music week sep 2012

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THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC www.musicweek.com 14.09.12 5.15


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R O B B I E W I L L I A M S

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S ony UK CEO andchairman Nick Gatfieldhas forecast a strongreturn to growth for the recordindustry after announcing a new milestone in the transitiontowards digital product.

Speaking at Sony Musicscompany day in London thisweek, Gatfield revealed that morethan 50% of the majors revenuein the first half of the year wasderived from digital media.Worldwide, Sony Music postedapproximate total revenues of $2.51bn (1.56bn) in the sixmonths to the end of June.

This is a watershedmoment for the business anda clear indication that realtransformation is taking place inour industry, said Gatfield.

When you look at the sheerscale of the daily connectionsbetween artists and fans and thetechnology advances that allow music to be consumed wherever

and whenever the audiencedemand, I firmly believe that thepotential for our business isenormous and the future bright.

With strong governmentsupport to protect artists andintellectual property combined

GATFIELD PREDICTS ENORMOUS POTENTIAL FOR INDUSTRY FOLLOWING NEW 50% H1 MILESTONE

half of UK record trade incomein the first three months of 2012came from digital services.

Gatfield claimed that morethan 20% of overall recordindustry revenue was beinginvested into A&R, pointing outthe figure was more than any other business spends on R&D.

He said that Sony UK hadre-engineered its frontlinelabels Columbia, RCA, Epicand Syco to focus heavily onA&R and new artist incubationand development supported by astrong central marketing andmarketing services team to ensureexcellence in planning anddelivery of key release campaigns.

In addition, Gatfield saidthat Sony had created a network of associated labels tocomplement our existing corelabel groups, adding: This is a vehicle for what I describe asA&R entrepreneurs highly experienced creative musicpeople with an ability to identify and nurture talent. The structureallows them to focus on the

A&R fundamentals whilstplugging into the centralmarketing team to deliver themusic to the consumer.

The executive revealed thatin the past 12 months, SonysUK roster of artists hadprovoked an average of fivemillion connections every dayover Facebook, Twitter, artist websites, YouTube, Vevo,Spotify, Google and other onlineplatforms. Over 12 months thadaily average totals 1.8 billion more than the populations of China and the US combined,said Gatfield.

That is the reach of ourartists and their music and itrepresents the size of theopportunity for them, for us andfor our retail, media and brandpartners every day.

There is no other businessthat can claim this level of consumer engagement: musicis first and foremost a passionand an incredibly powerfulmedium to make long-lastingaudience connections.

with rights-holders willingness toinnovate and encourage new business models this industry willsoon return to significant growth.

The revelation of Sonys 50%figure comes after BPI data inMay that suggested more than

THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC www.musicweek.com 14.09.12 5.15

PRODUCTA huge 13-page look at som

standout releases arrivingin the fourth quarter of 2012

Sonys digital revolution in full swing

TALENT A special five-pageinterview with comebackking Robbie Williams

NEWSMinistry Of Sound celebratesa landmark anniversarywith some big ambitions

241703

LABELSBY TIM INGHAM

Warner/Chappell chairman and CEOCameron Strang (right ) has revealedhis company is inthe market for suitable assets asSony/ATV looksto divest catalogues andsongwriters following its EMIPublishing takeover.

Although he would not bespecific about what it mightbuy, Strang told Music Week

Warner/Chappell wasdefinitely interested inadding to its portfolio inlight of a sell-off by Sony/ATV and itsconsortium partners to meetEC regulatory demands.

The $2.2bn (1.4bn) deal to buy EMIs publishing arm wasgranted in Europe on thecondition the takeover partnerssold four publishing catalogues Virgin UK, Virgin US, VirginEurope and Famous UK and

let go a dozen contemporary Anglo-American songwriters,including Eg White and Take Thats Howard Donald and Jason Orange.

Strang said: Were alwayslooking for the right repertoire,the right artists, the rightproducers, the right songwriters,so if they fit in with what werelooking for and what we want todo, then we will be looking atsigning and buying and if they dont we wont be.

Already as an indirect resultof the EMI Publishing takeover Warner/Chappell has landedone of the most-respected andhighly-successful musicpublishing executives in theshape of Jon Platt.

It was announced this week that Platt, previously EMIPublishing creative president of North America, was joining Warner/ Chappell in an LA-based role as North America creative president.

Platt, who in his new role will oversee the publishers A&R activities across North America and report to Strang,signed talent during his 17-yeartenure at EMI Publishing including Jay-Z, Kanye West,Usher, Drake, Beyonce andSnoop Dogg, while he was alsoinvolved in re-negotiations tore-sign Pharrell Williams andSean Puffy Combs.

See Cameron Strang interviewon pages 12 and 13

Warner/Chappell boss says company keeping tabs on Sony/ATV sell-offs

This is a watershedmoment for themusic business anda clear indication thatreal transformationis taking place inour industryNICK GATFIELD, SONY


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SORRY TO COME OVER ALL MARILYN MONROE HERE, but I like aman to sound like a man.

Its got to be tough for solo male artists out there at themoment. Not only do female performers dominate pretty muchevery mass-market chart in existence, even the few male starsthat do slip through to the top of the pops end up sounding - howto put it politely? - genteel.

Picture the poor saps in their initial A&R meetings, browbeatenright in the middle of pops bubblegum machine. Youre talentedkid, but youre too gruff. Mainstream radio today likes boys tosound like girls. So heres your Swiss Army Knife. Scrape thatover your crown jewels, drizzle over the standard issue vinegarand lets go get squeaky down the studio.

My preference for an altogether hoarser howl - just likethousands of other individual peculiar pop predilections up anddown the UK - inevitably leads to evenings whiled away on radio-unfriendly searches. And it was just one of these quests for thesandpaper roar of a rasping icon-in-waiting which brought tomind Domino; not a label with frontmen particularly known fortheir alpha bellow, but one of exquisite taste nonetheless.

In an age of limitless online discovery, its easy to drown. Youcommence by casually looking for a band that sounds a bit likeSpoon; you end up gawping at your iPhone circa 3am as it angrilydresses you down RE: your wanton abuse of its paltry storageboundaries. The next morning, you discover half of what youvedownloaded/cached/sourced was rubbish anyway.

Dominos new Drip service is exactly the sort of curated funnelthat could be the natural next step in an era where unfathomablequantities of music are largely left unrestrained and unappraisedby a media no-one wants to pay for anymore.

Essentially a mixture of a downloadable fanclub andsubscription platform, those who sign up to Drip can forever ownthe 30 tracks the label handpicks for members each month,

regardless of whether they continue to subscribe. It does awaywith the drug-dealer model preferred by Spotify, Deezer and co.(i.e. The more you indulge, the more you have to lose.)

The future of the subscription/download hybrid that Domino ispioneering relies intrinsically on the integrity of the label itself.With every false move, the trust in its curation amongst thosepaying $9.99 a month erodes by another few molecules.

Im sure other labels with an unblemished history of tasteamongst niche audiences - from Bella Union to Mute, Ministry Of Sound, XL and 4AD - will be able to pick up Drips model and runto some degree. But it will be interesting to see if the majors -who can naturally ill-afford to sign acts purely on the basis of talismanic affection - can monetise audience brand loyalty withquite the same success.

As for Drip, Domino says its already exceeding expectations.

Extra credit goes to the label for demonstrating a genuinepropensity to listen to its community: HQ FLAC recordings havealready been made available after multiple fan requests.

Tim Ingham, Editor

S treaming could prove tobe a far less energy-efficient model of musicconsumption than recorded CDs,according to a new report.

MusicTanksThe Dark Side Of The Tune highlights the hiddenenergy costs of digitalconsumption and implicationsfor the music business.

It quotes data from previousreportShipping to Streaming: Is this Shift Green? which showsthat streaming an album over theinternet 27 times can use moreenergy than the manufacturingand production of a CD.

Renowned innovator DagfinnBach authors the MusicTank document, and argues: Whiletheres a huge difference betweenenergy consumed by onestreamed MP3 (0.16 Wh) andthat of an uncompressed track (1.21 Wh), advances in network infrastructure speeds in excess of 100 mbps (wireless) mean thataudio files would no longer needto be compressed in future.

Thus streaming ordownloading 12 tracks, withoutcompression, just 27 times by oneuser would, in energy terms, equate

www.musicweek.com

Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by [email protected]

2 Music Week 14.09.12

NEWS

A high pointfor Domino

to the production and shipping of one physical 12-track CD album.

By extension, exceeding 27streams or downloads per track would result in a greater energy and network burden than itsphysical counterpart.

It would therefore appearthat repeated streaming of individual tracks may notnecessarily be a desirable long-term solution with respect toenergy consumption for the lifecycle of a sound recording.

This is particularly true inthe case of subscription modelsin which there are no financialincentives for the consumer tolimit the number of streams.

Bach also extrapolates datafrom YouTube, suggesting that by 2013 usage of the streaming video site could equate to 1% of what the worlds total energy consumption stood at in 2010.

Keith Harris, MusicTank chairman said: The uptake of smart devices, mass connectivity and high-speed broadband

continues to revolutionise ourconsumption of music. Thesechanges also have considerableimplications for the environment

Where, in the pre-digital era,music fans stuck a needle on thegroove or hit a play button, todaythey are increasingly turning tocloud-based streaming servicespowered by energy-hungryserver farms.

Bach added: Digital musicis not distributed in anenvironmental vacuum. WhileCD and vinyl pressing plants arebecoming rarer, the growth indata traffic caused by digitalcontent services comes with itsown risks and problems. I hopethis report shines a light on theissue and opens an importantdebate, both in the musicindustry and beyond.

The issue will be given anairing at a MusicTank event atFyvie Hall on October 11.

Ticket details and speakers will be announced shortly. Moreinfo: www.musictank.co.uk .

NEW REPORT INVESTIGATES ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

How damagingis streaming?DIGITAL

BY TIM INGHAM

Lisa-Marie Presleys new album has thepotential to be a steady seller long into the future,according tomanager and friendSimon Fuller.

The American Idol mogul has helped oversee thecreation of Presleys Storm & Grace, which will be releasedin the UK via Island onOctober 15.

Presleys first record in seven years, the LP has been producedby 12-time Grammy Award winner T-Bone Burnett, andfeatures collaborators such asRichard Hawley and Ed Harcourt.

Reaching anaudience for almostany music is difficultin these moderntimes and clearly

with a personal andreflective album such

as Lisas it brings withit additional challenges,

Fuller told Music Week.I believe this is one of most

honest and personal albums of the year, it has a timeless sound with an incredible atmosphereand has been producedbeautifully by T-Bone Burnett.It will find an audience over time and will continue to bediscovered and enjoyed wellinto 2013 and beyond. We are

not looking for instant successand gratification.

Presley has told reportersthat the album is a deliberately stripped-back affair, incontrast to her last, poppier effort, 2005s Now What.

Lisa-Marie made this album with a single vision, she wantedto record an album that was trueto herself, one that she would beproud of, added Fuller.

This collection of intimatesongs was not about chasing commercial success - it wasabout self expression andartistry alone.

When an artist recordsmusic as pure as this the pressureof immediate success is lifted.

Fuller heaps praise on Lisa-Marie Presley

EDITORIAL

Indies should be able to adopt Dominos model.Im not sure majors could do so as successfully

Digital music isnot distributed in anenvironmental vacuumDAGFINN BACH, REPORT AUTHOR


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www.musicweek.com 14.09.12 Music Week 3

O ne of the UKs mostsuccessful homegrownlabels is set for international expansion as itcelebrates its 21st birthday.

Ministry Of Sound will mark the anniversary on Saturday (Sept 15) at its world-famousnightclub in London, whereCalvin Harris will headline.

CEO Lohan Presencer (right ) told Music Weekthat thecompany - which alsooperates international tours,merchandising, digital media and a radio station alongside itsnightclub and label - wouldcontinue to be driven by itscore values of passion, focusand excellence.

Were not dependent on oneparticular area, but our successand longevity flow from doing things properly and notcompromising, he said.

The club is the best in theworld, the only venue still soldout every week over two decadesafter its launch. Our small artistroster is full of success stories;Example, DJ Fresh, Wretch 32 -there is no such thing as a

GLOBAL EXPANSION ON THE CARDS FOR 21-YEAR-OLD MINISTRY OF SOUND

priority, they all are. Our compilations are simply in a different league, we deliver greatlistening experiences, theconsummate curators.

And the same is true of our thousands of live events,Ministry of Sound and HedKandi parties are renowned for giving clubbers amazing,unforgettable nights out.

When asked what the key ambitions were for MoS in thecoming years, Presencer said:International is our greatest

opportunity. Dance music isglobal and our brands haveinternational recognition thanksto our compilations and events.

The growth of digital musicconsumption outside of the UK enables us to deliver the rightreleases into each market,tailoring albums to suit local audiences. We can also movequickly without the historicissues of having to rely onlicensees who never understoodor cared as much about our products as we do.

Ministry has built a notablereputation for growing andbreaking new UK artists in thepast three years, boasting No.1successes such as Example, Wretch 32 and DJ Fresh.

Im especially proud of our progress in artist development,said Presencer. We used to bepigeon-holed dance and weneeded to prove our broader music credentials. The success of Dave Dollimore and his team isentirely theirs, its a pleasure to work with people who are so

International digitaldistribution means weare no longer reliant onlicensees who dont careor understand ourproducts like we do.LOHAN PRESENCER,

MINISTRY OF SOUND

committed to their artists andgrowing their label. Weve alsomade good progress inexpanding our compilationbusiness internationally. AliceSchofield presides over operations spanning the UK,Germany, Central Europe, Asia and now the USA. We have a unique model and the potential is exciting. Im confident thatboth these businesses are going to grow significantly over thecoming years under their respective expert stewardship.

LABELSBY TIM INGHAMA Sound plan

A PRIMEEXAMPLE

The man widely credited withtransforming Ministry Of Soundslabel output into an A&R-centric

success story, David Dollimore(left ) has worked his way up atthe company over 11 years.

Now label MD, Dollimore hasworked directly on thedevelopment of artists such asExample, Wretch 32, DJ Freshand many more.

Can we expect the trend of artistdevelopment to continue andeven increase from MoS?2010/2011 were significant years- a real statement of intent thatwed diversified and weresuccessfully breaking artists.

Fundamentally it has beendown to the artists and managerswho believed in us and trusted ourteam to deliver. Im particularlygrateful to Elliot (Example) and hismanager Mick Shiner for being

the first to put their trust in us. No-one knew with certainty what wasgoing to happen, but we had this

common belief, a great work ethicand a focus to succeed.

Even though I have been atMinistry for 11 years it feels likeits just the beginning. Ourambition for the label is farreaching but I know our approachhas to be well-measured. We arenot interested in signing a lot of acts or chasing ambulances. Wewill be focused and bespoke,letting our artists discover theirsound, who they really are. Wewant a long and productiveharvest and we want to buildcareers. This requires nurturing.We are in it for the long haul andalready looking to 2014.

How much importance do youplace on your compilationsbusiness vs. your artist-centric

business in 2012?We can offer a multi-layeredapproach to artists and DJs. We

can sign an artist who has a hit tothe label, plays at our club, toursthe world with our events, mixes acompilation and can release astudio album. What other labelcan offer that?

Who should we be watching outfor from Ministry in the remainderof this year and into 2013?For 2013 youll have to wait andsee as I want the music andartists to speak for themselves,but for the rest of this year the DJFresh album is incredible, packedwith hits and coming in earlyOctober. In November there is thenew Example album, his best yet.In early 2013 we have more tocome from Hadouken!, Wretch 32and many exciting dance tracksstarting to bubble.

DJ Fresh


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O ne-time EMI executiveKeith Wozencroft haslaunched his own label with Brighton band CavePainting its first signings.

Third Rock will roll out itsinaugural release on September 24 with the groups debut albumVotive Life and will have long-termartist development at its heart.

The big selling point for me with the company is experienceand being musically led, he said.I dont want to have some sortof dinosaur company with many artists. I want to work on three tofive projects over the first two tothree years. Its very much aboutcommitment.

The launch of Third Rock comes after a period which saw Wozencroft ( pictured ) and formerIsland Records managing directorDan Keeling running labelHideout Recordings withinMercury Records. Wozencroftsaid the time was right to becomefully independent, a decision he

www.musicweek.com4 Music Week 14.09.12

NEWSEX-EMI EXECUTIVE ALREADY SIGNING UP ARTISTS AT NEW VENTURE

LABELSBY PAUL WILLIAMS

NEWSIN BRIEF

.com

For all of the latest MusicIndustry news, bookmark

GLASTONBURY:Glastonbury Festivalis set to hire APL Event exec and

Kitchenware Records founder Paul

Ludford as its new operations director.

PARALYMPICS:Sundays Paralympicsclosing ceremony drew in a peak UK

audience of 7.7 million on Channel

4. With performances from the likes

of Coldplay, Rihanna and Jay-Z, the

broadcasts average audience was

5.9 million.

Q AWARDS:Nominations for the QAwards 2012 have been revealed.

Topping the list of nominees this year

are Blur, The Stone Roses, Florence +

The Machine and Noel Gallaghers

High Flying Birds with two

nominations apiece in major

categories. The show will honour the

best music of the last 12 months on

Monday, October 22 in London.

TIME OUT: The London edition of the entertainment guide will go free

on September 25.

CLASSICAL BRITS: The shortlist forthis years event has been announced

by organisers. The nominations event

at the Savoy Hotel held a surprise for

the Classic FM team as they were

presented with a unique Special

Recognition Classic Brit gong. The

awards will take place on October 2 at

the Royal Albert Hall.

BMG:BMG Chrysalis Scandinaviahas signed Swedish black metal band

Watain to a publishing deal.

FIFA 13:EA Sports has confirmedthe music soundtrack for its flagship

sports video game. The Enemy,

Reverend & The Makers, Band Of

Horses, Passion Pit, Miike Snow and

Santigold all feature.

VMAS:Rihanna took home thebiggest prize of the 2012 MTV Video

Music Awards last week, snatching

Video of the Year for We Found Love.

Chris Brown won two VMAs for Best

Male Video and Best Choreography

for Turn up the Music, whilst M.I.Atook home Best Direction and Best

Cinematograph for Bad Girls.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS:Adele,One Direction and The Stone Roses

are some of the names entered into

the new Guinness World Records 2013

edition. Adele has broken seven

records the first female, first UK artist

and fastest to reach a million US digital

sales, biggest-selling digital track in

both the US and UK with Rolling In

The Deep, and biggest-selling digital

album with 21 in the UK and US.

said was in part prompted by coming across Cave Painting.

Ever since being at EMI Idalways considered doing a fully independent label, he said. Itried something else with anothermajor and in a way it was a goodthing because it really preparedme and confirmed I wanted todo it as an independent.

Third Rock is based outof offices in Bermondsey,south London, with asmall team comprising Wozencroft, Matt Dixonas general manager andmarketing head, Nick Butterfield aslabel A&R and DanMarketlookingafterA&R andlabel

management. Additional staff will be brought in on a project-by-project basis. Sales anddistribution will be throughPIAS in the UK.

Its really exciting, said Wozencroft. I like to work withgreat teams, have long-termrelationships and build careers.

Wozencroft brings a wealth of experience to the label,

having spent 20 years atEMI where withinParlophone he signedartists such as Radioheadand Supergrass and later

became managingdirector, going on

additionally to work with acts

includingColdplay,Gorillaz andKylieMinogue. He was madeCapitolMusic UK president inSeptember2002 and

added Virgin Records to hisrole three years later. He leftEMI in 2010 after a period asan A&R consultant.

Five-piece Cave Painting havealready supported Infectious-signed Alt-J on dates thissummer and will play some gigsin London around the albumsrelease before supporting formerSupergrass frontman Gaz Coombes and then undertaking aheadline tour in early 2013.

Theyre such a great liveband, said Wozencroft. Aspeople start seeing the shows anhave a look at the album it willreally start to come together.

Wozencroft revealed thelabel was in talks about signinganother act, while consideringtwo others as it looked tobecome an alternative in anincreasingly narrow recordcompany market.

From my point of view itssad the labels have consolidatedmore and more, he said. Optionare reduced and I cant see that asa good thing. The more variety and options the better.

Experienced artists withprofessional management haveno unfair advantage over new artists on this years X Factor.

Thats according to judge Gary Barlow, who told Music Weekthat2012s TV competitionwas anextraordinary year for talenton the programme and couldeven find the next generationof songwriters.

The standard has definitely gone up a few notches, he said.Just because some acts have a manager doesnt mean they arethe finished product. Contestantsstill need to be mentored anddeveloped - people with raw talent all stand the same chance inthe competition whether they aremanaged or not.

This years show allows actsrepresented by professional management to enter for the first

time - whilst entrants can alsoperform their own compositions.Lucy Spraggans self-pennedtrack Last Night hit the Top 20after being performed on theshow - only to be removed by iTunes at the request of X Factor bosses.

There are a lot of talentedsinger songwriters out theretrying to make it in the musicbusiness, but its really tough so The X Factor is giving them a

real chance to breakthrough,said Barlow. I really do believe we could find the nextgeneration of songwriters.

He added: The fact thatcontestants can performoriginal music and songs will definitely have an impact. Thats what we want to bring something different to the viewers. Were the number oneshow but we dont want to reston our laurels.

Barlow gave short shrift tocriticism that The X Factor doesnot produce long-term stars.

I think the criticism is unfairas there has been over 40million record sales from UK X Factor artists. The show hasproduced artists like OneDirection, Leona Lewis, JLSand Olly who have been a hugesuccess as a result of the series.I believe The X Factor providesa platform to discover new talent and has made a hugecontribution to the musicindustry.

Despite this years changes,2012s X Factor is trailing behind 2011s series. LastSaturdays episode was watchedby 8.2 million viewers including figures from the +1catch-up channel around threemillion down year-on-year.

Barlow dismisses X Factor advantage concerns

Wozencroft unveilsnew label Third Rock

Wozencroft: EX-EMI man isin talks to sign another actto join Cave Painting on hisnew label Third Rock


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T he new-look Mercury Music Prize will helpbring more salesmomentum to the albums chosenfor this years prestigiousshortlist, according to organisers.

The Barclaycard-sponsoredevent will this year take place on Thursday, November 1 atCamdens Roundhouse inLondon - despite usually arrivingin September. For the first timein its history, Channel 4 will takeon responsibilities as officialbroadcast partner, replacinghistoric media ally the BBC.

The 12 nominees, announcedthis week after Music Week wentto press - but likely to containthe likes of Alt-J (right ), RichardHawley and Emeli Sand - willeach be given a chance to play ata new Albums Of The Year Livegig in the run-up to the show,all of which will be shown onChannel 4.

Mercury Prize MD Dan Fordtold Music Week: It made sensefor us to move the whole Albumsof the Year project back untilafter the summer.

Over recent years it has beenincreasingly difficult to maintainthe momentum of the campaignduring a period when there are somany festivals taking place and somany people away for theirsummer breaks.

Announcing the shortlist inSeptember will enable us tomaintain the momentum of thepromotional campaign all the way through to the Awards Show and further on into theChristmas retail period.

Discussing the shock moveaway from the BBC, which hasbeen the broadcast partner of the

www.musicweek.com6 Music Week 14.09.12

NEWS

Mercurys for 15 years, Fordadded: It was a difficult to makethe move away from the BBCand we spent a long timecarefully assessing all of theoptions available to us.

One of our key objectivesgoing forward is for the Prize tohave more touch points withmusic fans, so that they havemore opportunities to access,engage and interact with thePrize and the artists that werepromoting - through live events,

online content and importantly television coverage.

As a result of our new expanded events programme, thePrize is now producing more visual content than ever beforeand we need to ensure that asmuch of that content as possibleis available to a TV audience.

Channel 4 were in a positionto offer us an extensive packageof programming that willguarantee that music fans havemore opportunities than ever

before to enjoy BarclaycardMercury Prize TV programmes.

Each of the 12 shortlistedartists will be invited to play thespecial one-off Albums Of The Year gigs in London as part of the series of events. These willbe free to attend, althougheveryone will be asked to make donation to War Child.

We have been aware thatthe Prize usually tends to have tohave two spikes of attention andinterest around the shortlistannouncement and the AwardsShow, added Ford. Introducingthe additional Albums of the Year Live gigs will enable us tofocus far greater attention on allof the shortlisted artists in therun-up to the Awards Show particularly as the events will befilmed for broadcast on Channel4 with additional content beingmade available online and for thlabels to use at retail.

ORGANISERS PREDICT Q4 BOOST DECISION TO LEAVE BEEB EXPLA

Mercurys gather momentumEVENTSBY TIM INGHAM

Sarah Levy has joined PeermusicUK as creative manager. Inaddition to working with andhelping to develop its roster of artists and songwriters, including Adam Argyle and NewtonFaulkner, she is responsible for signing new talent.

Levy will also organise Peersnew live night PULSE this year,which will showcase emerging artists. Each night will feature a different partner. The first will beSony label Ugly Truth, with whomPeer have just celebrated NewtonFaulkners No.1 album. Thisdebut night will be in Londonwith more details due soon.

Said Levy: Im very excitedto work with and help build onPeers fantastic roster, across bothwriters and artists. Alongsidefinding and developing new talent, Peer has an amazing track record in working with marqueenames, such as David Foster,Steve Mac and Ester Dean.With the company looking for an established writer to join our roster, I plan to bring in another such name.

Peer MD Nigel Eldertoncommented: I am delighted tohave Sarah join the UK creativeteam. She brings with her valuable experience and a passionfor music which will be a greatasset to our writers and to peersoffices around the world.

Levy startsPeer nights

Over recent years ithas been increasinglydifficult to maintainthe momentum of thecampaign during aperiod when there areso many festivalstaking placeDAN FORD, MERCURY PRIZE

Independent distributor Novahas extended its list of digitalservices. As well as supplyingthousands of tracks to audio-selling sites across the world,the firm can now place full-length music, documentary or

movies of all types onto iTunes,Netflix, Blinkbox (forinternational download), VOD orPSB placement.

Nova MD Wilf Mann (left )said: We aim to add many more video titles to a growing roster in

this new branch of digital salesNova offers a tailored range o

sales, marketing andmanufacturing services, whilst itdistributes titles digitally andglobally to stores via UniversalMusic Operations.

Nova expands into digital movies

Im very excited towork with and helpbuild on peers fantastic

roster, across bothwriters and artistsSARAH LEVY

Prize names:2011 winnerPJ Harvey (left)and 2012hopefulsAlt-J (below)


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DATA DIGEST 8 Music Week 14.09.12

Who:DexysWhere:BarbicanCentre, LondonWhen:September 16Why:Dexys bringtheir One Day ImGoing To Soar show

to North London toplay their firstalbum in 26 years inits entirety, as wellas a few classics.

BILLY LOCKETTNorthampton-bornBilly Locketts dis-tinctive style, soulfulvoice and charminglyricshad his firsttwo self-releasedsingles played onBBC Radio 1 andXFM. Fresh from adebut 14-date UKtour, he plays theMusic WeekBreakout event atThe Proud Galleriesin Camden onThursday,September 13.Get on the guest list at musicweek.com/

BRE A KOU T

The average reviewscores of the biggestreleases allcourtesy of Metacritic

www.metacritic.com

Keeping score of entertainment.

CRITICALMASS

CHART WEEK 36Compiled from Official Charts Company sales data by Music WeekVS LAST WEEK SINGLES ARTIST ALBUMS COMPILATIONS TOTA

SALES 3,312,039 1,120,646 295,632 1,416,278

PREVIOUS WEEK 3,442,303 1,159,692 326,965 1,486,657

% CHANGE 3.8% 3.4% 9.6% 4.7%

YEAR TO DATE SINGLES ARTIST ALBUMS COMPILATIONS TOTA

SALES 120,651,956 45,181,377 11,646,200 56,827,577

PREVIOUS YEAR 111,659,469 53,953,149 11,143,151 65,096,300

% CHANGE +8.1% 16.3% +4.5% 12.7%

7 9 7 3 7 2

CAT POWERSun

ANIMAL COLLECTIVECentipede Hz

CHICK COREAHot House

GIG OF THE W EEK

NUMBER OF ILLEGAL FILES FOUND BY MUSO

OF TOP 10 ALBUMS ON SEPTEMBER 17 2012

1,552

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200

36The VaccinesCome Of Age

279Two Door Cinema ClubBeacon

289Emeli SandOur Version Of Events

58Ronan KeatingFires 221Plan BIll Manors

0Paloma FaithFall To Grace

62 Mark KnopflerPrivateering

147Rita OraOra

19Scouting For GirlsThe Light Between Us

1176 Of Monsters and MenMY HEAD IS AN ANIMAL

PIRATESBAY

APPOINTMENT

TO VIEW

Fairport Convention: 45th Anniversary Concert

Friday, 14 September BBC Four, 10pm - 11pmA concert celebrating the folk-rock outfit's 45-year career, recorded inMarch 2012 at Londons Union Chapel. Simon Nicol, the only remaining original member, leads the band in performances of their greatest hits.

The Stones in the Park

Saturday, 15 September Sky Arts 1, 9pm - 10pmA 1969 concert by the Rolling Stones in Londons Hyde Park, dedicated tothe memory of the bands guitarist Brian Jones ( pictured ), who had diedtwo days earlier.

Tourettes: Let Me Entertain You

Monday, 17 September BBC3, 9pm - 10pmReggie Yates meets six young people with musical talents whose skillshave been eclipsed by their struggle to deal with the symptoms of Tourettes syndrome, giving them the chance to showcase their musicaltalents in front of a huge audience

Source:Muso.com

The latest mostpopular Shazamnew release chart:1 ELLIE GOULDING

Anything Could

Happen2 EXAMPLE

Say Nothing3 SWEDISH HOUSE

MAFIADont You

Worry Child4 PROFESSOR

GREENAvalon5 DJ FRESH

The Feeling

T A GGED

SALESSTATISTICS

CONOR MAYNARD FEAT. NEYO

Turn Around (Parlophone)(Single, October 8)

Contact: William Luff at EMI Artist Publicity

[email protected]

MACHINES DONT CARE

Beat Dun Drop(Deconstruction/Columbia)(Single, September 16)

Contact: Charlotte Sweeney, Your Army

[email protected]

JOSH OSHO

Giants feat. Childish Gambino(Island)(Single, October 8)

Contact: Monique Wallace, Island

[email protected]

EGYPTIAN HIP HOP

SYH (R&S Records)(Single, October 22)

Contact: Adam Royal

[email protected]

SUB FOCUS

Tidal Wave feat. Alpines(Mercury / Ram Records)(Single, October 29)

[email protected]

musicweekcom/playlis

GAZ COOMBES

White Noise (Hot FruitRecordings andEMI Label Services)(Single, October 22)

Contact: Phoebe Sinclair, EMI

[email protected]

FOREIGN BEGGARS

Apex (mau5trap)(Single, September 16)

Contact: James Mack, Listen Up

[email protected]

YEASAYER

Reagans Skeleton (Mute)(Single, November 5)

Contact: Anna Mears, Dog Day Press

[email protected]

KARIN PARK

Thousand Loaded Guns (StateOf The Eye Recordings)(Single, out now)

Contact: Emma Philpott, Purple PR

[email protected]

PURE LOVE

Riot Song (Vertigo Records)(Single, October 22)

Contact: Lauren Hales, Mercury

[email protected]


11/68

00.00.00 Music Week 9

For daily news visit musicweek.com

ARTIST ALBUMSUniversal38.6%Sony31.0%Warner13.8%EMI 9.8%Others6.8%

ARTIST SINGLESUniversal37.1%Sony 28.9%Warner22.2%EMI 5.8%Others6.0%

@ArtfulNoiseUK Whatever people sayabout Coldplay, Chris Martin haswritten some great songs. Amsterdambeing one of them for me

(Peter Cornish-Barlow, Artful Noise) Tuesday,September 4

@ChrisLoco_ Stupidity never fails tosurprise me on all levels (Chris Loco,Loft B Recordings) Wednesday,September 5

@rebeccaAbernard If you listen to#Choicefm around 7pm they ALWAYSplay Usher-Climax. Trust me. Try ittomorrow. Same time everyday!

(Rebecca Bernard, Universal Music Group)Wednesday, September 5

@BillyWoodWME Never gas if you getsigned to a major without knowing if you have that engaged fan base that

will help u go through.....(Billy Wood, WME Entertainment) Wednesday,September 5

@AJCardoo That sinking feeling whenthe iTunes receipt comes through afew days after you had a beer andbought way too many tunes...

(Adam Cardew, Absolute Marketing &Distribution) Wednesday, September 5

@fred_air Listening to the EP of suchan exciting new talent and reading @MusicWeekNews . Pleasure(Fredric Fernandez, Trust

Management) Wednesday, September 5

@themike_p Listening to Hal Davidtribute on 6 music, Makes metingle,sheer brilliance Definitely notworthy!

(Michael Pickering, Sony) Thursday, September 6

@LozLong Going to see JLS tonight...Whoop! Gonna be awesome. Not beento a BIG pop concert in sooooooo long.

(Lorraine Long, Charmfactory)Thursday, September 6

@russelleslamifa Para para paradise(Russell Eslamifar, SycoEntertainment) Thursday,September 6

@NiallMDoherty We are listening tothe all-singing all-dancing reissue of Peter Gabriel's So. Fucking ace. I'mgonna do Sledgehammer on X Factor

one day. (Niall Doherty, Q Magazine) Thursday,September 6

@example Who wants to do a houseremix of my next single? Some big name gimp producer just retracted hisremix cos he didn't like my feedback

(Example) Thursday, September 6

@ladygaga More like C U NEXTTUESDAY RT @MTV: @ladygaga Thanksfor watching and tweeting! See younext year?" Gaga see this?

They want u bAck(Lady Gaga) Friday, September 7

INKSPOTSToo busy to read the music press?Dont worry, weve done it for you.On the front of this monthsThe Flymagazine,paisley-shirtednoisemerchants Toyare here tomelt yourfrontal lobes with their psychedelicself-titled debut. They reveal grandplans to release an album everyyear despite admitting theycouldnt be poorer.

Inside, Two Door Cinema Clubexplain how they re-captured theirbright and vivacious sound againfor second album Beacon byditching the Scotch mist of Glasgowfor sunnier climes in California.

Chris Taylor and Daniel Rossenof Grizzly Bear explain how behindevery album lies a knot of anxiety:Im sick of it, I just dont want tolisten to the album at all, saysRossen, traumatised by the memo-ries of their latest creation Shields.

Former Golden Silvers frontmanGwilym Gold is back with solo debutTender Metal in the form of a newapp Bronze an entirely new,immersive and rewarding listening experience. Meanwhile, Britainsmost exciting new band Peacestarted out with a lot of weird

nights of chanting.In the reviews pages Michael

Cragg gives The xxs Coexist fourstars, the record that works bestwhen enjoyed as acomplete album.

TOP 5 STORIESONMUSICWEEK.COM

New Culture Secretary has no music industry experience

Tuesday, September 4Did record labels really sabotage vinyl on purpose?

Friday, September 7Universal Publishing signs Steve Perry deal

Thursday, September 6Spotify needs 20m subscribers to compete with iTunes

Tuesday, September 4REM ban Fox News from playing Losing My Religion

Friday, September 7

THEMAGICNUMBERS

16Million subscribers left to

gain and Spotify will pay

artists similar annual

royalties to iTunes says

Artist in Residence

D.A Wallach

3Awards for One Direction at

the MTV Video Music

Awards for hit What Makes

You Beautiful

27EU states rumored to have

delivered Universal/EMI

verdicts last week

1Extract from a rundown of

Crap Lyrics by Johnny Sharp

includes the line from

Jennifer Lopezs 2002 hit,

Jenny From The Block:

Can't forget to stay real. To

me it's like breathing

100Million records sold

worldwide by artists

discovered by The X Factor

format, despite TV viewing

figures dropping 3m

year-on-year

Amaze colleagues andbamboozle rivals with

these head-spinning factsand figures...

MUSIC WEEKPOLL

LIFE IS TWEETWE FOLLOW THE INDUSTRYS FINEST

Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute alerts @MusicWeekNews

01

02030405

Musicweek.coms most-read stories for period ending Sept. 14

CHART WEEK 36

DIGITALVSPHYSICAL

0

20

40

60

80

100 WkS 32-36The UK marketshare for allalbums in thepast ve weeks

CD

DIGITAL

32.7%

66.9%

36.6%

63.0%

34.3%

65.3%

35.3%

65.3%

34.3%

65.2%

YES: 9% NO: 91%

This week we asked...

Do you agree with David Camerons decision toappoint Maria Miller MP as the new CultureSecretary?Vote at www.musicweek.com

MARKETSHARESBY CORPORATE GROUP


12/68

10 Music Week 14.09.12

DATA DIGEST

September 8, Granary Square, LondonFatoumata Diawara smiles wide as she per-forms as part of Damon Albarns Africa ExpressPhoto: Jason Williamson @ The Line Of Best Fit

EXPRESS YOURSELF

SIGNS OTHE TIMESHotly-tipped Dublin bandLittle Green Cars havebecome the first signing toBMG Ireland. The five-piecehave signed a worldwidemusic publishing deal withBMG, which is the only majorinternational publishing com-pany with a base in Ireland.

Little Green Cars releasedtheir first single on indie

Young And Lost Club lastsummer, subsequently sign-ing a global record deal withGlassnote Records in the US.Their UK releases will appearthrough Universal/Island.

Reservoir Media has signed Chainz to an exclusiveworldwide publishing deal.This includes the Billboard200 No.1 album Based On AT.R.U. and a catalogue of around 200 songs.

Universal Music PublishingGroup (UMPG) extended itsworldwide publishingagreement with DariusRucker . The agreementencompasses his upcoming album, set to debut in early2013, as well as his previousworks such as Learn To Live.

CHRIS BARRETTTHE SABOTAGE TIMES

Supafly . HappinessDRMA ProductionsCramming summer into a song is difficult, but Supafly nail it with their new single.Mixing house, hip-hop and a healthy dose of sunshine, the dance music stalwartsdeliver a song destined for arms in the air euphoria and by side-steppingthe formulaic and adding in the humour, Happiness seems about right.

1Todays opinion formers predict tomorrows headline acts

DAVID MCCARTHYDJ MAGAZINE

Vitalic . StaminaDifferent RecordingsThe godfather of is a clich far too liberally applied but when it comes to modernelectro and Vitalic it's a worthy epithet . Taken forthcoming album Rave Age,Stamina blurs an old skool rave-up with Fake Blood-style bleeding edge techno.

2

ADAM REEVEELUSIVE LITTLE COMMENTS

Sonnymoon . SonnymoonPlug Research RecordsSonnymoons debut blends a number of genres to create a gorgeous soundtrackto a sunny day. Each track is full of colour and creativity, all displayed through themost organic of sounds to produce a relaxed yet exhilarating listening experience.Its a joy to listen to, and one of my favourites.

3

Pop sensibility underpinned with underground credibility, the Holy Grail that manyaim for but something few manage to execute. Too far one-way leads to cheesypop, too far the other loses mass appeal. S.I.T.D hits that sweet spot, a playlist con-tender equally at home tearing clubs apart - Solid!

4

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Did record labels reallysabotage vinyl on purpose?Mike Crawford: I worked for Virgin atthe changeover period and the retailerwas given a bigger cut of the CD pricewhilst the artists percentage washalved as it was a new and untriedformat. Other incentives were specialracks and major discounts.

New Matt Cardle album to bereleased on SO What? labelAnne Pat: Wow! What a tracking list,this is wonderful. Pre-ordered The Fire,now want to pre-order the tickets to goto see Matt perform at Scala London23rd October. Look at the list its gotlovely surprise at the end.

Universal/EMI: has ECalready reached a verdict?David Swallow: Well its getting closefolks and BMG may be the only winnerin this fight for they might haveParlophon/Virgin and the Pink Floyd

catalogues. But I believe it is going through because if it doesnt EMI willgo bankrupt because Citibank will pullthe plug on EMI just like GE Capitolpulled the plug on Montgomery Wardsand now the named department storeis just a memory for some of us whostill remember. So I hope this doesnthappen to EMI.

Muse, The Beach Boys andPublic Image Limited bookedfor next series of Jools HollandAndy Holloway: Sweet. So muchgreat music being released thisautumn, so cant wait.

Kitchenware founder Ludfordset to join Glastonbury teamSiobhan Crampsey: Go Lud!... have

known him for 15 years yet only justdiscovered (on reading this article)that he was behind Kitchenware...even more of a LEGEND now! Glasto -youre in safe hands!

THETASTEMAKERS

JON SWANKNOWLEDGE MAGAZINE / SCIENTIA MUSIC

The Mike Delinquent Project feat. Lady Leshurr . Step In The DanceChampion Records

MUSICWEEK.COMFEEDBACKMuse: Booked for Later...

Matt Cardle: on Fire...


13/68

14.09.12 Music Week 11

HITWISEPrimary Ticketing ChartPOS PREV EVENT

1 11 THE KILLERS

2 5 LADY GAGA

3 3 ROBBIE WILLIAMS

4 2ONE DIRECTION

5 16 ED SHEERAN6 4 OLLY MURS7 1 TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

8 7 BLACK KEYS

9 12 MADNESS

10 18 COLDPLAY

11 NEW THE SCRIPT

12 6 THE VACCINES

13 NEW DEACON BLUE

14 13 FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE

15 9 EXAMPLE

16 19 NOEL GALLAGHER

17 NEW CREAMFIELDS

18 8 BESTIVAL

19 17 BEN HOWARD

20 NEW SCOUTING FOR GIRLS

THE BEST LIVE VENUES IN THE UK

Brandon Street,Armley RoadLeeds, LS12 2EDt 0113 200 2780w canalmills.comBands [email protected]

CANAL MILLS

Capacity

1,200 / three rooms

Coming up28/09 Wax:On And

Canal Mills Presents:

Simian Mobile Disco

Julio Bashmore+more

29/09 Metropolis

Presents Skreamism

06/10 Wax:On Presents:

Jackmaster, Pearson

Sound+more

20/10 20:20 Vision

Presents Maya Jane

Coles+more

27/10 Mr Scruff

Presents Keep It Unreal

02/11 MetropolisPresents: Benga &

Youngman, David

Rodigan MBE, Friction

MUST-SEE MUSICTICKETING CHARTS

I amnow seriouslythinkingaboutrestartingCreation...

HE SAID/ SHE SAID

The man who signed Oasis, Primal Scream and Teenage Fanclub,AlanMcGee, tells Louder Than War his legendary label may be coming back

The duo that make up Jack Beatsare seasoned scenesters of bassmusic but now Niall Dailly (Plus

One) and Ben Geffin (Beni G) arehitting the big time, both here andacross the Atlantic, under the guiseof Jack Beats.

Speaking to Music Week , Geffinspoke about their signing toSkrillexs OWSLA label earlier thisyear: Weve known Sonny/Skrillexfor quite a while and we thought itwould be the perfect label to putstuff out on. We approachedSonny, and they were super-keen.It was really grass roots, something we really wanted to do and luckilywe made it happen.

Its amazing for us to have

come from putting out remixes inour bedroom on a blog and thenfor it to spread from home studios

to actually bringing it out andhaving success in America, itspretty mad.

The latest release in the JackBeats armoury is the first of twomini-albums, Careless (featuring Diplo, Example, Dillon Francis andMNEK), plus the single of thesame name featuring Takurawhich has already topped theBeatport chart ahead of itsrelease on iTunes/ Columbia/rest of the world.

For those not familiar with JackBeats, Geffin he explains: We fallunder the bass music umbrella.

We makehybrid music,taking influ-

ences from lotsof types of things.

We makemusic on ahouse tempobut we hybridall differentthings from hip hop to drum nbass to dubstep or whatever andput it into the mix.

Although relative veterans of bass music culture, Jack Beatslook set to capitalise on the grow-ing popularity and mainstreamattention that the genre is experi-

encing now and Geffin remainshumble with the acts ambitions:Were still growing and evolving,theres still hell of a lot left of whatwe want to do. This is like the first

jump off really. Our drive and ambi-tion for future stuff is pretty big,were just at the beginning now of the next chapter.

TAKE A BOWTEAM BEN HOWARDLabel:Island Records

General manager:Jon Turner, Island Records

A&R:Louis Bloom &Annie Christensen,Island Records

Manager:Owain Davies,OD Management

Marketing:Guillermo

Ramos, Island Records

National press:JonLawrence, Alt-Stoked PR

Regional press:MoniqueWallace, Island Records

Online press:Matt Brown,Stay Loose PR

National radio:ClaireCollins & Natalie Jennings,Scream Promotions

Regional radio:CharityBaker, Alan Smith & JessClark, Island Records

TV:Andrea Edmondson &Tony Fletcher, IslandRecords

RELEASESSingles2011 End Of Love2012, May You Should Know feat. Donaeo

Aug 7/Sept 10 Careless feat. TakuraSept 10 mini-album: CarelessNov 26 second mini-album TBCLABELDeconstruction/Columbia RecordsBec Adams, [email protected] Pitt, Your Army ManagementLIVESat 15 Sept, UK Leeds WarehouseSat 22 Sept, Digital, BrightonThu 11 Oct, Glasgow @ ABC1Tue 16 Oct, Sheffield @ OctagonWed 17 Oct, Manchester @ GorillaThu 18 Oct, London @ XOYOFri 19 Oct, Bristol @ Motion

ESSENTIAL INFO

VIAGOGOSecondary Ticketing ChartPOS EVENT

1 LADY GAGA

2 THE BLACK KEYS

3 ONE DIRECTION

4TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

5 ED SHEERAN6 MUSE7 BIFFY CLYRO

8 JUSTIN BIEBER

9 NOEL GALLAGHER

10 THE COURTEENERS

11 LEONARD COHEN

12 JACK WHITE

13 THE KILLERS

14 ELBOW

15 GEORGE MICHAEL

16 RICHIE SAMBORA

17 NICKI MINAJ

18 JESSIE J

19 THE SCRIPT

20 ALABAMA SHAKES

Live entertainment intelligence

TIXDAQ Primary Ticketing ChartPOS PREV EVENT

1 34 ONE DIRECTION

2 9 JUSTIN BIEBER

3 13 THE KILLERS

4 12LIONEL RICHIE

5 23 OLLY MURS

6 16 JESSIE J

7 5 MUSE

8 10 NICKI MINAJ

9 10 CHERYL COLE

10 12 MADNESS

11 13 MARK KNOPFLER

12 14 EXAMPLE

13 2 JENNIFER LOPEZ

14 7 THE BLACK KEYS

15 15 X FACTOR LIVE 2012 TOUR

16 5 NICKELBACK

17 5 RUSH

18 31 ED SHEERAN

19 5 KELLY CLARKSON

20 5 ELBOW

Album: Every KingdomHighest chart position: No.6

THE LOWDOWN

HALL&NOTES

ON THE RADARJACK BEATS


14/68

12 Music Week 14.09.12 www.musicweek.com

THEBIGINTERVIEWCAMERONSTRANG

F or Cameron the Prime Minister, Q2 threw up yet another set of bleak statistics with UK GDP falling by a worse-than-expected 0.5%.But for Cameron the music publishing executive

the same periods stats could not have been kinderas they revealed in the clearest possible way theprogress his company had made since he joinedthem at the beginning of 2011.

For the first time ever Warner/Chappell finishedas number one publisher in quarter two inBillboards US publishing airplay market shareswith a 17.1% score, reflecting not only successessuch as Gotyes Somebody That I Used To Know and Funs We Are Young but also a real new

culture at Warner/Chappell as we move forwarreflects Strang, who has just added long-servinEMI Publishing executive Jon Platt to his NorthAmerican team. Were trying to bring some oentrepreneurial background and some differentapproaches to the way weve traditionally donethings, which are helping. The credit in generalhas been across the whole company. One thingabout music publishing and we practice it heit takes a lot of people and it takes everybody paying attention to detail and doing a great jobhave success.

As successful as Strang was at Southside, headmits the sheer scale of Warner/Chappell whenarrived took him aback, putting him in charge ocompany looking after more than 1 million song

I dont think anything can prepare you for acompany of this size, he says. It really is just aincredible company thats been built arguably ov200 years, but the amount of publishing and theamount of great songs and writers, publishingpeople that have worked here over the years andbuilt the company is incredible and thediversification around the world in Italy, FranceGermany, Argentina, the Far East was astoundin wasnt prepared for that. I dont know how anybcould be.

Alongside the obvious size comparisons, Strasuggests the other notable difference between mand independent publishers is the level of servicgiven to songwriters.

Historically, majors in general tend to focusmore on the financial services they can provide times and as the companies get large one of thechallenges we have is to continuously come bacthe level of service we can provide for writers,producers and managers and artists and the timecan spend with them and the focus we can put otheir careers, he says.

Born in Vancouver, Strang first made his livinas a lawyer at a boutique litigation firm and whehe then moved into the music industry it wasstarting a business from scratch New WestRecords. It required all his skills as an entreprena word that is these days frequently used to descthe music executive but one he is more than hapto see alongside his name.

Thats essentially been my career, he says. been very much an entrepreneur my whole carethe music business.

Those qualities really first saw the light of daNew West and then Southside as he recalls the ffour years of the business was simply himself anone employee, then two, then three and so on asslowly expanded.

Twenty months on from his appointment, Warner/Chappell

chairman and CEO Cameron Strang is riding high after his companytopped the US quarterly airplay market shares for the first time

PUBLISHINGBY PAUL WILLIAMS

momentum under its chairman and CEOCameron Strang.

It definitely feels like were doing some thingsright and people are really proud of the results. Theres a lot of momentum and a really positivefeeling, says the LA-based executive who at thesame time as joining Warner/Chappell sold hiscompany Southside Independent Music Publishingto the major publisher.

However, not only did Warner/Chappellacquire Southside, whose roster of hit songsincludes Bruno Mars Grenade, Cee Lo GreensForget You and Kings Of Leons catalogue, but alsothe entrepreneurial approach adopted by Strang inhow he ran it. That is now impacting on the day-to-day operation of the company.

I think weve really pushed to change the

STRANG LANGUAGE

ABOVECameron Strang:The founder of both Southsideand New WestRecords, and co-founder of DMZRecords, Strangtook over atWarner/Chappellin January 2011


15/68


We built a great company on the record sideand we started in music publishing and I did wellwith that, he says. I think the real benefit I had tothat process was learning the business from theground up so really specifically the musicpublishing, how songs make money, how they makemoney around the world, how does a band likeGreen Day make money from their repertoire.What you have to do to ensure they get paid. How do young producers make money and how do theircareers go and those kind of things and on therecord side how to make records, how to mixrecords, how to get the art work done, what it takesto do all those things.

That knowledge is now being deployed by himat Warner/Chappell which, going by its Q2 marketshare success, suggests he has made genuineadvancements in his first 20 months. But as proudas he and his team are of that statistical victory,which included credits on 40 of the periods 100 topradio tunes in the States, he stresses market shares isnot one of the key metrics to gauge how thecompany is performing, noting: Its a real challengefor major publishers that historically were able toleverage their size into picking up market share. Wefocus more: I like to use the analogy of the goldengeese... rather than chase pieces of the eggs we arelooking at raising the geese to lay the eggs. Its alittle bit of a longer-term approach, but ultimately well have more success.

Strang and his colleagues also now face marketcompetition from a new super player with theSony/ATV-led consortium winning FTC approvalfor its $2.2bn (1.4bn) buyout of EMI Publishingat the end of the same quarter Warner/Chappell ledthe market rankings.

For us its just a reality and something we dealwith, he says of the new competitor, but theyllhave their issues Im sure trying to put thosecompanies together and we will continue to dowhat we do and we see how it falls in the end. Butwere as competitive as anybody here so were up forthe challenge.

The EMI-Sony/ATV combination alsopotentially throws up opportunities for Warner/Chappell both as an alternative home forsongwriters maybe not wanting to be part of such abig organisation and possible new purchases withwhat the consortium has to divest to meet ECregulators demands.

What I would look at it is what we do here iswere absolutely focused on providing the bestservice to our writers and producers and our artistsand our publishing partners, he says. That meanshaving the right number of people to do all the

various jobs and to work with them strategically tounderstand what it is theyre trying to achieve, whatit is we can do to have them achieve it and makethem as successful as they can be, so thats what were doing. But logically I see the challenge [atSony/ATV/ EMI] is how do you make yourcompany twice as big with the same amount of overhead and provide the same amount of service?

As for acquisitions, Strang says Warner/Chappell is definitely in the market if they matchthe companys requirements.

Were always looking for the right repertoire,the right artist, the right producers, the rightsongwriters, so if they fit in with what were lookingfor and what we want to do then we will be lookingat signing and buying and if they dont we wontbe, he says.

Among the assets on offer from the EMIPublishing takeover are four catalogues and deals with a dozen Anglo-American writers, includingEg White and Take Thats Howard Donald and Jason Orange. However, Strang is not publicly

prepared to comment on specific deals, although ingeneral terms were definitely interested.

A deeper challenge facing Warner/Chappell andthe other long-established publishers is the rise of companies like Kobalt which, rather than build theirbusinesses on ownership, are solely aboutadministration deals and songwriters keeping theircopyrights. For his own company, Strang says it willcontinue to adopt a mixed approach depending oneach individual circumstance.

There are different types of publishing dealsand as a major publishing company we need to bedoing all of them, he says. We need to be buyingcatalogues when they make sense and they are theright types of repertoire. We need to beadministering catalogues on behalf of certain writers

and we need to be in traditional types of deals cpublishing writers when thats the right approacPeoples needs are different and the key is to reaunderstand what they are trying to accomplish, what their needs are and see if that fits with wh you are able to do and we approach it that way.

The fall in mechanical royalties is alsosomething every publisher has had to cope withrecent years as digital revenue has failed to makthe income shortfall caused by declining CD salBut here Strang sees some optimistic signs.

It appears that the mechanical royalty revennot taking the same amount of damage that it wso that seems to be looking up for us, he observ

Obviously a lot of the new digital models anservices are incredibly exciting, which ones are to take off and arent is an interesting question, bin general the digital area is a positive and excitstory and the emerging markets in Asia and Indand Eastern Euorpe and how the publishingbusiness moves into those areas and how it evolin those areas is an exciting growth area and onthat Warner/Chappell is providing some leadersin and working with the various societies andgovernments etc.

As the biggest market for repertoire outside thUS, the UK naturally also remains an importantfocus for Strang and Warner/Chappell and hepraises the job being done by managing directorRichard Manners and his London team. The UKcompany has been part of an A&R triangle creasince the chairman/CEOs arrival, linking it dire with the US and Sweden to try to exploit potentcreative opportunities.

We see a real connection there in pop musicand the current way records are made and betweStockholm and London and the US markets, hesays. Weve really connected those three place you can see a number of the successes were hatends to come from collaborations in those threeareas. Weve got some dynamic young A&R pefrom each territory and weve connected them athey travel back and forth in a seamless way ana business we really focus on how do we work wthe writers and the repertoire and make theconnections through these areas.

Among the main writers in this setup is theUKs Wayne Hector who played a starring role i Warner/Chappells Q2 market share success havco-penned both The Wanteds US breakthroughGlad You Came and Nicki Minajs Starships.It will be writers like Hector who Strang and colleagues will continue to look to as they try tocontinue the impetus of the chairman/CEOs firs20 months in charge.

ABOVEFrom left:Fun and BrunoMars have beendelivering hits forWarner/Chappellin the US while

Grammy- andOscar-winningsongwriter RyanBingham (pictured,centre, withStrang andBinghams wifeand managerAnna Axster)recently renewedhis deal

I like to use the analogy of the golden geese...rather than chase pieces of the eggs we are lookingat raising the geese to lay the eggs. Its a little bitof a longer-term approach, but ultimately wellhave more successCAMERON STRANG, WARNER/CHAPPELL

LEFTWayne Hector:The UK songwriteris a key part of

Warner/Chappellslong-term strategy


16/68


BUSINESS ANALYSIS

C olin Barlows (inset ) bid torevitalise RCAs UK rosterhad its first real positiveimpact on Music Weeks A&R rankings in Q2 as his company became market leader Islands closest challenge

When Barlow spoke to Music Weekin Juneabout his arrival at the Sony operation after 22 yat Universal he pulled no punches about what hsaw was an RCA too reliant on its US megastarand reality show acts.

Turning around a record companys A&R fortunes takes a very long time, but the RCApresident will no doubt be encouraged that betwApril and June this year his team moved up tosecond place in Music Weeks league table rankingcompanies by their domestic A&R performance

RCA claimed a 12.3% share of sales of theperiods Top 100 non-catalogue albums by UK-signed or A&Rd artists, finishing behind Island which continued to head the rankings.

At the heart of this rise for RCA, which finishin fifth place in Q1, was Paloma Faith whotransferred across from Epic for the release of hsecond album Fall To Grace and landed thequarters 13th top artist seller with 92,587 salesaccording to the Official Chart Company.

The same period also saw the delivery of Electronic Earth, Labrinths debut set and unusu

On taking the helm, Colin Barlow was on a mission tore-energise RCA. His efforts are already bearing fruit asthe label leaps up the Q2 rankings to challenge Island

QUARTERLY FOCUSBY PAUL WILLIAMS

TALK ABOUT TEMPTING FATE. In our Q1 A&R write-up we gotall excited about the decisions to roll out two blockbusterdebuts by Emeli Sand and Lana Del Rey respectively during what too often is a deathly quiet period for newreleases. But then, as Q2 dawned, somebody turned offthe tap.

In fact, April to June was so tranquil for frontline new albums

you could almost hear the tumbleweed passing by. Evenamong the few UK-signed titles that did appear too many of them underperformed (sets by Cheryl, Marina & The Diamondsand Scissor Sisters spring to mind), while the only UK debut of any real commercial merit was Labrinths Electronic Earth.

But beneath this inactive surface a vast number of independent labels of varying shapes and sizes were quietlymaking their presence felt. In all 20 different indie companiesregistered among the 100 top-selling, non-catalogue UK-sourced artist albums of the quarter and in some casesachieved new levels of success. Cooking Vinyl was aninteresting case in point.

Martin Goldschmidts company hasknown big commercial highs before not least with its tie-up with Prodigys

Take Me To The Hospital label but inQ2 it had a spread of chart-boundreleases like never before.

A good chunk of these came fromBritish acts of varying vintage, most of whom had had previous form with themajors, but with Cooking Vinyl in Q2achieved more-than-respectable earlysales with brand new albums.

New releases by The Cult, The Enemy, Proclaimers andReverend & The Makers all cracked the weekly Top 40 in thequarter, while the same was achieved by Counting Crows fromthe US side of the business.

Although no other independent outside XL Beggars couldmatch the extent of Cooking Vinyls Q2 releases, there were

some encouraging developments by plenty of indies in thequarter. They included Red Bull whose second album byGlasgow band Twin Atlantic became an instant Top 40 hitfollowing its release in May and has since returned to theOfficial chart following support by Radio 1 and others.

The rock theme continued with Infectiouss Alt-J whose AnAwesome Wave should now significantly build on the 40,000copies already sold in the UK, given it was heavily predicted tobe among the Barclaycard Mercury Prize nominees being announced this week as Music Week went to press.

A year after Adeles 21 ensured XL dominated our A&Rmarket shares, none of the indie releases mentioned here orothers registering in Q2 has yet to come near to achieving really meaningful sales numbers.

But in what was an extraordinarily uneventful release period

as far as the majors were concerned they all showed thediligent work being undertaken by other labels.Paul Williams,

Head of Business Analysis

Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by [email protected]

Tumbleweedabounded in Q2 but the indies wereCooking up a treat

EDITORIAL

CURRENT UK-SOURCED ALBUMSTOP 10POS ARTIST/ TITLE / LABEL

1 ADELE21XL2 EMELI SANDEOur Version Of EventsVirgin3 GARY BARLOW/COMMONWEALTH BANDSingDecca4 ED SHEERAN+ Asylum

5 LANA DEL REYBorn To DiePolydor6 JESSIE JWho You AreIsland/Lava7 KEANEStrangelandIsland8 PALOMA FAITHFall To GraceRCA9 LABRINTHElectronic EarthSyco10 BEN HOWARDEvery KingdomIsland

CURRENT UK-SOURCED SINGLESTOP 10POS ARTIST/ TITLE / LABEL

1 ALEX CLAREToo CloseIsland2 TULISAYoungAATW/Island3 RUDIMENTAL FEAT. JOHN NEWMANFeel The LoveAsylum/BlackButter4 CHERYLCall My NamePolydor

5 GARY BARLOW/COMMONWEALTH BANDSingDecca6 JESSIE J FEAT. DAVID GUETTALaserlightIsland/Lava7 CALVIN HARRIS FEAT. NE-YOLets GoColumbia8 COLDPLAY & RIHANNAPrincess Of ChinaParlophone9 CONOR MAYNARDCant Say NoParlophone

10 MARINA & THE DIAMONDSPrimadonna679/Atlantic

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Q2 2012 TOP 10 SINGLES COMPANIES BASED ON UK SIGNINGS/A&Rd ACTS

RCA10.0%

DECCA3.9%

VIRGIN6.6%

MINISTRY OF SOUND4.2%

ISLAND26.7%

POLYDOR11.3%

ATLANTIC11.2%

PARLOPHONE9.0%

COLUMBIA4.3%

MERCURY2.6%

0 5 10 15 20

Q2 2012 TOP 10 ALBUMS COMPANIES BASED ON UK SIGNINGS/A&Rd ACTS

DECCA8.3%

MERCURY5.4%

PARLOPHONE5.8%

POLYDOR10.1%

ISLAND 18.2%

RCA12.3%

ATLANTIC9.7%

VIRGIN7.3%

XL5.8%

EPIC3.4%

S o u r c e : O f f i c i a l C h a r

t s C o m p a n y /

M u s i c

W e e

k r e s e a r c

h

Cooking Vinylhas known bigcommercial highsbefore but in Q2it had a spreadof chart-boundreleases likenever before

REJUVENATED

At the heart of this rise for RCA wasPaloma Faith who transferred acrossfrom Epic for the release of Fall ToGrace and landed the quarters 13thtop artist seller with 92,587 sales


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a release from RCA-affiliated Syco not by a reality show graduate. It had 85,948 takers in the quarterto stand as the companys second top domestically-sourced seller, although RCAs other top sellers weremainly by X Factor breakthroughs, including OneDirection, Rebecca Ferguson and Marcus Collins,indicating the A&R reconfiguration is very muchwork in progress.

Above RCA, Islands A&R market share rosefrom 14.9% to 18.2% between quarters as it addednot only another chart-topping Keane album to itsprevious successes in the market but alsoexperienced new commercial peaks from a pair of albums first released many months before. AlexClares The Lateness Of The Hour had been issuedback in July last year, selling just 933 copies firstweek, but in Q2 it entered the weekly Top 75 forthe first time on the back of the single Too Closessuccess and sold enough to finish as the periods43rd top artist seller.

It was a similar story with Ben Howards Every Kingdom which, though debuting at seven on thechart following its September 2011 release, got intoa new rhythm in Q2 with a return to the Top 10and 78,277 copies sold.

Polydor slipped from second to third placebetween quarters as its market share dropped from12.8% to 10.1%. As in Q1, Lana Del Reys Born ToDie was the companys top UK-sourced seller, butwith just 35.9% of the sales it achieved in 2012sopening period. There were also new albums fromCheryl Cole and New Yorks Scissor Sisters whoare UK signed but their respective opening salestallies were significantly down on what previous

releases had achieved.Atlantic delivered new studio albums in

the quarter from Marina & The Diamondsand Rumour but it was Ed Sheerans + that yet again provided the biggest sales,shifting nearly 150,000 more copies andthe main reason why the Warner company climbed from sixth to fourth spot in theA&R rankings with a 9.7% share.

Decca dazzled in Q1 with Military Wivesalbum debut In My Dreams, which climbed toNo 1 and sold 150,738 copies in four weeks. Thathelped it to finish as the eighth top albumscompany with UK originated repertoire, but theUniversal division flew even higher in Q2 with, inGary Barlow and the Commonwealth Bands Sing,the periods biggest new release. It sold 162,518copies in the quarter and led Decca to fifth place

with an 8.3% A&R share.Like Polydor, Virgin had risen in Q1 with the

release of a blockbuster debut album in this caEmeli Sandes Our Version Of Events but withreduced sales of its top seller and nothing new oreal commercial consequence it slipped from thito sixth position with a 7.3% share. Sister EMIoperation Parlophone, meanwhile, rose to sevenposition with 5.8% as Coldplays Mylo Xyloto waccompanied by new albums from Richard Hawand Sigur Ros.

A year earlier XL had dominated Music WeekA&R album shares with a 25.1% share as Adele21 finished as the markets top seller. The albumthe same again in Q2 2012 but with far reducedsales XL ranked in just eighth position with a5.8% share.

Mercury almost matched its 5.5% Q1 scor with a 5.4% share this time, which included

Vertigo act Amy Macdonalds third studio Life In A Beautiful Light. Debuting at No2, it sold nearly 50,000 copies in the quartto finish as the 35th top artist seller.Meanwhile, Epic moved back into the Top

10 A&R albums companies in 10th place wOlly Murs In Case You Didnt Know leading

the way. With three of the top five albums, Universal

lifted its overall share from 38.4% to 42.7% of sof the biggest UK-sourced albums, while Sonysshare rose marginally to 18.1%. EMI kept thirdplace with 15.5% as Warner (13.0%) significantnarrowed the gap and the indie share dropped fr18.7% to 15.9%.

ABOVE

Quiet Earth:While Q2 didntbreak too manyrecords, LabrinthsElectronic Earthhad plenty of commercial merit

SINGLES

Universal 46.8% Q2 2012 UK A&RPERFORMANCE

BY CORPORATEGROUP

SONY16.0%

EMI15.5%

WARNER13.0%

OTHERS8.7%

ALBUMS

Universal 42.7%

SONY18.1%

EMI13.4%

WARNER9.9%

OTHERS15.9%

A&R market shares arecompiled from Top 100 Q2charts of the biggest-sellingnon-catalogue singles andartist albums by UK-signedor A&Rd artists. Cataloguecovers all retrospectives orstudio albums two or moreyears old when the quarterbegan

Tulisas chart-topping debut in Q2confirmed N-Dubz as solo stars are farbigger singles market draws than the groupcollectively ever were.

The entry of her first non-band hit Young at No.1 in May made her the secondmember of the trio after Dappy to get herUK singles chart career off to a perfect start.

Although their colleague Fazer has nowended that run with his inaugural solosingle peaking at 17 at the beginning of September, two members of a group having No.1 singles with their debut solo releasesis something the line-ups of the likes of TheBeatles, Take That or Spice Girls nevermanaged to achieve.

For Island Records it is providing a veryhealthy source of UK-originated hit singlesas part of its relationship with All AroundThe World, something that never happenedwith N-Dubz. Although the groups threestudio albums were gold or platinumsellers, they only ever scored one top fivesingle: I Need You in 2009.

Young was Islands second top domesticsingle in Q2, behind only Alex Clares TooClose, and helped it to outperform its twonearest rivals combined on Music Weeksleague table ranking record companies bysales of the quarters Top 100 non-

catalogue singles by UK-signed orA&Rd acts.

Its share of these sales in the period was26.7%, up from 24.1% in Q1, leaving second- and third-placed companiesPolydor (11.3%) and Atlantic (11.2%) trailing a long way behind.

Polydors own share was up from 9.4% in

the last quarter when it finished fourth andits improvement included Cheryls Call MyName, which sold 270,073 copies during the quarters last three weeks. Its other big hitters included two tracks through GlobalTalent: Cover Drives Sparks and LawsonsWhen She Was Mine.

Atlantic was also in the ascendance,rising from fifth to bronze position asAsylum/Black Butters Rudimental featuring John Newman single Feel The Love becamean instant No 1 and Marina & TheDiamonds hit a new career singles chartpeak with Primadonna Girl reaching 11.

RCAs UK A&R gains on albums werecontradicted by it dropping from second tofourth on singles with a 10.0% share led byPaloma Faiths Picking Up The Pieces andthree Labrinth cuts, while Parlophone movedfrom ninth to fifth and increased its sharefrom 5.0% to 9.0% as Conor Maynard arrivedon the scene and Coldplay delivered again.

Emeli Sands Next To Me was Virginstop UK-sourced single for a secondsuccessive period, but with quarterly salesdropping from 384,823 to 141,974 therecord company as a consequence slippeddown the A&R rankings. Third last time, itranked sixth in Q2 with a 6.6% share.

Columbia returned to the Top 10 inseventh place with 4.4% thanks mainly toCalvin Harris Lets Go featuring Ne-Yo, whileMinistry of Sound was unable to come nearits Q1 6.1% share as it dropped to eighthwith 4.1%. Its UK repertoire showing wasled by two DJ Fresh singles: The Power andHot Right Now.

Not normally known for having hitsingles, Decca has now had two chart-toppers in the space of 12 months withGary Barlow and the Commonwealth

Bands Sing in June following on from itsChristmas No 1 Wherever You Are byMilitary Wives/Gareth Malone. Sing achieved 264,192 sales in Q2 to placeDecca ninth on the singles A&R rankingswith 3.9%.

Mercurys 10th-placed 2.6% includedOverload by Dot Rotten featuring TMS andhelped parent group Universal claim awhopping 46.8% of the sales of the 100biggest current hits by UK-signed or A&Rdacts. This was up from 41.0% in Q1 andmore than the three other majors managedcombined with Sony down from 20.1% to16.0%, EMI slipping from 16.0% to 15.5%and Warner recovering from 9.4% to 13.0%.The indie share dropped between quartersfrom 13.5% to 8.7% as most of the big sellers came from the majors.

SINGLES FOCUSN-DUBZ ENCOURAGE SOLO ROLES

RCA BOOSTS BARLOW

Tulisa Dappy


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19/68


INTERVIEWROBBIEWILLIAMSAfter a triumphantreunion with TakeThat, a rejuvenated

Robbie Williams isback as a soloartist, with analbum brimful of confidence andpop smarts. Hesalso happy, relaxed,funny, sweary,honest and readyto Take The CrownINTERVIEW

BY DAVE ROBERTS

Ive interviewed a few famous people.Ive even interviewed a couple of people more famous than Robbie Williams (literally only a couple, mind. And even with them, its marginal).

So, as I wait in the lobby of LondonsLangham hotel, why am I nervous?

I think because it strikes me that whilst Williams is aware that this is a game, he doesnt always want to play;that hes happy to get on thepromotional treadmill but maybe hishand hovers over that big redemergency stop button now and again.

He knows the rules; he knows the

nature of our 45-minute relationship;he knows what he wants and what Ineed; he knows its all pretend; andhes familiar with the roles andrhythms we have to slip into to makethis work, to make it normal and easy.

But you also sense he occasionally finds it all utterly ridiculous, or false, or just a grind and that he has a compulsionto question it, or subvert it; to say whathes actually thinking, or ask me whatIm actually thinking. Oh the horror.But, of course, its that sense of uncertainty, the one that generates thenerves, that makes Williams perhaps

the most interesting pop star of thelast 20-odd years.

Not just interesting because hessold over 60 million albums; and not just interesting because hes won 17Brits, or shifted 1.6 million concerttickets in a single day; just inherently,beguilingly interesting.

Hes different, hes complicated, hesfunny and hes contradictory. Hes thepathologically insecure boy from Stoke who can effortlessly bend record-breaking live audiences to his will.

Hes a deep-thinking and sensitivesoul who grins, winks and pratfalls just

in case anyone accuses him of taking himself too seriously. Hes one of themost famous men on planet pop whosstill not sure how he feels about fame(although maybe he finally has, moreon that later). Hes well hesinteresting, isnt he?

So, as I sit and wait, and receive wordthat Robs running a little late, I hopefervently that, today, he simply wants toplay the game. And then, even morefervently, I hope that, for 45 minutes atleast, he doesnt, and then I hope hedoes again, and then Im not sure andthen Im called in.

DIFFERENT KIND

OF PROGRESS

Ive enjoyedsuccess and

I would like moresuccess. If that

doesnt happen intodays altered

market then, yes,Im going to

be upset,disillusioned,

angry in termsof my career, Ill befucking pissed off

ROBBIE WILLIAMS


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INTERVIEWROBBIEWILLIAMSTake The Crown is a very confident sounding album. Its not ambiguous in any way; its a big,brash pop record. Are you actually feeling asconfident as it sounds?Yes, this is the template for how I should carry onin the future unless I decide to fuck things upagain by being interesting. Basically, now itsappeared, and weve had some reaction, its like,Oh fuck, yeah, this is what I should have beenshooting for.

As Ive said before, Life Thru A Lens came outand it all fucking took off and youre at the top of the pile, which is fucking lovely, but also peoplepoint out exactly how shit you are, in minute detail,and you take it onboard, and your confidencecrumples and you think, Fuck, Im shit, andtherefore I should try and not do anything Ive donebefore, I should do something different.

So have you, at times, deliberately sabotaged your own career?I didnt know I was, but yes.

Was it a question of thinking, Oh God, Im toopopular, I cant cope, I dont feel worthy, Im going to do something a bit different and shake some of these fans off ?I didnt know that I was doing but I think thatswhat I did. On a conscious level I thought, This isa whole heap of fun, everything I do works, theyllfucking love this. [Makes sound of car crashing]Oh, okay, not so much

And was that because you sometimes didnt feelworthy of your success?Yeah, of course, yeah.

Thats quite a contrast with the man who canstand in front of literally hundreds of thousands of people and hold them in the palm of his hand.Yeah, but thats mistaking Ian Beale for AdamWoodyatt. Im sure when Adam Woodyatt cameback to Eastenders with his longbeard, as a tramp, Im sure hehadnt become a tramp in reallife. I created apersona becauseI didnt think my voice wasgonna do it by itself: Look atme! Look atme! Dont look at me! Listen tome! Listen tome! Dont listento me! Im out

Wow. I guess it hasnt flowed like that for quite a while?It hasnt flowed like that since Life Thru A Lens with Guy. That took a week to write.

Do you feel when its not just right, but special.Not really, because Ive been wrong before. Ive thought thathow much fun I was having inthe studio would translate torecord sales and it didnt withRude Box, at all.

I completely got that fucking wrong, especiall with the first single, Rude Box itself. I thought I written the electronic dance equivalent of Ange Turns out I hadnt

So, I guess what Im saying is that it did feelright, it felt really fucking right, but I didnt kno whether to trust it or not. And God help anyone who came near the house. Is that the dustman? him up here: Okay, what do you think of this?

Would you normally do that? Or were you soconfident you were onto something that you wanted people to hear it as soon as possible?No, I was unconfident and I needed peoplesopinions, because never in my career has somuch hinged on one album. I get this wrong andIm fucked; I get this wrong and it all goes inanother direction.

When you say youre fucked, though, youll still be one of the most successful UK pop artists of alltime, one whos broken live records and sold tensof millions of albums around the world.Sixty-something million.

Right, well, exactly, so what do you mean when you say fucked? Well, success feels good, when it goes away, itdoesnt feel so good. Id like to be successful anlike to feel good for a bit longer.

I dont know how many times Im gonna go toradio and they say, Yep, youre still young enou

of key! Watch this instead! Watch me dance! That was all built out of necessity, because I was scared.

Were you trying to please people who you werenever going to please anyway, or whose approval you now know you didnt need in the first place?I dont know. I genuinely dont know. I know I wasproperly scared of writing anything that soundedlike a hit, or a bit poppy. I went down a track I wasnt qualified to go down. I didnt have an aim, Ididnt have a vision. I didnt know what the fuck I was doing. I was just trying to be interesting.

(Now, it should be pointed out that I didnt write the intro to this piece retrospectively; I tapped it into aniPhone in the Langham lobby. Which means that about 10 minutes after Id been wringing as much meaning and mileage out of the word interesting, Williams himself has twice played with it, put his own quote marks round it, toyed with the meaning of it and questioned the value of it. Now, I dont know if thats interesting or interesting but its certainly pretty spooky. And more than youd perhaps expect from, say,Ronan Keating...)

Do you think you succeeded in being interesting, I mean?

Umm I dont listen to any of my old albums, but I did listento the last one (Reality Killed The Video Star), and I like it.But, that said, this album hasarrived and said This is what

you should have been doing, you fucking idiot. Now do a couple more.

Where did that voice come from? What fell intoplace for you?I had an injection of youth from two Australianguys called Tim and Flynn [Metcalfe and Francis, Williams main co-writers on the album].

Which was quite serendipitous in itself, wasnt it?It was fucking mental. My brother-in-law, who islike a feral child, is in a rap combo called TheConnects and he happened to meet theseAustralian lads in a bar. He took them to the studioand his songs instantly got miles better, so I very casually said Bring them up to the house one day,lets try writing something. They came and we wrote the album in 10 days.

ABOVEGoing solo:Life was lived quiteliterally through alens for Robbie inhis first flush of solo success

It did feel right, it feltreally fucking right, but Ididnt know whether to

trust it or not. And Godhelp anyone who camenear the house. Is thatthe dustman? Get himup here: Okay, what doyou think of this?ROBBIE ON WRITING TAKE THE CROWN

I createda personabecause Ididntthink myvoice wasgonna doit by itself:look at me!Listen to

me! Watchme dance!That wasall builtout of necessity,becauseI wasscared


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and this

music week sep 2012

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