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Features March 27, 2019

MUSEXPO 2019: Eye opener into the state of the music biz [day 1]

MUSEXPO 2019: Eye opener into the state of the music biz [day 1]
Image: Speakers from the session "The Future of A&R" at Musexpo (From l. to r).: PANELISTS: Monti Olson - Co-Head A&R, Frontline Publishing, BMG; Pete Ganbarg - President of A&R, Atlantic Records; Ralph Simon - Founder & CEO, Mobilium Global; Billy Mann - Founder & Chairman, Manncom; Amanda Samii - Sr. Creative Director, Kobalt Music; and Thaddeus Rudd - Co-Owner & Co-President, Mom+Pop Music.

Musexpo, the springtime A&R-focused conference in Los Angeles, is going through a makeover, with new branding, Musexpo Creative Summit, and a new location, the Castaway resort in Burbank.

But the purpose of the conference/showcase event has not changed: it is still about the state of the music union, the future of A&R and the creative process, and the impact of new technologies on the eco-system. And because it takes place in the film and TV capital of the world, there is obviously a focus on synchronisation.

Here is an overview of the key points discussed during the first day at Musexpo, in particular during the opening keynote session on “The Future of the Music Business,” the panel on “The Future of A&R” and the keynote with Capitol UK co-presidents Jo Charrington and Nick Raphael.


Artists are in the driving seat

Memo to labels: now is the era of the empowerment of the artists. With streaming becoming ubiquitous, and artists being able to bypass traditional gatekeepers to get their music available to the world, the role of labels has been re-evaluated.

“Social media has given artists a voice when they didn’t have one, and given opportunities to artists who can start their own business outside of music,” said Allison Kaye, president of SB Projects, a company that has worked with Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber.

“There are so many different ways artists can break and that gives them a lot of power,” said Lonny Olinick, CEO of Kobalt-owned label service company AWAL. “We have artists who have done billion of streams, and who own their rights. They can do it with a company like ours that empowers them, but they also know what their audience wants, and that is a paradigm shift.”.f

Olinick claimed that we are seeing “a middle class emerging.” He elaborated: “There are so many pockets of opportunities for artists and that is a major shift. Inn used to be about the 200 superstars, but now it is about thousands of artists making a living. The change is profound.”

But labels still matter

Labels and publishers need to adapt to the new reality. “The last three acts that we looked at signing did not want to sign,” said Monti Olson, co-head A&R, Frontline Publishing, at BMG. “They had a direct relationship with DSPs. One artist made a million dollars last year and said ‘why do I need you’. It makes our job more difficult but also more interesting.”

Artist can certainly get their music out and retain their rights but to get to play a role on a global scale, labels are still needed. “It is really easy to put song to the world but you need marketing muscle to promote it,” said Tarsame Mittal, founder of Indian management company All About Music. “Labels are marketing machines that can create things at a certain level,” concurred Curt Marvis, CEO & co-founder of video specialist QYOU.

For Capitol UK co-president, the power of majors like Universal still allows for artists to get global visibility. He recalled how switching from Sony to Universal changed his outlook. “[Universal Music Group chairman/CEO] Lucian [Grainge] & [Universal Music UK CEO] David [Joseph] said, ‘Come to Universal & we’ll sell your records around the world’. We’ve found the power of, ‘We’re backing you’ and my God, you need that nowadays.”

Catching the attention of the public is the main challenge

“From an artist perspective, the challenge is getting people to open their wallet,” quipped SB Projects’ Kaye. “Artists can have million of streams but can’t sell concert tickets or convert it into sales. The challenge is getting the people who are caring about the music to care about the artist enough to spend money.”

The other challenge, according to Kaye, is that “people’s attention span is short so you have to keep feeding the beast. Fans do care but you have to really put the time in with fans day by day. You have to go on the ground, and meet fans, and engaging with fans. You have to keep doing that.”

Authenticity and likeability work

Memo to artists: be yourselves and be likeable. In the era of social networks, you have to rise above the white noise and find a way to catch the fans’ attention. Executives at Musexpo were adamant that aside from talent and good songs, artists these days need to connect and be real and authentic. “Ariana [Grande] is on Twitter day and night talking to fans and fans know it is her, not someone doing it for her,” explained SB Projects’ Kaye.

For Capitol UK’s Raphael, “An artist can have the most talent in the world but if they’re not likeable, the public won’t buy it.” He also warned artists about the importance of having a good manager. “If you think your manager is a douche bag, get rid of him because wait until the record company meets him,” he claimed. “Great artists have great managers.”

Albums are not dead, they’re just a repository for singles

On many different occasions, the debates at Musexpo focused on albums vs. single. Sony/ATV’s Jennifer Knoepfl said she’d “miss the album if it went away. Albums allow artists to stamp a moment in time that you can’t get from just releasing single after single.”

That point was confirmed by Capitol UK’s co-president Jo Charrington. “It is important for most artists to make an album. What’s changed for us is the album is the end of the campaign, not the beginning.”

And with the quick rotation of songs in the public eye, the notion of what constitutes catalogue has shifted. “After three month, a song can be catalogue,” said John Fleckenstein, co-president of RCA Records.

Streaming will not kill the radio stars

Or such is the belief of Ben Cooper, controller of BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra, and BBC Asian Network. “Our challenge is how does radio continues to be part of the ecosystem in breaking artists and being part of people’s lives,” said Cooper.

He added, “Streaming has replaced your record collections and now they want to be your radio. So how are we different from streaming services? Streaming is insular, and for radio its about zeitgeist, the community. Give us the artists, we’ll put a great presenter next to the artist, and do creative things with the artist and the audience. If can do things like that, there are opportunities for radio going forward.”

For Cooper, streaming will continue to grow for the next couple of years and then it will level off. “That’s when it will start getting interesting!”

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