Day One Closes: Global A&R Forum

The assembled panelists for Global A&R Forum have signed everything from Gnarls Barkley to Muse, to Blur, Sugababes and Madcon.
Sarah Stennet of SSB/ Crown Management, Korda Marshall (MD, Infectious Records), Fredrik Ekander (Bonnier Amigo, Sweden), Mike Smith (MD of Columbia Records, UK) and Bjorn Teske (Sony Music A&R Director, Germany) were on call to discuss the finer points of their most-prized discoveries. They were led into conversation by moderator Joe Taylor (Field Recordings/ Nuxx Publishing & Music Consultant to Record of the Day).
Sarah said she approached Sugababes "as a brand that represented the type of pop music we were doing" and that despite three line-up changes and being picked up after being dropped by their first label, the girls are still in the game and currently working on a new album which will be a co-production with Jay-Z's RocNation label in the US. She thought the main responsibilities involved in management was managing the individuals, working with a label which works through the difficulties and keeping the focus on the brand itself and the music.
Korda signed Muse when they were a bunch of 17 year-olds, he says because it was very obvious from the start that they had the right attitude, focus and drive. Initially signing them for Australia/ UK-only singles deal with matching rights clause for other territories, his market specific approach at first allowed them to ramp up to a global campaign after 3 albums. Interestingly, he had passed on them a few times before signing them as they were too young.
Mike Smith's experience of working with Mark Ronson included taking up reigns from another label (Ronson's first album didn't do so well for Elektra while they were on their last legs). Ronson's version of Radiohead's 'Just' which appeared on a soundtrack in 2006, and his involvement in Lily and Amy's album led Smith to believing Ronson's signature sound was connecting with people at just the right time - that's why they waited two years before launching the album.
Bjorn's experience with the fledgling German rockers Aloha From Hell came when their lead singer was just 14 years old singer. What followed for them was an 18 month period of artist development before partners Bravo Television got behind them. Bjorn reiterated the importance of reaching a mass market after that point. "After grassroots development, you do need Radio/ TV and press. We had already invested Eur500,000, so we needed to get a Gold album with them."
Most of the artists Sarah Stennet has worked with were dropped from their label or sidelined from the industry at one point. She listed Noisettes, VV Brown and Sugababes as examples. She said she looked for the drive from the artists to still be involved - with The Noisettes, the idea of a waste of a unique talent and the work they had put into their career drove her to continue to be involved. They were eventually signed back to the label they were dropped by in the UK, by working with another dropped band under her management company.
After taking the demos from the audience the panel discussed hit discovery. Korda said he heard Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" on a Tuesday afternoon and signed it by Friday and that he's had 4 records like that in a 30 year career.
Michael Jackson was a topic that couldn't be avoided on this panel. Korda spoke of " the big machine whirring" in majors when an artist dies. He compared Sony's job at present to RCA's when Elvis died. Mike Smith, although stressing his role at Columbia wasn't directly involved in Jackson's catalogue at all summed up the feeling in his company: :I think it's really important for the industry...Tony Wilson said it best when he said 'nothing sells like death'. We have to do as much as possible to respect the legacy and his family. We need to do it in a way in which the families feel comfortable with." Fredrick Ekander was of the opinion that music no longer has the ability to touch the same number of people at the same time, and that was why there would never be a superstar like Jackson again. Smith retorted that "The opportunity is still there for an artist to touch people on a global scale, but they just don't come along very often."
After discussing the methods of discovery and the filters used ,Smith's comment on what buzz does to an act was telling in the current music media environment: "Just because something is the most-tipped act of the year, that doesn't mean it's going to crossover."
To conclude the entire panel admitted that they have never signed a band after discovering it on a CD they had been given at a conference , but have signed bands they've seen at conferences - Korda name-checked The Temper Trap who he saw at last year's Musexpo Europe event in London.
And so to the Carbon Lounge for some cocktails and another evening of musical discovery. Follow us on Twitter for updates as we go. We're back tomorrow for more coverage from The Cumberland Hotel, kicking off with The Publishing Forum at 9:30am. Sleep is for wimps.