Managers/artists...friends or foes ?

This week ,after spending 8 months working very hard with a new  artist called Rahma I was politely informed that ,now I had got to the point of getting her a deal ,my services as a manager would not be required ,but she would be happy for me to do some synch licensing for her ... I'm sure you can imagine my reaction......that's right I told her exactly what I thought of her and we are no longer working together .
 She said that she wants to run her own business ,make all the decisions  and have a coterie of " advisers " at her beck and call. This is just about the stupidest idea I've ever heard - and I've heard plenty of stupid ideas from artists AND managers !
 I told her that " a little knowledge is a dangerous thing ...and she certainly has a little knowledge "
 However as well as being ,justifiably ,angry I was also very hurt that a young artist with great potential should ruin whatever chance she may have had of success by believing she can make every decision ! I'm not saying that I should be the manager ,I don't have a problem if there is someone better or we don't get along ,but the idea of any artist running their own business and making every decision whilst be the artist is utterly nonsensical ! !
 However it has made me think about the nature of the artist/manager relationship in the " new " music business and I've concluded that now with the onus more than ever on the artist to do so much of the work themselves ,and with decreasing importance of even having a deal with any of the dinosaur labels, a good manager is ESSENTIAL to a band or artists chances of success
 However that is easier said than done and I know that for every good manager there are at least 20 idiots and almost every artist has horror stories to tell about being exploited ,ripped-off or worse
 Do I think I'm a good manager ? I'm a " work in progress " but with my experience of A&R ,labels ,ad agencies,brands,PR and synch I think I'm on the right track
 As the business changes  people who really love music know that there is more to life than major-label rubbish and i-tunes ...there will always be a horde of us curious to hear new,exciting music that lifts our hearts and minds,Music For The Soul ........and this is where good managers can really help their artists .
 You need to have more than great music now to make you stand out from the crowd...the internet is a wonderful place to find music but it's not democratic and there is so much shit to wade through before you get to the Promised Land .......
 A good manager should  work WITH the artist to makes things happen.....and therein is the crux of the matter ....too many artist think a manger should work FOR them not WITH them....as long as they think like that they are doomed
 Every artist I've known has shared the same view...if they afre successful it's coz they are brilliant - if they fail it's because the label/manager/plugger etc were shit . It was ever thus and will probably remain so.........but at least I tried
 You know I genuinely hope Rahma goes on to achieve the success she deserves but unless she has a reality check she will end up like so many others before her....thinking of what might have been
 On a happier note I have heard some truly brilliant music recently from Because records - the new Errol Alkan track featuring Jarvis Cocker "Avalanche " is absoluely brilliant as is the new Django Django album . In fact all their new music is so amamzing Because Records will be the subject of my next blog
 The Soul Guru Loves YOU x

The State Of The Union

Welcome to the first post of 2011 ,the blog will now be posted weekly every Monday as I want to make it as good as possible and not find myself repeating myself .

 The New Year is always a good time to reassess things with a view to trying to improve ....and God knows the state of the music business needs improving.

 If you didn't see it last week HMV reported a sales drop of 13% year on year and their shares lost 21% of their value as a result .....all the majors - or should that be both as you can't count Warners and EMI nowadays - are losing money like a drunk in a casino ( hello Andy Carroll of Newcastle United ). 

 Sad but in life you get what you deserve........and the " major " music business deserves nothing ergo they get nothing. I saw the new C-Lo green album being advertised for sale on TV for a fiver in Tescos......there's nothing like treating you artists with respect ,and that's nothing like treating you artist with respect ! 

 The decline has been so predictable - when i worked at Sony we had countless meeting discussing the internet but while we talked about it how we could control it rather than embrace it the world turned and there we were ,selling horse-drawn carriages just as the internal combustion engine was invented .This was the point that the music biz started to unravel.

 Combine this with the labels doing a deal with 1 retailer ( i-tunes ) who control 85 % of the market , a whole generation of kids who have never paid for music and a complete absdence of anyone decent A&R guys what do you get ? Oblivion,extinction , death .

 The "majors " will take around 5 years to die but as they lay twitching and gasping for breath something beautiful is happening reminiscent of the rise of Punk in 1977........people are startuing to make music by themselves ,for themselves ...not worrying about "getting a deal ".......THIS IS A VERY GOOD THING !

 Of course shit like X-Factor will continue and brainless sheep with no sense or taste will continue to watch pasty-faced painter and  decorators murder a selection of kareoke favourites and buy their single before instantly forgetting them .....

 I started out in a record shop ,had no presumptions to be an A&R man but when I  started it was obvious that I was great at it ,mainly because I cared about music and never cared at all about the labels .

 As my career progressed I became known a s a " maverick " or worse and as the music business became increasingly bland and predictable it was inevitable that we would go our separate ways . Fuck them ,it was their loss...

 Despite everything I never lost my passion for music and now it burns brighter than ever inside me  - I love writing this ,listening to new music and working with great new artists.

 There is so much great music out there if you are prepared to look for it ,I spend a lot of time and money on music because it is a passion - I buy every album I write about here and always will . You can tell by the way I write I hope that I mean every word I say . I'm not bitter about the muisc buisness...it's just irrelevant nowadays

 I believe 2011 will prove to be a tipping point for good music - I'm already looking forward to new albums from Kode 9 & The Spaceape,Breakage,Andreya Triani,Jess Mills ( amazing vocalist who appeared with LeftField  live ) ,Rahma, Patrina and even PLEASE GOD some new music from  " The Greatest Band in the World " ..........LeftField ,and I know that I will hear new music from artists I've never heard before and it will raise my spirits and lift my Soul as great new music always does.

 As far as The Soul Guru is concerned the future has never looked brighter ,our destiny is in our hands......come walk with me to a brave new world 

 X