Hot Seat: Paul Carey, The Music Management
The career path of an artist manager can sometimes be as rock ‘n’ roll as the story behind the artist. British exec Paul Carey cut his teeth as a publicist to the stars, before taking a different journey toward artist management. At London-based LD Publicity and later the Outside Organization, Carey worked with some of the giants of British music — David Bowie, Elton John and The Who. And many of the biggest events on the music calendar (the Rolling Stones concerts, the BRIT Awards).
Carey founded The Music Management in 2009. He masterminded a project for Dame Shirley Bassey called “The Performance,” which he A&R’d and exec-produced. “The Performance” went on to sell 400,000 copies, and re-established Bassey’s star status. The Music Management’s clients include Skinny Lister, whose raucous punk folk performances had The Guardian enthuse, they’re “like the Pogues, but with better teeth,” plus psych-pop choir The Polyphonic Spree, U.K. punksters Summercity and Ivor Novello-winning composer Errollyn Wallen. Carey is visiting Australia as part of the delegation for the British Phonographic Industry’s (BPI) “Trade Mission” to Australia, which runs from Oct. 7 to 11 across Sydney and Melbourne.
So many young PRs today are email driven. I’ve worked with many PRs in recent years who I’ve never actually spoken with, never met. Is the art of PR being killed by email?
I’m so glad you asked me about this. It really irks me that modern PRs just email a contact list, wait for replies and then fill-out their client reports. It’s bullshit. PR is about working your contacts, meeting them to discuss angles, stories and ideas, picking up the phone and talking about the artist in general terms until you land upon an angle that you both think will stand a chance of warranting some space in a publication. Most young PRs these days believe that emailing is good enough, but it’s not. I firmly believe only a handful of music PRs — certainly in the U.K. — have the relationship with all the key players and can actually make a difference. It’s not right, and it makes me mad especially with my management clients when I’ve hired other PR companies to work the act and they don’t deliver because they aren’t resourceful enough.
So what then is good PR?
I don’t believe the old cliche that “there’s no such thing as bad press.” But sometimes it is just as worthwhile to be reviewed in a magazine or a broadsheet even if it’s a fairly average review, because there will always be something good that comes of it and often another publication will have a more positive review that will balance it out. Good PR is achieved when the publicist really applies themselves, which these days involves coming-up with creative angles to secure coverage, perhaps coming-up with a themed piece about a trend or new genre that includes your client as the focal component. The straight interview feature with a new band or act is becoming harder and harder to achieve.
You worked on some of the music industry’s biggest events. Can you give me a sense of what it is to work on the giant, blue-chip events?
In my first few weeks working in the music industry I went from not working in showbiz to organising press conferences with the Rolling Stones and running around backstage at the BRITS and personally escorting Stevie Wonder from his dressing room to the stage to perform, which was a bit of a head spinner. Working big events and festivals is always a big thrill, like Glastonbury, where I landed in a helicopter with Shirley Bassey, or Live 8 in Hyde Park, where I ended up chatting to Brad Pitt in the gents toilets. What I love about the big events is the level of professionalism amongst all the backstage crew, everyone in production and the guys who make the show actually happen. They’re the unsung heroes.
Your former boss Wendy Laister went from PR to managing Duran Duran. Is there a natural stepping stone from PR into artist management?
There’s a natural progression from PR to management. With PR you’re in a creative role focusing on an important area of the career, involved in projecting and protecting the artist’s global profile. Management is the extension of that same thinking across all areas of the artist’s career, and I’ve certainly found that having that all-round perspective really helps when developing and managing new acts. Coming as I have from PR also means that I have that added USP. I can call up journalists and reviewers, TV and radio producers, bloggers and contacts across the media and get them to write about my acts. I had a showcase a while ago for one of my acts and despite the label hiring all the PR teams including TV, radio and press pluggers, it was my contacts that actually showed up and came to see the band.
What’s your business strategy?
It’s built around finding and developing amazing talent, helping them make connections and seeking the partners that can lead to them progressing their careers, gaining success and ultimately earning enough money to live as a musician in the modern music industry. For a lot of musicians and artists, that’s the dream — to be able to earn their living from doing what they love. It’s an ambition I share with my artists. The Music Management exists to find, nurture and develop artists and bands to a level where they can step up to and then compete amongst the biggest acts in the world. Key to this is incredible songs and a unique live offering. Both are crucial when it comes to global success. It’s the most essential thing — a song that connects and a stage show that gives the music fan an experience they can take away with them that nourishes their lives. It all starts with the song, so being connected with the best songwriters, publishers and other artists and their managers is so important. When I decided to develop my career outside of just working with the media as a PR I was very conscious that I needed to discover and connect with all areas of the business. It’s important to know as many people in all areas of the business and for the key players around the world to know you, so I make a big effort to constantly network and reach-out. I like to consider myself as a tenacious go-getter, resourceful and amiable, who gets what he goes for by hard work and determination.
How are you building your bands’ live presence in each territory?
With Skinny Lister the strategy has been to focus on the biggest markets in the world and building profile and a following there. So we started in the U.K. then the U.S., Germany and latterly Japan. We set fires in each of these territories, secured some big support slots and got the band on the biggest and most influential festivals, the band then do the rest and win the fans wherever they land. The initial strategy before all of this was to secure some funding, which I did via a great investment vehicle called Imperial Music & Media who put some initial money behind the band, which has been pivotal to getting the band off the ground. This year alone I have been to New York, LA, Austin, Tokyo and Germany — several times — and the next stop is Australia for the BPI Trade Mission there. Earlier this year I travelled direct from SXSW in Austin for 26 hours to Tokyo to meet with Smash — promoters and Fujirock Festival owners — to convince them to have Skinny Lister on this year’s festival. I came away with a coveted slot for the band and did a licence deal with a label called Uncleowen, who released the band’s album there. Skinny blew the festival away and were a massive hit in Japan. You have to go to and meet key players to do deals and make connections for your artists. I’m in a very strong position and have a very supportive wife and family who believe in what I’m doing and allow me to travel to the four corners of the globe to further the careers of my acts, whose lives and careers I am ultimately responsible for.
How did you work the Shirley Bassey campaign?
After Glastonbury 2007 when I’d been working with her in a PR capacity I realised she had no-one really managing her and there wasn’t anyone coming up with any creative ideas. I came up with an album concept that involved contemporary artists writing new songs for her, with David Arnold — the then Bond film music producer — at the helm. We ended up with songs from Gary Barlow, Pet Shop Boys, Rufus Wainwright, John Barry, KT Tunstall and the Manic Street Preachers amongst others. I had thought the whole project through including how to promote it, the live show, a TV and radio documentary and explained to her what her promotion commitments would be. I did a deal with Geffen Records and the album went on to sell 400,000 or so copies. That was my first proper foray into management and it’s been a great calling card as it was a critically-acclaimed success and the biggest selling album of her career.
You’re coming out to Australia for the BPI’s “trade mission” what to you hope to get from it?
To connect with some key players in the Australian business and to meet some of the major festival owners to get Skinny Lister on their radars. I’m also interested to see if there’s any reciprocal management connections I can make with Australian music companies looking to bring their acts to the U.K. and Europe as I think there could be some collaborative projects we could work on. I’m also interested in meeting potential sponsorship partners who Skinny Lister could work with to make touring in Australasia cost effective.
You’ve worked with Bowie, Elton, The Who. Any good war stories to share?
Elton John once phoned me up and accidentally called Mariah Carey instead as our names were next to each other in his phone book. She was on holiday and a bit surprised to hear from him! After that my nickname was always Mariah!
What chances Bowie will tour?
I can only hope so, a few years ago I would have assumed not, but as Bowie once said to me, ’Never assume anything”.
Any tips for young artist managers?
Don’t expect to get paid for a long time, be creative and never lose faith.
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