www.musicweek.com
07.09.12 MusicWeek 13
Tony Wadsworth Chairman, BPI “Listen up, management consultants… You put a bloody musician in charge of a label and look what happens: he signs artists just because he loves their music - crazy! You
WHY I LOVE BELLA UNION “Obviously Fleet Foxes is one of my proudest moments. I shouldn’t lie about it, I am proud that
we went from being this little independent label that had great bands but never sold a lot to being a label that could sell half a million records” SIMON RAYMONDE
wind up with a label that released four or five of my favourite albums from the last couple of years, with a clear musical identity, but with a catalogue of distinctive creative artists; that has found a way of sticking with the modest sellers, and is repaid by the healthy performance of the likes of Fleet Foxes and John Grant; and that is playful enough to feel compelled to reissue the first three Deranged albums by the genius Van Dyke Parks. One day all labels will be like this. Thanks, Simon.”
Some indie label bosses seem to be a little more obsessed with majors. Do you think about them often? You wrote an open letter in opposition to Universal’s proposed EMI acquisition on
MusicWeek.com… Right now I think about it a lot more than I did three months ago. Universal never really enters my life. I know that sounds strange given that Co-Op is owned by Universal, but it doesn’t even enter their life very much. The news that Co-Op is likely to be sold as part of the Universal/EMI divestments – if that’s true – creates a certain amount of anxiety. But what’s the worst that could happen? So it
gets sold, ends up somewhere else and we’ll work with whoever they are – or my deal with Co-Op runs our fairly soon so we go and do something else. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really affect us. We find bands, sign bands and work with them. The nuts and bolts of manufacturing a record,
putting a record in the shops and spending a bit of money on marketing it is something any idiot could do. I don’t mean to dumb it down, but it’s not the most important part of the process. That said, it’s important to do it well and I
wouldn’t want to work with a bunch of jokers. In fact, it’s probably a good thing: to me, Co-Op is a much more natural fit in the independent sector than it is in the major label world. Maybe it’ll be a great thing. But as for the merger itself? I obviously don’t agree with that. I’ve been fairly clear on that.
What lessons have you learned in the last 15 years – and what would you tell an artist who wants to set up their own label? Most of my decisions remain from the perspective of the artist because I still feel like I am one. I still make music and I still produce a bit so I’m still a creative person. I’m not really a businessman, that’s why we work with Co-Op because I don’t want to be doing that stuff, I don’t want to build an empire. It’s a big responsibility when you sign a band,
although it might not be regarded as very much these days. I don’t think many contracts at Universal mean a thing once you’ve signed to them and taken their money. If you don’t sell loads of records they’ll
STEVE LAMACQ PRESENTER, 6 MUSIC “I love the way Simon goes about things, because he has that unconditional, almost teenage love of music. I imagine him finding a demo, or an album he likes, and then listening to it
15 times in row. It’s such a nice antidote to people who do their A&R by scientific formula.”
just drop you. It’s a meaningless piece of paper. As an indie label you end up being mother, father, uncle, manager… are you ready for all of that stuff? Generally we get really close with our artists and
become great friends with them. It’s a business but I don’t really want to feel like it is. It’s more like an extended family for me.
What have been your proudest moments as Bella Union boss? There have been so many. I spend my whole life being proud running this label. When Dirty Three played at The Barbican to do
the Don’t Look Back series was one. They started doing Ocean Songs and Nick Cave walked out on stage. no-one but me and Duncan [ Jordan, Bella Union media boss] knew about it. To hear 2,000 people go, “It’s Nick Cave!” was really special. Having worked with them since the first year of the label and still be working with them, that makes me very proud. We didn’t have a signed recording contract with them until recently. It was very laid back. Obviously there’s Fleet Foxes too: I shouldn’t lie
about it, I am proud that we went from being this little label that had great bands but never sold a lot to being a label that could sell half a million records.
Do you feel support and kinship within the indie community? Yeah I do and I never thought I would. Maybe because of my background as a musician I always felt outside of the industry. We had very few friendships with other bands. I always liked that in Bella Union’s first year, our offices were out in Twickenham, nowhere near the rest of the music business. I thought: “We are like an island, we don’t like the music business, we should be here.”
RIGHT
Success story: Bella Union sold half a million records in the UK with Fleet Foxes’ eponymous second album
But I’ve really changed. Maybe it’s me, maybe
becoming a board member at AIM changed things. I’m really into the community and I really support it and any success inside the community we applaud and we feel good about it. It’s no secret that Martin Mills and I don’t get
on that great because of historical things to do with contractual stuff [Cocteau Twins were signed to 4AD], but I have absolute admiration for him as a businessman and I think what he does for AIM and the community is phenomenal. He’s a really great guy on that side. When we had success with Fleet Foxes, Martin
was the first person to write to me and say: “This is fantastic, well done.” I know he’s an empire builder with millions and millions of record sales behind him but he didn’t need to do that.
We spoke before our interview about Bella Union setting up as a publisher or even the maker of a TV show. Is expansion on the cards in the future? I think about it all the time. I don’t want to build an empire. I really don’t. I don’t want to be like Martin. But I do like the idea of some kind of expansion because I do think that just selling records is an incredibly hard way to make a living -certainly for seven people in a company, no matter how successful you are. Publishing is something that I already do with
other people but I’m going to be starting again on the that side - maybe with someone else who’s perhaps a bit more solid on the financial front. I think Bella Union Songs sounds pretty cool as a publishing company. And I haven’t really cracked the American side
of things yet. I put some stuff out there but it’s a bit piecemeal, it’s not as cool as Domino or Beggars. I would like to have an office there but my problem is that I don’t employ other A&R people, it’s just me and Mark in my office. I’m constantly thinking about how to make Bella Union’s brand better, more global, more efficient and more exciting. I’m not happy just sitting and watching the
record industry fall apart. If that’s going to happen I want to have other things going on. Bella Union could be a brand with many strings to its bow.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56