10 Music Week 07.12.12 THE BIG INTERVIEW SCOTTRODGER
Scott Rodger’s Quest has designs on becoming the UK’s premier global artist management company. So how can it differentiate itself from the competition – and where does the X Factor contract fit into its plans?
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GREATSCOTT
MANAGEMENT BY TIM INGHAM
O
ne step into Quest’s west London office is all you need to realise that this isn’t your typical UK management company.
Three floors of stylish, minimalist, open plan
office space is introduced by a reception area that sits under a towering, 30-foot-high ceiling; an opulent opening which one would more usually equate with swanky publisher and label HQs. And that’s exactly Scott Rodger’s intention. The Quest founder, inspired by the likes of Live
Nation’s Irving Azoff in the US, believes that there’s room for a sleek, powerhouse artist management company in the UK – a territory not known for management firms whose ambition and professionalism can match the majors. Fifteen feet up, hung behind Quest’s reception
ABOVE
Ambitions and intentions: Quest’s Scott Rodger wants to ‘create a great musical culture’ in a powerhouse artist management company
desk, is an expansive original print of The Beatles at the launch of Sgt. Pepper, taken by Linda McCartney in Brian Epstein’s house – a tribute- cum-reminder of Rodger and Quest’s star client, Paul McCartney. The rest of the pristine Ladbroke Grove office’s
walls are currently bare, save for the gleaming Sonos speakers the boss has sprinkled around for his 30-plus staff members to crank up. In the Quest founder’s top-floor office, a few
more clues to his motivations: an unblemished box- set of Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts sits proudly above his desk – an artist-controlled, industry-shaking release that broke many of the traditional label rules. Unconventional acts on Quest’s roster, including Noah & The Whale and Arcade Fire, must surely approve. Sat proudly on the carpet opposite Rodger’s chair are two imposing B&W 800 speakers, the
very same used in Abbey Road studios. One major label president tells Music Week that he reckons Rodger’s setup constitutes “probably the best sound system you’ll hear in any office in London”. This suits the smart, uncluttered workspace of a
management firm with some of the most credible acts in the world. Which kind of makes you wonder where in Quest’s global masterplan its latest, much- envied contract fits: the firm has the pick of acts from this year’s X Factor series, which culminates in a grand final on Saturday night (December 8). If Rodger’s leftfield indie background doesn’t
obviously suit the Simon Cowell brief - the Quest founder managed Bjork for 18 years, helping develop her from Sugarcubes kook to international idol - he’s built a team who are more than capable of taking charge in the pop realm. Behind a glass screen on Quest’s second floor sits Caroline Killoury, former A&R star at Simon
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