Cover Interview
Whilst Dickinson’s penchant for business dominates the interview so far, I am only too keen to divert back to the rock beginnings that have earned Bruce and his band member’s 85 million in record sales worldwide to date and Rock God status. Bruce jumps straight into a neat comparison of the two worlds that have defined his career so far. “I would argue that musicians and entrepreneurs have a lot in common. They’re creative, curious and both have this innate insecurity that they have to build something because nobody else will do it for them. Also, most musicians are
“Being an entrepreneur is a bit like that irritating child that keeps asking why”
control freaks and demand their product is exactly how they envisioned it – a bit like business owners really!” I can’t help but imagine that Bruce may fall into the Type A personality he describes in both business leaders and in this case, lead singers – high achievers, obsessive, ambitious multi-taskers. However, Bruce is keen to emphasise that the business skills he has picked up whilst riding the heavy metal wave were all a conscious choice, including a particular interest in managing his PR presence. ‘Some celebrities choose not to have awareness and get their PR to do everything, but I was always interested in marketing and branding. Iron Maiden was a text book case of how to take music and create a brand.” Did creating a brand out of an anti-establishment form of musical expression not scream selling out? “Branding is corporate to some people but it doesn’t have to be. If you look at it another way you say no, your brand is a reputation, and all a band has to trade on is its reputation because it has to have a one to one relationship with its audience.” Bruce then asks if I am familiar with Ratner’s Jewellery, a chain that dominated the British high street and yet was wiped out overnight due to comments made at a conference by CEO Gerald Ratner. “Gerald was asked why his jewellery was so cheap, in which he replied ‘Because it’s utter crap!’ The business folded instantly because of that remark - what possessed him!
“It just shows that reputation overrides everything, even when the quality isn’t there. We turn up to concerts and look our fans in the eye and they trust us and if we are selling an Iron Maiden T-shirt and it falls apart, we lose that trust. What you are doing in a band is selling relationships and feelings and it is exactly the same in business.”
I ask Bruce for his insights on how record companies have had to face up to the digital music movement. “I think record labels will get used in business schools as a classic case of
an old school industry that just got obliterated in this tsunami of technology. It could have easily embraced the digital revolution at an early stage but it chose not to. Music has never been more popular in human industry than it is now - it is everywhere. People say illegally downloading music is immoral but I can’t argue with it – it is ripping off peoples output but everyone is doing it! When you read a paperback and you give it to your mate you’re doing exactly the same thing, it just takes longer.
“I think the download movement shows how record companies had it too good for too long at the expense of consumers. The recording industry has been at the back of a massive demographic bubble. When I was a kid you didn’t have a VCR or a DVD player, there were only 2 or 3 channels on the TV and the only game in town was buying records. Record companies had a captive market so they could charge what they liked. Even when there were inventions like compact discs, companies could just sell records all over again at massive profits.
“These days we make albums to give us the moral authority to go on tour. We make our living as touring musicians. Twenty years ago touring didn’t make any money; it all came from record sales. Now, people will pay £50 for a T-shirt at a concert but they won’t buy an album for a tenner because they can get it for nothing. Digital content providers are interesting too – people were obsessed with MySpace, then Twitter, but they all just deliver what is just an interesting message. If people like your band or your company it doesn’t matter what you use.”
Despite Bruce’s emphasis on branding and spreading the band’s message it seems the Lead vocalist is only too keen to shy away from the media spotlight. Perhaps his public
“No matter how well you get on or how many nice dinners you had, if the deals not right it will end in tears”
spat with Sharon Osbourne, where the famous matriarch recruited family members to sabotage an Iron Maiden show by pelting eggs at the stage and shutting the power off was the final straw for Dickinson. He replies “This is the story. Black Sabbath paid us loads of money to take part in their Oz Fest because we sold a lot of tickets and that helped them. I then said a few remarks along the lines of ‘This is not reality TV, this is rock and roll’ and that annoyed her. I think Sharon regrets what she did but of course she would never admit it. In the end she shut up because she was actually
23 entrepreneurcountry
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