18 MusicWeek 06.09.13 THE BIG INTERVIEW RUSSELL SIMMONS
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How do you mean? The things that we’re going to do on YouTube - the visuals that we’re going to promote, the branding that we’re going to exercise and take on - are going to become more the norm for the record business than we are going to become part of the record business. Of course an explosive artist will take the traditional route but the traditional route will change more towards us than we will towards it.
So you see this concept as very much the future of the music industry in general… A big part of the future of the music industry at least.
Do you think we’ll see other major labels wanting their own YouTube labels as well? They’re not going to breathe without doing what we’re doing. They’re thinking about how to do what
Channel hopping: YouTube channel All Def Digital is the beginning of what Simmons and Universal hope will become a Multi- Channel Network
we’re doing right now if they have any foresight.
What kind of artists are you looking to sign? Will you be targeting people that are already successful on YouTube or will you be able to take someone who impresses you and then build them up? There will be a lot of artists who impress us that will be part of All Def Music, but there will also be those who are developing. 15,000 hits on YouTube is nothing but at the same time 15,000 hits is something. No hits is also an option. A lot of it will be instinct but some of it will come to us because of its own success.
And will you be focusing on the genres you’re most well known for? Steve Rifkind and I have our roots, you know. I’m listening to a lot of stuff that is obvious. Before I left [Def Jam Recordings] I signed Jay Z...
SIMMONS:‘I COULDN’T HAVE BETTER PARTNERS IN BRIAN, STEVE AND LUCIAN’
Russell Simmons spoke highly of his All Def Music partners during the label’s launch last month, paying tribute to Brian Robbins, Steve Rifkind and Lucian Grainge: “I look forward to working with the extraordinary talent from the vastly creative YouTube ecosystem in the same way I’ve worked with musicians, poets, comedians and designers all my life,” he said. “This is the most exciting new terrain for me, to move talent across all media platforms, and I couldn’t have better partners in Brian and Steve, and the most innovative of music executives, Lucian Grainge.” Brian Robbins (above, right) added: “I'm
thrilled to be in business with an impresario like Russell Simmons and a distinguished entrepreneur like Steve Rifkind to leverage digital and build ADD into the biggest and brightest urban brand.” Steve Rifkind (below, left) said: “Over the
course of my entire career, I've never been more excited than I am today about the potential for innovation in music. Tapping into YouTube’s fertile creative platform, we intend to identify, develop and nurture music’s next generation of superstar talent. Alongside Russell, Brian and the incredible team at UMG, I look forward to building All Def Music into a global music label for the new age.”
[Whether it’s Jay Z or Kanye West], these guys are not foreign to me. Their music has not changed that much, I don’t feel that old. It’s Def music, you know? It’s all Def music.
You’ll continue the brand… Yeah; Rifkind, Loud Records… You can kind of smell what we’re going to do.
Do the deals that will be offered to artists at this kind of label look different to a traditional record deal? They’re all going to be different. We want to let our deals flow from the heart, we’re not going to take traditional deals and make them the only model we work from. That’s all I can say.
You’ve said in the past that you feel YouTube complements rather than disrupts traditional media. What would you say to critics of YouTube that say it cannibalises traditional sales by offering music for free? That’s a whole different thing. I’m not an expert on all the ways there are to monetise music, I just have to say that I’m here and I’m dealing with it. I can’t change the reality. I like the independent spirit that artists can have
when they want to; that they have access to their audiences, that they can build an audience without having to get a radio station to play them. They can do it on their own, there are no doors, you know? The industry always tries to create new doors. Indies come to buck the system, so we hope we can buck the system – like I said, we’re a super indie and if you think about what an indie represents…
Speaking of bucking the system, Def Jam defined a genre, a culture and a whole generation really. Do you think, in a way, you can do the same with
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