More words of wisdom from the music business in 2025...
“I always say trying to be successful is really expensive sometimes” Alec Boateng, 0207 Def Jam
between dreamers and doers is execution” Kanya King CBE, MOBO Group
“The difference
“We look forward to a day off, maybe in 2029!” Twiggy Rowley, Project Gold
“I told Lola that I wasn’t doing management anymore, but we had this really funny conversation and she started introducing me to people as her manager. That’s how it started, although I didn’t agree to it!”
Nick Shymansky, Day One Entertainment
Rebecca Allen, Universal Music Group UK
“The onus shouldn’t be on the artists to go to tech
companies and say, ‘Please don’t use me in your AI factory!’” David Furnish
“I’m an extremely loud, hyperactive, Tasmanian devil person” CMAT
“Labels and A&Rs need to stop looking at numbers, work a bit harder and go back to developing artists” DJ AG
“My career has had more twists and turns than an EastEnders plotline”
“Lewis Capaldi turned up at the studio in gym shorts – I think he’d had a pretty crazy night...” Connor McDonough
“Publishing is such an old-fashioned business that really needs to be reinvented. It’s always about how much money and how long the retention period is for. I know from working with artists, they’re not in the business of corporations, they’re in the business of people” Tommas Arnby, Special Projects
“I listen to every demo that gets sent my way; you never know what random email could be the one that changes someone’s life”
Rhea Pasricha, Prescription Songs
“It’s pleasing there are so many first-time headliners at BST Hyde Park this year, if only to stop people talking about the talent pipeline – I think it’s been the biggest bullshit argument for five to 10 years… The biggest artists in the world at the moment are under 40 years old and they’re selling out multiple stadiums”
Jim King, AEG Presents UK and European Festivals
“I’m sick of having record labels say there are bad managers out there. I say, ‘Well, support them!’” Annabella Coldrick, MMF
“The industry has changed out of all proportion and sometimes I do feel like the gatekeeper without the fence… I don’t know that the industry values storytelling as much as it did, [but] I think the world values it more than ever” Alan Edwards, Outside Organisation
“I always have to check what my measure of success is and what my ambitions are. It’s really important for me to keep coming back to this question: why am I doing what I’m doing?” Jamz Supernova
“My studio is in the basement of my house – you could hear my kids above while Charli XCX was sitting on the stairs writing the lyrics to Sympathy Is A Knife – I was like, ‘Oh God, I hope it’s not too loud!’” Jon Shave
“Labels signing kids off one song on TikTok is like putting scuba gear on them, kicking them in the water and saying, ‘Go find us some gold’” Teddy Swims
“Ozzy asked me, ‘Are you doing this as a wife or a manager?’ I was like, ‘Shut the fuck up!’” Sharon Osbourne
“A record label’s idea is to bundle albums with tickets and call that selling records – I call it using my ticket to sell your album” John Giddings, Solo Agency
“For us, the right path is not just about the biggest cheque” Sandy Abuah, Tru Tribe Management
“I’m so much more interested in being an artist people see live than one who streams a lot” Laufey
“When you enter the game, you’re just excited to be in it… As you grow, you realise what a good and a bad deal is” Krept
“There’s a perception that people at the top of majors don’t get their hands dirty – but they absolutely do” Stephen Taverner, East City Management
“I used to take homemade Elton John jewellery to school” Brandi Carlile
“It makes me happy that a lot of alternative music is topping the charts right now – there’s definitely a resurgence” Sombr
Music Week | 59
PHOTOS: Carsten Windhorst & Gerard Hynes, Paul Harries, Louise Haywood-Schiefer, Michael Bodiam, Ejatu Shaw
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 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
