Music, Management, Marketing, and Law

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. Introduction

   Phil Graham

   Abstract

   This chapter contextualises the book, which centres around a series of public interviews designed to capture the implications of a pivotal moment in the global recorded music business and record a wealth of professional knowledge and perspectives that extend from the late 1960s through to late 2012 when the interviews were held. It positions the author and interviewer in the flow of events, introduces the interviewees, and gives an overview of their contributions to the global music industry. It has long been argued and demonstrated that music is a “canary in the coal mine” of broader political economic changes. This chapter re-emphasises that perspective and backgrounds the political economic perspective informing the questions asked and answered in the book.

3. Chapter 2. Michael Smellie, Global Record Executive

   Phil Graham

   Abstract

   This chapter is an interview with Michael Smellie. Michael is Australia’s most successful major label record executive. From his beginnings as an accountant in the publishing business he became Chief Operations Officer for Sony BMG (Global) and led the company through what was to prove an historic merger. His time with Sony coincided with the advent of the CD and the subsequent explosion in revenues for the major record labels. Michael also played a major part in funding and conceptualising one of the most exciting and successful independent record labels in the history of Australian music, Rooart Records, the many achievements of which include the international success of INXS. An accountant by training, Michael brought a new management ethos and radical financial logic to the music business. The interview covers expansive ground, including Rooart; Warner BMG (the merger that almost happened prior to Sony BMG); the relationship between sport and music; and commentary on the nature and quality of management in the major labels sector of the music industry.

4. Chapter 3. Peter Colby, Production and Logistics

   Phil Graham

   Abstract

   This chapter is an interview with Peter Colby, our technological and logistics voice in the collection. Peter began his career as a recordist for the ABC, Australia’s national broadcaster, and was at the time of the interview Global President of Sony DADC, the company’s digital production arm. Peter has been responsible for the development and implementation of numerous new music media and platforms for mass and niche markets and has overseen the building of massive plant and equipment for both the production and distribution stages of commercial recorded music, including the legendary Armstrong Studios in Melbourne, Australia. Peter details the history of production technologies used in both the recording and distribution phases of the record business through his experience as a professional involved in practically every aspect of commercial music and video production, packaging, and distribution.

5. Chapter 4. John Watson, Music Manager

   Phil Graham

   Abstract

   This chapter is an interview with John Watson, widely recognised as being one of Australia’s most successful and innovative artist managers. He began his management career with Silverchair in 1995, helping to sell six million albums for the band. In 2000 he established Eleven: A Music Company and took up the management of Silverchair once the band had finalised its contract with Sony. In 2012 the company managed a small but influential roster of artists that includes Gotye, Missy Higgins, Cold Chisel, The Presets, and Birds of Tokyo. Eleven was in many ways a pioneer for a new music business model. It combines the functions of a label with the functions of management and has been widely emulated, at throughout the Australian industry and elsewhere.

6. Chapter 5. Michael Taylor, A&R Manager

   Phil Graham

   Abstract

   This chapter is an interview with Michael Taylor who is today joint managing director of Universal Music Group, Australia. At the time of the interview he was Australian VP of A&R for Universal and head of Island Records, a Universal imprint. Michael’s career began at Clark University where he booked nationally and internationally significant acts as President of the Student Entertainment Committee. His first music business job was at the William Morris Agency in New York. He then became an A&R scout for Columbia Records and went on to be A&R Manager at Madonna’s label, Maverick, and Senior A&R Director at Epic Records. In the mid-90s Michael founded the Go Big label, a project that fused music licensing with lifestyle sports, which he ran out of his kitchen in New York. In 2001 Michael moved to Australia to head up A&R at Sony Music. In 2008 he established Island Records Australia as General Manager. Michael was promoted to Executive VP of A&R Universal Music Australia in 2013 and in 2014 became co-Managing Director of the company. Michael’s interview shows how the A&R function extends well beyond the mere discovery of talent.

7. Chapter 6. Stuart Rubin, Global Marketing Manager

   Phil Graham

   Abstract

   This chapter is an interview with Stuart Rubin. At the height of his career, he was Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing for Sony BMG. Stuart’s career in music started in New Zealand in 1976 with PolyGram. He “crossed the ditch” to Australia and held a number of senior marketing roles in PolyGram and BMG before moving to Hong Kong in the 1990s where he became BMG’s VP of International Marketing for the Asia-Pacific region. In 2001 he moved to New York, becoming Senior VP International for BMG. Following the merger with Sony 3 years later, Stuart was made Senior VP International of Commercial Marketing. Stuart’s interview reveals a person fascinated with people, whether they are artists or music lovers. His long experience in selling music to a global market, and as an A&R professional, gives him a unique perspective on the industry. One of Stuart’s unique contributions to this series is his analysis of the “prefab” phenomenon that has been a topic of discussion where the majors are concerned for years.

8. Chapter 7. Shane Simpson, Music Lawyer

   Phil Graham

   Abstract

   This chapter is an interview with Shane Simpson (AM), Australia’s best-known copyright lawyer. He set up his practice in 1986 and has since acted from many of the leading artists in Australia and elsewhere. He began his career in more conventional areas of the law, coming to the bar in New Zealand in 1973, in New South Wales in 1978, and stepping down in 1986 to pursue his work in the arts. While he is perhaps best known for his work in the music business, Shane’s experience and influence extends far beyond. His first work in copyright, and an enduring area of personal interest, was in visual arts. He has extended that work into areas such as museum law, media law, information technology law, and of course music. His contributions to the Arts in general include the establishment of Australia’s first Arts Law Centre, a free service for artists who could not otherwise afford legal advice. The most striking aspect of Shane’s interview is the historical depth and detail of his legal and business knowledge.

9. Chapter 8. Shaun James, Music TV

   Phil Graham

   Abstract

   This chapter is an interview with Shaun James who was in 2012 head of XYZ Music and centrally involved in the direction of Foxtel’s music channels, V, V Hits, Max, and CMC. He has since moved on to front Presto, Foxtel’s streaming video on demand (VOD) service. Shaun’s industry history includes being CEO of Warner Music (Australia and New Zealand) during a time of massive market growth for that label, Chief Marketing Officer of the national TEN television network, and Vice Chairman of ARIA. Shaun’s experience across television, digital, and major music labels gives him yet another distinct and unusual perspective on the past and future of the music business. Shaun’s is the mind of a technology business strategist. He sees the technology, the rules, the signal flows, the money flows, and the way value gets created across multiple platforms and the connections among them. This interview reveals a sophisticated sense of value ecologies for music that is both futuristic and paradoxical in its implications.

10. Chapter 9. Toby Cresswell, Music Journalist

    Phil Graham

    Abstract

    This chapter is an interview with Toby Cresswell, one of Australia’s most influential music journalists. He edited Rolling Stone (Australia) and was founding editor of Juice magazine. He has written numerous books, articles for multiple publications both national and international, and has also worked extensively in television and publishing. The worst appraisal from Toby is one of mediocrity, of being part of the “sludge”. A song needs a story to be worth listening to or worth writing about and so needs to be a unique contribution to culture. The new media have challenged the role of the music critic as fundamentally as it has the role of the musician and composer. But there is no sense of nostalgia for a lost profession here. Rather Toby has a sense of opportunity and optimism about the future of music criticism.

11. Chapter 10. Harley Medcalf, Promoter

    Phil Graham

    Abstract

    This chapter is an interview with Harley Medcalfe. Harley’s credits include managing every Elton John tour ever brought to Australia; Barry Humphries’ (Dame Edna Everage) producer for over two decades; touring Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra, and Queen to Australia; globally tour-managing Formula One racing; and starting (against all advice and music industry ridicule) the globally successful Burn The Floor series of shows after developing an enthusiasm for Ballroom Dancing. Harley is an innovator and an eternal pioneer. Harley’s method involves minute attention to detail. It is a lesson learned from costly mistakes, including one small mistake with limousines and airline schedules that unfolded into the spectacular 1974 debacle involving Frank Sinatra, the Australian Journalists Association, some indiscriminate security guards, a national union black ban, and a consequent worldwide media scandal.

12. Chapter 11. Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall

    Phil Graham

    Abstract

    This chapter is an interview with Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall. They represent “ground zero” of the music industry for the series: the artists, the creative labourers who make the music that makes money for them and everybody else in the business. Kate and Keir are partners in life and music, and in that sense they are a rare combination. Kate’s creative repertoire spans indie-alternative, pop, heavy metal, musical theatre, and Opera. The couple is quite obviously on a journey of continual renewal at every level: as artists, musicians, and business people. The interview makes clear, I think, that Kate and Keir are new kinds of artists who are emblematic of successful charting a way through the music business’s digital interregnum. Shortly after the interview, Kate parted company with her label to become entirely independent, with both her and Keir beginning solo ventures in areas as diverse as comedy, musical theatre, and opera, as well as continuing their professional collaborations.

13. Chapter 12. Retrospective Conclusions and Predictions

    Phil Graham

    Abstract

    This chapter summarises the themes of the interviews and contextualises them in the current environment. Five years after the interviews, indications are that we were talking at a genuine point of settlement in both music business and music industry. The characteristics of the uneasy digital “bargain” that developed between 2000 and 2012 seems to have changed very little since other than in quantitative terms. Among the more significant changes since the interviews were held is the decline of Apple Music’s dominance as a point of online sales for music and, with that decline, the general withering of sales in relation to streaming as an overall source of music revenues. The role of television, or more precisely “screen media”, in the entertainment landscape has also changed substantially since 2012; most notable is the absence of any mention of Netflix in the interviews, which that year had just started to produce its own content with an audience of just over 2 million subscribers. The major record companies have enjoyed a financial renaissance in the interime, collectively reaping billions from streaming services for access to their catalogues, including the multi-billion dollar capitalisation windfall from Spotify’s IPO in April, 2018.