Executives discuss industry's A&R failings at Musexpo

13:32 | Wednesday October 29, 2008

A strong line up of 20 – 20 president Martin Dodd, Wall of Sound founder Mark Jones, Atlantic president Max Lousada, 14th Floor Recordings CEO Christian Tattersfield, Epic Records managing director Nick Raphael and, in his first public appearance in his new role, EMI UK and America president of A&R Nick Gatfield, participated in the debate, which looked at issues such as the attributes they look for in a new artist and the 360 model.

It was during a discussion on the latter that Raphael made his bold criticism of short-sighted A&Ring in the industry, saying “We don’t make enough good records.”

He elaborated, “The fact that people are signing artists for £1m in this market is ridiculous.”

And, asked how long he thought such deals would continue, Raphael explained, “These deals will exist as long as record companies are controlled by men who want to show off their cheque books.”

Perhaps surprisingly, this view was backed by the rest of the panel. Dodd said, “Most of the time it is about the executives’ insecurity in their jobs. They want to win the war against other record labels.”

The answer, according to Gatfield, is better training for new A&R men within labels.

“There is a problem with the learning process within A&R departments,” he explained. “When I started there was an element of making sure we were told about how to deliver bad news. There are a lot of younger A&R people who tripped on an act, are given a level of seniority and are expected to have a level of confidence to talk to artists.”

Gatfield also revealed the future for EMI. “More hits,” he answered immediately. “It’s as simple as that.”

The morning also included the Global Managers Summit and the Global Live Entertainment Forum.

Musexpo Europe concludes this afternoon at the Cumberland Hotel in London.