break and I wanted the story to be represented in a way that felt like it was premium, you know? We felt this should be

a landmark piece that could stand next to The Defiant Ones, that could stand next to The Last Dance, as a documentary that people are going to be talking about. “A lot of times we get pitched things that are potentially puff pieces: ‘Here’s how I changed my life through YouTube’, which is okay, but not that exciting. This one felt like it had a real dramatic story to it – like the fact that in 2011 they had their YouTube channel deleted and they had to start again from the beginning, and they’ve grown to such new heights of success since doing that.” As you’d expect, the documentary features some of the biggest names from the UK grime and rap scene, including Asher D, Kano, Wretch 32, Ms Banks, Giggs, Dizzee Rascal, Stormzy, Krept & Konan and Julie Adenuga. None of them, even in these most unusual times, needed asking twice. Posty says: “Yeah, luckily enough for us we have an amazing relationship with the artists. We’re there for them when they need us, and they’re always there for us when we need them, because we’re all trying to achieve the same things. “With all of them, we’ve been there since day one and we continue to work in this field every single day, every single hour, every single minute. So, even when we contribute to an artist actually being in a position where they no longer need our channel, we still continue to support them on other platforms, like our Instagram, or our Twitter. 73

Posty

“And the fact of the matter is, artists can experience major highs and major lows. When they’re high, everyone wants to do things with them, and when they’re low people are not necessarily interested. For us, if an artist gets really massive and then kind of comes down a bit, is maybe having a quiet moment, we still treat them the same, high or low. We treat everybody with respect and integrity. “I feel like we’re... we’re home. It’s constant, you know, this is always a home for artists to come to and managers to come to. “I always refer to GRM Daily as a thing that’s ours. It’s not mine, because everybody contributed and everybody contributes daily. So I hope like they feel like they own it as well, which they do.” Shooting for Together We Rise was, inevitably, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, and during the hiatus came the murder of George Floyd, the global surge of the Black Lives Matter movement and the music industry’s own reckoning with its relationship to race and its treatment of non-white artists and executives.

Asked if these events made the production even more important, perhaps more necessary, Posty says: “The stakes never really went up for me, personally, just because this is what we do and this is our message. This is what we’ve always been doing and what we’ve always been saying, do you know what I mean? “This documentary wasn’t made because all of a sudden people were made aware of the Black Lives Matter movement and the tragic deaths of people that shouldn’t have been killed. “I don’t know, maybe it did make us all want more people to watch it, because if you can see how someone from an underprivileged background can come into the business world and be successful, be pioneers and help each other, it gives other individuals from those type of backgrounds hope. They can see some precedent there. Hopefully they get inspired and start on their own journeys.”

“We felt that this should be a landmark piece that can stand next to The Defiant Ones.”

Together We Rise debuts on YouTube Originals and GRM Daily on 28 September. n

FEATURE

‘I’m looking for stories every single day’ Kate Shepherd explains how she shaped the UK arm of Warner Music Entertainment, and how it works within the wider record company... Can you tell us about your route to Warner? Yeah, so when I left Uni I actually started off working in labels, a long, long time ago, briefly, because I love music and I love film and I love TV. Then I started working my way up the TV ladder, from an intern to a runner, all the way up to an exec producer. Then I lived in LA for eight years and developed, produced and directed my own shows there. I think that made me realise that artists and talent are at the heart of entertainment, now more than ever, which sounds a bit obvious, but it really is the case. I think that’s what attracted me to go to Warner and work with Charlie Cohen to set up the department. We decided to call it Warner Music Entertainment, because we felt like that encompassed everything we really wanted to do in terms of visual content, from short-form and long-form documentaries, to scripted TV, everything to facilitate the labels and all of their needs in the release schedule – and of course projects like this [Together We Rise]. How have you found the culture and structure at Warner and how it relates to your department and ambitions? Warner allows me to put what I really wanted to do into practice. They fully supported me from day one. They’ve really allowed me to sort of run with my ambition. Obviously you’ve got to prove yourself, and you have to do that quite quickly in the music business, whereas the film and TV business moves very slowly. I feel really fortunate that I get so much support from Charlie Cohen, my partner in the US, who used to run MGM Studios, and I get incredible support from Max [Lousada, global CEO of Recorded Music] and Tony [Harlow, CEO, Warner Music UK]. Tony is an incredible CEO with a great music track record, but he’s a man who really understands film and TV and is passionate about it, so it’s great to have an ally like that in the building. They both understand, more than anyone, that content is incredibly important now, even more so than ever, so there’s a synergy between us all and a great support system. What have been some of the highlights of your first year and a bit? We did the Gorillaz film [Reject False Idols]. We have the Aretha Franklin series, which we are filming as part of the

‘Genius’ strand in the US, an incredible, iconic format. We’re doing that with Imagine Entertainment which is run by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, and as a result of that we’ve just done a deal with Ron and Brian. We’re going to collaborate on various projects which we’re currently in the process of slating and putting together, and which we’ll announce later in the year. Also out of the US we’ve got Sex, Money, Murder, which is a TV series with 50 Cent exec producing. There’s an Arthur Ashe film, which we’re very excited about. And then obviously our Laurel Canyon series, which is now available on Sky. It’s been nominated for three Emmys, which is unbelievable. That was the first series that we did as a department and so to be Emmy-nominated is incredible. What can you tell us about your plans beyond this year – and for when, hopefully, something like normal shooting conditions can return? Everything else we’re working on is still to be announced. What I can say is that at the heart of everything I want to do is to tell stories about our artists. They can be frontline or catalogue, they could be signed to Warner Chappell, they could be whatever. I’m looking for stories every single day, with every single person I meet, in every conversation I have in the building.

LIVE FOREVER? The live business is going through its ‘Napster moment’, says Cliff Fluet, with its entire future in the balance. What awaits us on the other side? In the mid-2000s, the recorded music industry went through a painful but ultimately successful evolution as it faced the challenge of changing consumer habits and the unexpected technological disintermediation, now known as the ‘Napster moment’. At the same time, the world of live music flourished. It moved from fixed tiers of types of gigs and prices (pub/club/theatre/arena/ stadium) to a cornucopia of new festivals and ticketing plans. Premium offerings and superstar gigs from the likes of The Police, Prince and Michael Jackson brought events to the fore. In the 1990s, some artists’ megatours were essentially loss leaders, or breaking even only on merchandise, but acted as promotion for a highly profitable album. More than 20 years later, the perspective had almost reversed for some artists: albums became more of a promotional context in which to create a tour. In 2019, it seemed like these two worlds had reached a form of equilibrium. Recorded music pivoted from monetising scarcity to an infinite access model, providing a longer tail of revenues. For many artists, live music became their main source of monetising the fan experience by way of the exclusivity of a hot ticket. Fast-forward to 2020 and a level of devastation to the wider music industry, particularly the live sector, that no-one could have anticipated, let alone prepared for; an unseen Black Mirror episode ‘rejected as implausible’. Yet here it is. Artists, management, agents, tour production companies, venues and promoters equally affected, their financial health arguably as impacted as their own personal wellbeing. It has become all too apparent that Covid-19 is brutal at exposing underlying conditions in business models, just as it is in people. The concern is that perhaps the industry may have become over reliant upon live music as a way for direct monetisation and promotion. As certain sectors of the economy unlock, albeit tentatively, the idea of mass events (in an arena or at a festival) still appears to be dependent on the widespread availability of an 76

“I would argue that we may have seen four years of innovation in four months.”

effective vaccine. On the more positive side, I would argue that we may have seen four years of innovation in four months. Like office working and business travel, there is an overwhelming sense that with live music there’ll be no going back to the old normal. The term ‘live music’ does not, of course, do justice to how the experience makes a fan feel. Hearing an artist perform different interpretations of their material is now widely available, so the attraction of live events isn’t simply down to the scarcity of a particular ‘hot ticket’. The emotional pull of a live event leads to fans spending so much, both on and at a live event, based upon an elegant alchemy of engagement. Live music represents a fusion of an experience that is both communal and intimate, visceral yet delicate, and which creates real connection at scale. All of these elements create opportunities for fans to essentially promote the event through the social currency of more than just ‘being there’, urging the fan to both make and buy a souvenir of the moment.

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Recreating this heady mix online is certainly not easy, but it is possible. Look at the world of eSports, where (live) sports and gaming collide: a playbook example of how a communal online experience can combine social currency, mass participation and direct monetisation by way of tipping and digital merchandise. It was merely a matter of time before Twitch, the premier eSports platform and hero of the hour, teamed up with Amazon Music in order to open the platform dynamic and user engagement to artists and creative content – particularly music. Equally unsurprising was ATC Management’s backing of Driift, specialising in the production and promotion of interactive live events. Not only shooting pay-per-view gigs of relevant artists in beautiful venues (a world away from the ‘live from the bedroom’ gig) but also experimenting with ticket scarcity, communal experiences and using Beatchain’s advanced data tools in order to precision-target an artist’s most engaged fans. Tim Westergren’s Sessions is boasting multiple artists earning thousands of dollars per week with ‘live from home’ gigs, and more and more artists are looking to create new revenue opportunities for fan engagement, using applications like Cameo or OnlyFans. For weeks now, a new live-streaming opportunity is being pushed to market almost daily and there seems no end in sight. Without a doubt, the music industry will have to be bold in creating a vision of what the future of fan-artist engagement and unique experiences could look like. A sea of mini stages for an openair concert (compliant with social distancing measures) may look like heaven to the ‘more seasoned’ fans among us, possibly creating a precedent for specialised packages. Meanwhile, the same arrangement might leave young(er) fans craving the experience of a mosh pit. Many fans might embrace the technological pivot from live-streaming into ‘life streaming’ which is much more akin to how social influencers engage with their fan bases, making them very much ‘part of their lives’ in the same way that a Kardashian would. Many of these new opportunities might not work for some artists. But, particularly for those with a Gen Z+ audience, chances are their fans will be keen to engage this way and be open to other new formats down the line.

Does the music industry need to look beyond the ‘scarcity model’ when it comes to livestreaming experiences?

“It’s time for the live music sector to embrace its ‘Napster moment’ and learn from the recorded music world.”

The rebalancing of power away from the oligopoly of promoters and venues might lead to, one hopes, a much more diverse ecosystem, allowing more complementary opportunities for monetisation rather than relying on parking fees, food and beverage in addition to the ‘traditional live promotion structure’. As ever, it is incumbent upon the wider music industry not to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory here. Rights clearances and licensing remains complex and challenging, and models would need to be put in place not only to allow artists to monetise directly, but also to change what could easily become a zero-sum game into one offering diversified, shared revenue streams. It’s time for the live music sector to embrace its ‘Napster moment’ and learn from the recorded music world: innovate beyond the scarcity model, as well as encouraging and enabling diversified digital revenue streams across multiple platforms, prioritising the needs and (changing) habits of consumers and fans. It’s time to upgrade from ‘general admission’ to ‘access all areas’. 77

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NO, YOU REALLY DON’T NEED AN ACOUSTIC VERSION OF YOUR SONG It’s one of the music industry’s streaming trends du jour – but Kieron Donoghue says he, and many others, have had enough of it... One of the interesting side effects of the streaming economy – and the fact that the barriers to entry have been removed for artists and labels being able to release music efficiently – is that acoustic versions of songs have become commonplace for the first time in history. Before streaming, they barely existed, now it’s almost routine that a few weeks after the original version of the song is released, the acoustic or ‘stripped’ version of a track lands in your Discover Weekly playlist. It’s the gift that nobody asked for or wants – but keeps on being given. At the risk of sounding cynical, 99% of the acoustic versions of songs are released as part of a record label marketing plan and not as part of the artist’s musical expression. They are usually released three or four weeks after the original, and they are designed to appear in your Release Radar playlist on Spotify, or in an email blast, and remind you that the artist exists. An attention grab, if you will. Of course, the label is also hoping to land a spot on one of the dozens of playlists that have cropped up to support this practice. Spotify’s Acoustic Hits has 1.3m followers, for example, and is rammed with these watered down versions of your favourite songs to enjoy while drinking a skinny latte in your favourite coffee house. In the UK, the governing body of the industry charts, the Official Charts Company, needs to shoulder some of the blame for acoustic versions. The chart rules state that unlimited (yes, unlimited) digital versions, or alternative versions, of a song can be combined to count towards chart placing. This is exactly the reason why not only did we see an acoustic version and multiple remixes for Ed Sheeran’s Perfect in 2017, but we also saw a version released with Beyoncé – and another one with Andrea Bocelli. This strategy worked amazingly well for the song, which hit No.1 in the UK, US and dozens of other countries around the world. 80

“Spotify’s Acoustic Hits is rammed with watered down versions of your favourite songs.”

The thing is, if you’re an artist with a big fanbase – and especially a big following on the streaming platforms – this strategy works. Going back to Ed Sheeran, his acoustic version of I Don’t Care has racked up 67m streams on Spotify alone. These acoustic versions work for superstar artists because the artist already has millions, or hundreds of millions, of fans on the streaming platforms, so there’s a built-in audience who will get the song automatically pushed out to their algorithmic playlists and personalised radio stations, ensuring automatic distribution and streams... and therefore cash in the bank for the label and artist. It’s exactly the same business model when it comes to remixes and another new format that only exists due to streaming: the ‘alternative’

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It’s a tactical way to earn more streams – but Donoghue says new artists should ignore the lure of the acoustic version to focus on their core music output

version. This occurs typically when a song has traction and is performing well, so the label enlists an A-lister to add a chorus/verse here and there. The alternate version is released, the featured artist’s fanbase is engaged and drives further streams etc. A great example of this is Doja Cat’s smash hit Say So, which was already doing the business, but the additional version, where Nicki Minaj raps a verse, is what propelled it to No.1 in the US. It’s hard to argue against this strategy from a business perspective, unless you’re a new artist still growing your fanbase that is. I’ve lost track of the number of new artists who I talk to about release strategy and they already have acoustic versions of their songs recorded. Or, worse still, I hear from folk or indie guitar bands who want to be put in touch with electronic dance producers so they can do a remix. Of course artists are free to express themselves

“Making music just so you can fit on an editiorial playlist is never a good idea.”

in any way they wish, and my job isn’t to tell them what to do (or not to do), but when talking about acoustic versions or remixes, the discussion always equates to, ‘If we did an acoustic version, which Spotify playlists do you think we could get on?’ Making music just so you can fit on an editorial playlist is never a good idea, but, sadly, because there are so many major artists doing it, it’s becoming the norm. The result is that many artists are wasting so much of their time trying to release music that fits on specific playlists, or in specific genres, that they’re missing out on doing the most important thing that any new artist should be doing: finding new fans who like you for your original music, not a watered down version of your music designed to fit in with an algorithm. So, to all the artists out there just starting out and growing your fanbase: no, you don’t need an acoustic version of your song. 81

Every Picture Tells A Story

Date: November 26, 2019 Location: London, UK

This is me with writer and producer duo Mojam (my secret weapon!) at the signing of their publishing venture, MJM Publishing, with Sony/ATV, alongside the likes of David Ventura [co-MD of Sony/ATV UK] and Chimene Mantori [Senior A&R Manager, Sony/ATV UK]. While many of my clients are public figures, Mojam quietly go about their business and are unsung heroes. This is our 10th year working together, and they’ve written and produced some of the finest music. They’ve worked with everyone from Emeli Sandé to Bugzy Malone – and are Grammy-winning producers for their work with Sam Smith. 82

They more recently penned and produced hits for breakthrough rap artist Aitch – Taste and Bussdown – and their hard work and versatility is unmatched. Riki Bleau is co-President of the London-based Since 93 Records at Sony Music UK, alongside Glyn Aikins. In addition Riki is the founder of Since 93 (formerly Avant Garde Music), a full service entertainment company and management home to artists/ producers/writers including Naughty Boy, Krept & Konan, Loski, Mojam and others. Mojam is the alter-ego of producer duo, James Murray and Mustafa Omer.

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