Features October 15, 2019

Terry McBride: ‘triple j don’t stick with artists’

“As powerful and as great as [triple j] are, they don’t stick with artists for 20 years.”

This was one of the sentiments laid down from a recent episode of TIO‘s Fear At The Top podcast, which sees CEO of The Brag Media Luke Girgis interview heads of companies in the music industry.

In this episode of Fear At The Top, Girgis interviewed Nettwerk Music Group CEO Terry McBride, whose roster features 17 acts from Australia, including Xavier Rudd, Angus & Julia Stone, John Butler Trio, Boy & Bear, Hermitude, Japanese Wallpaper, Jack River and Mallrat.

Recorded at the annual BIGSOUND conference last month, where McBride delivered an illuminating Keynote, the chat saw Girgis and McBride discuss the predicament triple j and the artists who depend on it are in.

“If you get 10 years out of triple j you’ve probably done really, really well,” said McBride. “But probably the majority get three-to-five years. Do you really view your career to be three-to-five years?

“If you’re dependent upon that as your lever, and the minute that you don’t get it… I can’t imagine how depressing that is,” he continued. “Are you writing music to be depressed? I don’t think so. You’re writing music hopefully because you have something to say that hopefully will make people’s lives better.”

During the expansive, 45-minute chat, the McBride also delved into how Spotify algorithms work, why Nettwerk sign so many Australian artists, why the major labels don’t focus on streaming, and so much more.

Terry McBride also spoke at length on his theory that if triple j break an artist too early it will have a negative impact on the rest of the world.

Nettwerk Music Group has sold more than 170 million albums and today boasts offices in London, Hamburg, Boston, Los Angeles, New York and headquarters in Vancouver, Canada.