28MusicWeek 13.07.12 INTERVIEWCRAIGLOGAN
GOING IT ALONE W
MANAGEMENT BY TOM PAKINKIS
ith amanagement career that has coupled himwith the likes of Pink,Tina Turner, JoeCocker andMPeople along
with a successful four-year stint in the hot seat at Sony’sRCARecords,CraigLogan has decided to step out on his own. Well, not quite.Logan’s newcompanyLogan
MediaEntertainment draws upon the relationships he has built over the years, pulling in players from various industry sectors to aid artist development under theLME banner. Whether it’s calling on the expertise ofThe
ProductionOffice for live production,Pick andMix Music for synch services orWeGotToEleven for producers and songwriters,Logan has awide range of partners under theLMEumbrella,which he says provides a “menu of services”to help develop artists on top of his coremanagement credentials. And,whilemusicwill always sit at the centre of
everythingLMEdoes, the company is also taking bold steps into theworld ofTVand theatre.Logan sat downwithMusicWeek to talk about his diverse newoperation...
What’s the idea behindLME? When I left Sony, I’d spent most of my life as a manager and I wanted to build a new company. The core of the set up sits artist management
with songwriters and
producers.Then we have a bunch of different ancillary businesses including live production, digital marketing and synch for film andTV placement. It all surrounds and helps feed the management side of things. I partnered with Peter Leak on the
management side and, while LME is the overall brand that everything sits under, I also have 24-7, which is everything Peter and I do together along with Tara Joseph. Peter and Tara represent Katherine Jenkins. The idea of LME and 24-7 is to have a company
that has proper global reach with a proper setup both in the UK and America, not just satellite offices.We’re already seeing the benefit of that with Katherine Jenkins on DancingWithThe Stars and Cher Lloyd racing up the charts in the US. We’re also making a new record with Dido,
which will probably come out at the beginning of next
year.And we’re working with Anastasia who’s about to start a whole run of European shows and we’re in the process of making a new album. We have some rights businesses which sit on top,
including publishing, a very small and boutique digital label, aTV show that I’ve just done a deal on and theatre productions. But I look at these services as a menu because
one size does not fit all artists and I’ve seen people try to do that so many times and it just doesn’t work.You have to be in a position to do the best things that you can for an
artist.That’s the way I’ve tried to look at it. What I’ve done is create a bunch of incredible
ABOVE Craig’s list: Although Logan is stepping out on his own, he has a number of partners he can call on to aid artist development at LME
partnerships with people that I know will do a fantastic job and have a similar philosophy as myself.
RIGHT/BELOW Star quality: Names on the LME artist roster include Dido and Cher Lloyd who is starting to make waves in the US
Howhas developing newtalent changing compared towhen youwere at Sony? The manager tends to have to do an awful lot more these days. Some people can just go out and have a hit record but the development of talent is key and a lot of that is coming from managers and third parties. They’re already developing talent before they plug into that major system. Social media is an
important piece of the puzzle as well now because artists can talk to their fanbase directly and build a
following.That’s changed the landscape tremendously.
The former RCA boss tellsMusicWeek about his exciting newventure
“I look at these services as amenu because one size does not fit all artists. I’ve seen people try to do that somany times and it just doesn’twork” CRAIG LOGAN
What can you tell us about theTVand theatre projects you’re embarking on? I’ve just done a deal with FreeMantle for the world for a music-based show that has some social elements including schools. It’s very exciting and we had a number of people
who pitched to try and take the show.We’re going to be focusing on trying to launch that next year in America and in the UK. The theatre project is with GuyHolmes,who has
been in the business a very long time and used to run Gut Records.We have a few shows that we’re developing, a couple of big musical entities. Everything we do is
music-based.That’s what I
know so I’ll stick to
it.Plays tend to be longer term because you have to script them and so on.We’re in the initial stages of the first draft of both of those shows and we’ll see how they develop over time.
Do you think that theatre is a vehicle that’s often overlooked bymuch of themusic industry? There have been an awful lot of musical theatre shows that people have tried and failed.When they get it right it goes fantastically well.But it’s just an extension.When you go to a gig you want to have a good time and get that feel-good factor. In the musical world a theatrical show is exactly
the
same.The reason thatMamaMia,Rock of Ages andWeWill Rock You are so big is because of the feelgood factor.
The impact of having a song onXFactor iswell known but no one really thinks in those terms when it comes to theatre… ObviouslyTV has a much bigger reach whereas theatre, unless you’re going into it for a period of several months, is more limited. It’s going to work for some people but not for others. That’s the nature of our business, if there was a rule book on how this stuff works, we would have all read it. Things happen in the most
obscure ways, and there’s an awful
lot of luck involved too, but if you’ve got experience that you can pull from then you can
help make those dots align.
Howimportant is it for an artist or label to have other vehicles likeTVand theatre aswell standard music releases? For me it’s about doing things that interest and excite you. I love music and I love putting on live shows, so combining that is what the theatrical thing is for me. For us theTV projects are fun projects. Some of
them might complement some of my existing artists, they might not. If it makes sense, then great but it’s not a prerequisite. It’s just about doing things that I love because that’s when you can make things happen.
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