ABP – to announce Imagem was up for sale in 2014.


After eight months of uncertainty, however, Imagem was withdrawn from sale just before Christmas 2014 and, since then, Frankiewicz has redoubled her efforts, signing the likes of Kaiser Chiefs and electronic pop sensations Oh Wonder, who released a new song online every month for a year. She’s now gearing up for a big 2016, whether or not she ends up representing the year’s biggest hit. So Music Week sat down with Frankiewicz in Imagem’s London HQ to talk sales, signings and streaming services…


It’s been just over a year since the proposed sale of Imagem fell through. Was that a relief?


Oh God, yeah. Last year was horrible. Because I’d come in, made a lot of changes, got some great signings under my belt and was on a roll and then, next minute, the brakes were put on. We were sitting here for eight months, it was not fun at all. Then we were told, Guess what, it’s not happening – and I was like, That’s great, but I’m going to have a really tough year because I literally had to start over again to get the confidence back in the market place. So the first six months of 2015 was us really building that confidence back up and getting back out there, big time. But the one thing [that came] out of that was the support I got from the industry in general. I was really chuffed because people wanted us to survive. They need companies like us, especially managers and lawyers, so I got a lot of support and help and that spurred me on. And my thing was to [say to] everybody, The times we’re in at the moment, Sony could be for sale tomorrow. And everybody would say, You know what? You’re absolutely right. Because that’s just the way the business is now, you just don’t know.


Were you pleased to carry on as an independent? Very much so. I love the company, it’s great. It’s a well-oiled machine, and it would have been really upsetting for it to go away for a lot of people. Everything else is brilliant – it’s just that little elephant that was in the room last year.


Has the threat of a sale now completely gone? Who knows? You hope it’s gone away but you just don’t know. I’d be kidding myself if I sat here and said, That’s never going to happen. You’ve just got to get on with it.


At the time, the company said it now wanted to grow through acquisitions, but we’ve not actually seen much of that. Is that going to change? To be honest, that was never my brief.


MUSIC Week


there could be 10 buzz acts that week but my thinking is: what’s the one all of us in the room really love? And, once we make that decision, let’s go for that and get really aggressive with that, rather than go for all 10 of them. Oh Wonder was a good example of that. That’s the difference – we’re not just chasing everything for the sake of it. When we do sign something, people know that we’re there for them, we’ve got the time to work with them and it’s not like, Oh, we’ll get back to you in a month. Everybody knows that we’re hands on and that the sync team has time to work them properly, because they’re not bombarded with 20 new signings every month.


Mark Ronson delivered 2015’s biggest hit for Imagem


My brief was to build on what we already had. André’s [de Raaff, Imagem Group CEO] intention was to be [like] Chrysalis: a boutique, strong, worldwide, independent company. When they started, they had three big acquisitions: Zomba, Boosey & Hawkes and Rodgers & Hammerstein. But there’s not much out there to buy and we’re never going to compete with BMG when it comes to that, God love ‘em.


“When we sign something, people know that we’re there for them and we’ve got the time to work with them” KIM FRANKIEWICZ, IMAGEM


Is signing artists and songwriters your preferred way to expand the business then? Yes. In the last six months, I’ve put a real focus on getting some more songwriters on board. At the moment, sadly, everybody just wants a song to get started with. I never want hundreds of songwriters, but getting a few more in areas that we don’t have and adding to the roster both here and in the US [is good], because every label you go and see it’s always, I need that song. But you have to balance your approach. When you have a Pink Floyd, they’re not sync driven but with an Oh Wonder you really try and sniff out anything and everything that could work for them from a sync point of view.


Publishing is a very competitive market place right now – what is Imagem’s place within it? My whole motto is quality not quantity, and I’m very fortunate that I’m not pushed to deliver market share so, as long as we’re signing the right things and they’re working, then everybody’s happy here. That’s why it’s nice when we have our A&R meetings,


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You joined from a major publisher. Has the independent sector been as you expected? It’s been better than I expected! My timing was impeccable because there’s been a huge shift in the music industry but, in publishing, the biggest shift I’ve been feeling is a lot of the younger acts and writers will now come to a publisher before they approach labels. And the reason for that is, especially if they have strong management, they will build up their profile online, get some music out, build the story and get their streaming numbers up – and for that, they’ll get a publisher on board early because we can help financially and with expertise and contacts. It’s exciting – that mentality of, I’ll build up a buzz, do my big record deal and then go to a publisher and get the big fat cheque [is over] – it’s now, I want a publisher on board early. Being at an independent and not having a massive roster, we’re a good company for those younger acts and managers because we haven’t got 55 million writers that I have to be dealing with and making sure they’re working.


Would you yourself ever go back to the majors? You should never ever, ever say never. But I love having the opportunity to be working in this environment. It’s a pleasure.


Does your varied background help when it comes to persuading artists to sign to you? Absolutely – I’m Miss 360 (laughs). That experience is a huge help. A lot of people just know A&R or marketing or live, but I’ve had experience with all those bits of the business and it helps big time, especially when you’re making a decision with an artist. Because I know how things work out there, it comes into play when I’m making that final decision on investing in any artist.


And who do you see as your competition? Probably people like Downtown Music Publishing because we’re very similar. Downtown has more of a US profile, but


JANUARY 18


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