JT: we’ll carry on because we love doing it, so will Humble Soul…
2010, p.7
Everything Everything
“There are an awful lot of skilled people, in the music industry, that do stuff, and are skilled, they’re there for a reason. There’s no reason why they are suddenly irrelevant, or obsolete. Just because they could be. They can do it, aswell
Everything Everything, 2010, p.6
Katherine Melling
Over and above the contractual niggles [and the advance] we’re offering, Melling, 2010, firstly, a UK company…with a very approachable A&R team…who can pp 5-6 make things happen with their connections…plus we have an administrative team dedicated to collecting your money efficiently from around the world and a big sync team actively looking for ways to exploit your music creatively and in the way you’d want it to be. Secondly we have great relationships with all our worldwide offices that will promote your music wherever you go…[We offer] the advance, and the connections within the industry, and across the world, we have a company that is difficult to replicate on your own”
5
5
(Figure 12 Cont.)
Interestingly, both Wills and Melling have cynical opinions of the major record labels, accusing them of ‘lazy’ marketing and production, going for the ‘instant buck’ and generally ‘stifling creativity”. Overall, however, the sample group demonstrate that labels can still play an important role within the music industries – as Wills states, the music industry is essentially “gambling”, it can be a benefit to have someone that knows what they are doing. Briden and Parrott also identify that labels can play a ‘tastemaking’ role, helping to propel bands further along in their careers. Everything Everything and Melling both identify some of the key benefits of signing with a label that has good industry contacts and a skilled staff base. Management, in particular, was mentioned by several members of the sample group as being a major benefit to being signed, and several of the sample group suggest that in the future, labels will be called management companies, or super management companies (which would seem to be supported by EMI’s recent structural shifts). Thompson and Fulgoni also highlight that, after the essential down-sizing that has occurred within the industry, those labels who are ‘left in the game’ are passionate about what they are doing, and genuinely seem to love music.