Creating an artist

Over the years the artist benefited from a music industry swelling with a backroom of talent. It was the creative infrastructure of the music industry and what I like to call ‘The Engine Room.’ It’s where collaborations were born and where the road used to begin.

When you signed to a record company it was the beginning, it meant the start of a relationship. And the better the relationship the greater the chance of success. You see success was something everyone used to share and it was an industry that drove people to succeed. The pleasure was shared with everyone because everyone played an equal part. Today with a rapidly diminishing return I don’t think it’s a unity, it’s a jungle mentality. Eat or be eaten, artist against the record company. They want a piece of every part of the pie.

Many of the things that worked so well in the past seem to be lacking today. Yet so many of these things are quite simple when you think about it. Everyone is scared of losing their jobs and even the artists nowadays are scared of being dropped. Why should that be any different though? It’s supposed to be a risk business, it’s supposed to be about taking chances and pushing out that little bit further. We lost our mavericks and we lost our risk takers. We lost our innovators and we lost our way. We are not creating anything anyone is going to remember. And before I hear you say Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift or Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce, Justin or even Jay Z. They’ll be here next year but I doubt they’ll be here next decade.

The relationships were everywhere, the artist with their manager, the manager with the label, the label with the publisher. Then the producer and the A and R manager and it went on. The only thing that may have changed as we face up to the demise of the ‘pop star’ is that the fan has a closer relationship with the artist. Or they should have if both parties are reaching out like they should.  Today artists should be connecting with their audience, a bit like John Mayer until he has his sudden whacko swings towards lunacy and he over communicates to the detriment of others and damages something he worked so hard at creating.

Filed under: About The Engine Room, Managing Creativity, record companies, social networking, A and R people, artist development, creating talent, record companies

Do I need a manager

Artist management, it’s a question to need to ask yourself at the very start of your career. The thought of having a manager can be exciting because you feel that you’re moving in the right direction, finally someone working alongside you to get things done. You might be right but you might be horribly wrong. The days are gone of the drummer’s brother managing a band, the nice guy who didn’t play anything but had always longed  ‘to be in the music business.’ Before you appoint a manager ask yourself the question, ‘Do I really need a manager?’ What you may find is that while you’d like a manager you don’t actually NEED one.

Ask yourself, ‘What do I want to achieve from this?’ Are you after a deal or do you need someone to do all the things that you don’t want to do? The manager has their job but you still have yours. You are your own artist development manager within your own infrastructure. It’s your job to define what role you want the manager to play alongside what it is you do for yourself.

If you’re at the stage where you can do it all then leave well alone, you don’t need a manager. If however, you’re generating a buzz and at the stage where there could be interest from the record industry then maybe you do need a manager. If you don’t have one you’ll at least need a lawyer. Record companies need someone to deal with and it’s unlikely to be you. It can be some of the best money you’ll ever spend. Protect yourself from the horror of having your career taken away from you before you’ve begun. If you have and they see you’re vulnerable, you’ll get eaten alive.

Then comes the finding of the manager. Good managers are like a jewel in the crown. You’ll rarely find a great artist without a great manager. It can be the basis for where all future relationships are born, the ultimate collaboration. We’ll look at the role of the manager later but for now you have to make the same decision as you hope you’d hope you make with your life partner. Is this the one? The chances are you might get divorced from manager and you’ll be left holding the baby, your band. Do everything in your power to make the right choice. While you’ll be driven by instinct and intuition strive for more. Do some research and convince yourself they are the right person for the job. You’ll need to get on with them because you’ll rarely be apart from them, take time to get to know them. You will need to identify they have those basic human ingredients such as honesty and trust. Being a nice guy is never enough. Ask yourself, ‘Can they do the job?’

I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t a good manager, there were the things that I did brilliantly but I didn’t enjoy the taking care of business. And today there’s much more of that you need to do. I wanted to be creative but the business stuff got in the way. Organizational skills are of the essence and being business savvy so that even if you don’t handle that side of things you make the right decisions when it comes to accountants and lawyers. The power to delegate is what makes the difference, knowing if something can be done better and quicker by someone else. So many of the people around you might be looking for personal gain, what’s in it for them? It’ll destroy you, chose your manager wisely.

Filed under: Business Lessons, management, Managing Creativity, artist development, artist management, good management

Sid and Malc

Management and the style of management can vary so much. Good managers always act in the best interests of the artist and that requires a huge understanding of what it is you want to get out of them. That doesn’t mean always agreeing with them, on the contrary sometimes that means vehemently disagreeing with them and getting them to shape up. At the top level you’re protecting them from the record company and if you’re lower down the pecking order you’re often having to protect them from themselves.

The classic example here would be Malcolm McLaren and a quarter of his act, Sid Vicious. Just the other day I was, together with many others praising McLaren and what he had achieved in his years and I still stand by that. He played a large part in a small part of musical history, the revolutionary part which is always the exciting bit. McLaren’s relentless pursuit was always about the end product, The Sex Pistols and in doing that he was almost encouraging Sid to spiral out of control. It worked in the general scheme of things, he wanted the Pistols to be a train wreck and whatever carnage had to happen then so be it. It all added to the end product and the media frenzy.

Sid was that rollercoaster of a train wreck, his whole tragic world in turmoil and too brain dead to ever be bothered. And while it all fell apart underneath him he paid the ultimate price, he’s not here anymore. The whole Sid and Nancy tragic opera was played out to it’s inevitable conclusion and alongside  John Lydon we remember Sid more than the others and for just that. the messed up smack head that he was. We love tragedy in rock, Jim Morrison, Hendrix, Janis and Brian Jones, not to mention Kurt Cobain and Elvis Presley. It’s hard being a legend while you’re alive.

McLaren, cruel as it sounds almost encouraged Sid and left him too it. Whatever Sid got up to was front page news and that was what  always worked in the bigger picture. It was front page news from the start of his heroin addiction and his behavior right through to Nancy’s death. And the ultimate swanson, his own death where he was Romeo to his Juliete.

You wonder if Malcolm felt any remorse deep down inside because he never showed it. Did he think it was worth sacrificing a human life, maybe two in the quest for publicity? Is a life that important, somehow I doubt it. And yet if it wasn’t for the end who would remember Sid? He was a punk star because of all that, no more significant than the other three yet there he lies in rock’s tragic corner. Famous for careering out of control.

Filed under: management, mistakes, View from the room, John Lydon, Malcolm McLaren, Sid Vicious, The Sex Pistols

McLaren’s final pit stop

Few people leave their mark in pop music the way Malcolm McLaren did.  That’s the problem with the music industry today it’s too safe, too squeeky clean and  too uninspiring. It lacks characters like McLaren, Tony Wilson and other mavericks, the rebels who believed in getting their artists known because, stupid as it sounds they believed in them.  Malcolm left his mark in a way few will ever emulate and few will ever forget. Successful as Simon Cowell is the whole  American Idol funfare is safer than safe. Uninspiring artists covering tried and tested songs, one of them wins and they give them a song to release, make all the money and then they’re done. Nothing remotely exciting, you expect nothing and you’re content  to get nothing. But then again Simon Cowell believes in pop music as a disposable commodity, there is no longevity in it so who am I to judge? Memories are not always made by hits.

People like McLaren made the music industry great, he made people sit up and take notice. He was driven and he was noisy, he was a man on  a mission. A relentless bulldog and once he had the bit between his teeth he was off and running.   To quote his own words’ “I have been called many things: a charlatan, a con man, or, most flatteringly, the culprit responsible for turning British popular culture into nothing more than a cheap marketing gimmick”  And most of the people who see that as criticism probably inspired him to do more of the same. Great publicists like to get noticed and McLaren did more than enough of that. When you hear the words ‘cheap marketing gimmick’ applied to the likes of The Sex Pistols, New York Dolls or Bow Wow Wow it makes you wonder what we’ve replaced the word ‘cheap’ with today, worthless? It’s definitely cheaper than cheap.

The Sex Pistols got on more front covers of national newspapers in six months than a high profile act would get in their entire career. You couldn’t avoid finding out what they were up to and McLaren couldn’t give a toss about what people were saying about the band as long as they were saying it. He got noticed and they got noticed, he hit a nerve and he generated a reaction. And again like Tony Wilson, if you met him you knew you’d met him. He was never, whatshisname? If he didn’t think it would create a fuss then he couldn’t be bothered and his ability to manipulate the media to get what he wanted was unique.

I met him once when I interviewed him the mid 90’s and no matter what the question might be he would swerve the conversation into exactly what he wanted to say. He lapped up any media opportunity and of course being articulate and interesting in the way he explained stuff always helped.  He was a brilliant marketing guy who also knew a lot about other people’s jobs and if you were below par he had no problem telling you. Record labels had a hard time with him!

There is no doubt The Sex Pistols had the best manager they could ever have dreamed for. They’d never admit it and it’s well documented that they, particularly John Lydon/Rotten had their problems with him but it was only to be expected that when it was over he would be the target of criticism. How else could they maintain their image unless they still had a reason to be angry and controversial. If it’s not around you anymore then all of a sudden you have to recreate it. But if you look at everything that got them noticed, the  publicity it was all his doing. The anarchy, the boat trip down the River Thames on the Queen’s Jubilee, the whole God Save the Queen outrage in fact. When it came to shock he near as damn invented it.  He knew how to get his band on the front cover and he would stop at nothing. It was almost too easy for him, why employ a publicist when he could do it all himself?

Malcolm McLaren, Malcom in the middle. Of everything.

Filed under: management, Managing Creativity, Opportunity, Malcolm McLaren, Sex Pistols, Simon Cowell, tony wilson

Earning a reputation

One word can say so much and  some words like ‘reputation’ take on a whole new meaning depending on the context. Just think of something as simple as ‘she’s got a reputation’ which implies either she’s a bit of a slapper or she’s to be heeded. Either way it’s not good but then when you hear someone say  ‘he/she has survived on reputation’ it takes on a whole new meaning. It describes someone who is both worthy and deserving, someone who has has earned something on merit.

I was looking back over the years at the people I’d worked with and those who I’d enjoyed the best relationships with. Without question it was those I respected that I liked the most. They were the types who were comfortable with themselves and whose behavior both professionally and socially were admirable. Each time you met them they were the same and when you spoke to others you’d hear the same remarks, ‘Good guy, nice girl, I like them’ and where people were uncomplimentary it was probably because they were jealous. They wished they could be more like them and hated the people who gave them accolades and to retaliate they’d be insulting or sarcastic.

These are people who earned a reputation, it’s not something that comes easy and it isn’t something you can force on people. It’s there because of the constant way you conduct your life and your affairs. People can rely on you, they know what to expect and they’re understanding when things don’t go quite the way they should. They respect you because of a consistency in the way you are, they sort of feel safe with you and at ease. You show the basic human ingredients that so many lack nowadays. Reputable people are trustworthy, loyal and have standards they live up to, not because they want to show off but because they want to do something to the best of their ability. They want to do everything in their power to do whatever they can to make it a  success.

Nothing is of any value  unless you earned it. The music industry thrived for so many years because of the sum total of it’s parts, not just the artists but the whole infrastructure. It was a business where people collaborated with one another and where each contributed to the end result. They made it happen, they made it a success. They didn’t wallow in their own glory and when one project was over they moved to the next with the same belief and with the same determination. It was done in perfect harmony. Your work colleagues were your mentors,they mentored you and you, in turn mentored them. If you worked with someone who had a reputation of being successful it drove you to reach those heights, you wanted to be as good at what you did as they were at what they did. It was a natural human instinct, no self respecting person employed to do a task with others wanted to lag behind.

Reputation is born out of pride and integrity , groomed from respect and deserved through merit. If you do something long enough and you do it well then recognition is the ultimate reward. No one need utter words of congratulations if you are true to yourself and know you tried your hardest. When you know what you have achieved and when you can see how others have benefitted from the results it’s safe to reflect in the gratification. And to know your reputation is something that you have earned.

Filed under: Managing Creativity, View from the room, integrity, music industry, relationships, reputation, respect

Letting the days go by

I just got a note on my Facebook page from an old pal and colleague at Piccadilly Radio David Dunne attaching a clip from a bygone era. Oh how I laughed, it’s funny how you never remember how you looked. And then I found myself saying, ‘I wonder what ever happened to that jacket?’ All nonsense really but all good clean innocent nonsense.

It was amazing to think how old the footage was, from late 90’s and a program featuring Happy Mondays. The funniest thing of all was it has been screened numerous times over the years as an ‘educational program.’ Information Technology was the title of the show though Lord knows how Happy Mondays made it in to a BBC educational show!. Having written a book about the lessons I learned from rock and roll strangely enough The Mondays were absent. It was pleasantly funny to see the recorded interview between myself and Factory Records supremo the late Tony Wilson where I was a bit pissed off at the Mondays constant absentiesm when it came to radio interviews. Then I wondered why on earth did I ever even attempt at getting the Mondays any interviews. As lovable as they were they were usually so wrecked they couldn’t speak anyway and having to go and collect them to take them to radio interviews was hardly my easiest promo task. Ah they don’t make pop combos like that anymore. A totally wonderful band  but no suprise they never won anything at The Brits. they didn’t have a ‘Best band from  another planet’ category. Best International artist didn’t cover the galaxy.

Maybe the Mondays were the last of the great bands, part of a pedigree of bands that work in a totally unique, unconventional manner. What they were had just as much to do with being with a label like Factory. No other label would have been able to allow them to develop in to what they became, they wouldn’t have had the patience and they would have tired of their antics and dumped them. It’s the exact same scenario as A and M Records and EMI, they had no idea what to do with The Sex Pistols so they let them go. They are both bands who know what they are doing and need a label to support them but to leave them to their own ‘artistic’ devices bizarre as they may seem. Both acts worked because of Factory and because of Virgin and because their A and R people understood they were a little different from everyone else. Thank God.

Filed under: Managing Creativity, record companies, View from the room, david dunne, Factory Records, Sex Pistols, The Happy Mondays, tony wilson

X Idol to X Factor

In reality TV Cowell is a one off, American Idol need to do something very off the wall to replace him and I think Ellen’s DeGeneres’ addition to the judges panel was done with the knowledge that  this series would be Simon’s swansong. Surely she too would have known that?  I think they did right by actually trying to replace him with two characters (although Paula was a definitely character alright.) Effectively they’ll be trying to do that, Ellen and then someone else who has what Ellen hasn’t. Either way it won’t have anything to do with music or the ability to decide what is or is not good musically. It’ll be about who the entertainer is, it’s the same as Britain’s got or America’s got Talent. And it all sets up X Factor nicely, thank you. It’s a no lose situation once again for Goldfinger and good luck to him, he has an entertainment industry now at his beck and call. The ratings say that he is right, an audience want entertaining and if you dumb them down enough they’re easily entertained. No longer do they want entertaining by a voice or an artist that drools talent but one who has, dare I say it the X Factor. We’ll just keep calling it American Idol though so the advertisers don’t get confused, perish the thought they were having to think of where to spend their advertising budgets just yet.

Did it ever occur to anyone that nothing lasts forever?  Even if you don’t like Simon Cowell, and although personally I do then give  him one thing,  give him the credit on timing. His American Idol exit is precision timing. Look how well it worked for Little Britain and better still Basil Fawlty, knowing when to quit and sticking by your decision no matter how much money you’re offered. Seinfeld was another, wild horses wouldn’t drag him back and the residuals  for the rest of his life and beyond were more than ample. Who needs the cash apart from NBC of course. People like to have something to remember and sustaining respect and the loyalty from your fans is all about knowing when to back away and them remembering you as part of something that revolutionized television, something that was what it was because of you. They remember you for that and if it starts to decline they don’t remember you at all. The ship sinks, you drown in it. But Simon will be gone by then so if the good ship Idol were to sink he will be known as the reason it sunk. And the reason it sailed was because of him. Touche, his adoring crowd will always remember him fondly.

Great TV stars, film stars, maybe even porn stars are the ones who understand shelf life, formerly known as artist integrity. Otherwise known as sharp cookies. More in tune with longevity and not grabbing what they can while they can, like all good artists they have confidence in their own ability. They like to reinvent themselves and take on new challenges, they don’t want everything on a plate and then wonder when the plate is taken from underneath them. No more gruel Scrooge, get back to the kitchen and cook it up all over again.

We’re a live for the moment generation, too afraid that our star will cease to shine and someone else will be grabbing at our coat tails. Where are the managers hell bent on sustaining that pedigree of artist who is there on merit. And when did merit and ability and the desire to succeed ever go away? The greedy came along and robbed us and once they got in they kept coming back to rob us more and more. Talent is there to be discovered, nurtured and then made available to the masses to see just what it was that got us attracted to them in the first place. It’s never about throwing a herd of wannabes in a multitude of car parks spread across a continent so that a wizard of pop can dictate who does what with you, when and for how long. Then it’s out of the car park and back on the bus to oblivion because foolishly, for one minute you thought you had what it took. The bare faced cheek to turn up.

Filed under: Managing Creativity, View from the room, Ellen DeGeneres, NBC, Simon Cowell, talent, tv stars, X Factor

What now for the music biz

The record industry needed to find something that would save them from themselves. They needed to find the solution before the problem,and now the problem is global and has spiraled out of control…..everyone with their own crosses to bear. With the economy taking such an unprecedented pounding you wouldn’t lay money on the music business having anywhere near an OK year. Mutiny, mass exoduses of bands wanting to find their own solutions to the problem will inspire little confidence in an industry they once looked to as their mentors.

Music industry people like Chris Blackwell and Ahmet Ertegun, Herb Alpert and a smattering of others from the past together with the Michael Lippmans and Paul McGuinesses of the present still retain their mantles and their success is deserving. In their own domain they have successfully managed every part of the process and gained the respect of their artists….but where do the others turn to for guidance. These people have their own houses to keep in order but nowadays what do they see around them, where do they turn find the like minded people of old that they rely on to work with? Where is the support, the back up they once had. Labels believed in their artists and would do everything they could to show that support, they used to inspire one another.

Where are the people who once were so enthusiastic about the music they couldn’t wait to spread the word. They needed to make money but it was the music that drove them. When I first started in the music business in 1974 my immediate boss Ray Cooper was first and foremost a fan, it was why he wanted to work in the music business….he’s still a fan today.Back then we’d spend as much time discussing music on other labels as we did on the stuff we were selling, the same at Island later on…….there didn’t seem to be anyone there who wasn’t there for the right reasons.

Once this was an industry abundant with adventurous, creative people, now it’s an industry scared of risk, frightened by mistake, confused, tried and tested……… and found guilty.

We can hope for change but this isn’t the change President Elect Obama had in mind. This is one thing he or no one else could manage to change. We will look at what happens now in the music industry and if last year was a year of radical change then this year is going to see even bigger change……..and for those that can survive it, good luck.

Filed under: Managing Creativity, record companies, Chris Blackwell, Herb Alpert, Michael Lippman, music industry, Paul McGuinness

Take that …..or leave it

I wouldn’t deprive anyone who worked hard any success but I always maintained Robbie Williams was the luckiest pop star alive. I think his management team have done a marvelous job under the circumstances as I would imagine that at times he’d be a hard act to handle…. he’s prone to doing what he wants, when he wants.

I worked with Take That around ‘Back for Good’ and was there at the press conference when they announced they were calling it a day.They had continued for about a year after Robbie left and there was a lot of love for them but they were feeling they had taken it as far as they could and retired gracefully. When Robbie left Take That I don’t think he acted the same and then went on to have some extra digs at Gary. All the while Gary retained a dignified silence and didn’t enter into any war of words choosing to concentrate on his solo career.

Mark Owen also released his own album around the same time as Gary, brave in itself and was always very supportive of Robbie. When people were looking for a quote or more likely looking to see if Mark would have a dig at his old mate he was genuinely supportive of him and would mention how much he missed him. As the two youngest in the band they shared a lot in those formative years. Not of the band ever showed any animosity towards him even when Robbie was making a fool of himself, tagging on with Oasis at Glastonbury and doing anything just to get noticed.

When he first released his own solo album it bombed and it wasn’t until ‘Angels’ that anyone gave a toss and then for some reason he was propelled in to the stratosphere…..and all from just that one song. Everyone around him worked brilliantly to convince the public of his immense talent when it was just this one very good song. England has always championed the ‘cheeky chappy’ yet here in the US they couldn’t see it, they didn’t know what all the fuss was about. I find it quite amazing to see how he has become the most successful UK male artist ever! Just think of the names he’s been compared with…George Michael, Elton John???? I can’t say I agree……not even close.

Filed under: Journey Through The Past, Managing Creativity, Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Take That

Look who’s Back for Good

So Robbie Williams wants to return to Take That…..now there’s a suprise, I wonder why? Well Robbie, nothing lasts forever and I think you’ve had the best of your days….so slipping back now in to a band you walked out on is a little too convenient, especially when their success and comeback has nothing to do with you. The boys crafted their own comeback with a killer single ‘Patience’ and deserve all the praise and the awards that have come their way.

Take That are very smart, they listen and they learn. In the early days they were masterminded by an excellent manager in Nigel Martin Smith….. he was a mini Brian Epstein, he built the band from nothing, had the right ideas and worked very well with the record company, RCA. He worked the band hard with plenty of public appearances where they would perfect their dance routines and build a fan base and he got the record company to support all of that.

Has it really been any different…getting out there and finding out who your fans are? It worked very well, they got their break and they had earned it. All the time the band were listening to others. They were learning and showing a great deal of interest in their own careers……..yet they understood they were young, had no experience and needed guidance. Now they are able to use that knowledge and experience and are getting it right the first time of coming back !

I’m very impressed and delighted for them, they are on the verge of selling a million copies of their new album. It would seem like their career is doing better than his and that’s why he wants in. Take That could end up with the best comeback of all time and could do that quite easily without ‘The Robster.’ That would be very hard for him and his ego to handle, he really thought they’d struggle without him.

He hated Gary being singled out as the only one capable of a sustaining a solo career. When Take That split up Gary’s label BMG mounted a huge promotional campaign for him, one that was aimed at showing the world how successful they could be with the band’s main songwriter. They wanted to turn Gary Barlow in to the new George Michael and I don’t that was fair to Gary…..it’s something that’s typical of record companies, they fail to realize the public is quite happy with one George Michael. In the past did they ever try to give us the new Frank Sinatra, the next Freddie Mercury, Elton John? No, they’d be out there searching for the next big thing and not replicating the last.

Don’t get me started on that…..well not until next time at least.

Filed under: Business Lessons, Managing Creativity, record companies, BMG, Gary Barlow, George Michael, Nigel Martin Smith, Robbie Williams, Take That