'LA' Reid - Def Jam

12:26 | Tuesday January 29, 2008

On January 15 Terra Firma head Guy Hands, the man charged with turning the fortunes of EMI around, gathered his staff at the Odeon Cinema in West London and delivered his new and at times revolutionary vision for the company.

The following day Island Def Jam chairman Antonio 'LA' Reid stood in front of representatives from Universal¹s European territories and a selection of British media at the Mayfair Theatre to reveal two of the label's biggest Q2 priorities; Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson.

Dressed casually in jeans, a white shirt and blazer, the Grammy-winning record executive, who has guided the careers of artists such as TLC, Usher, Avril Lavigne and Dido to multi-platinum success, was in an upbeat mood, getting lost in the music and talking enthusiastically about the creative process behind the new albums.

"We should clap," he told the audience. "We should clap because we just played music, and yesterday there was a very big company meeting in a theatre over the other side of town where they didn¹t play music. A music company ­ or it used to be." The timing, intentional or not, was perhaps all the more prudent given the history of the two artists Reid was presenting. Mariah Carey will this year deliver her second album for Island Def Jam, the label she signed to in 2002 following a disappointing period with Virgin Records. Carey signed with Virgin in April 2001 for close to $82m (£41.9m) but, following a disappointing performance of the Glitter movie and soundtrack, EMI cut its losses and paid Carey $28m (£14.3m) to sever ties. The Emancipation Of Mimi, her subsequent debut for Island Def Jam, has since sold more than 10m copies globally.

Jackson signed to Island Def Jam last year in the wake of two consecutive commercial disappointments: 2004's Damita Jo and 2006's 20 YO. Reid is adamant, however, that Virgin¹s failure will be his own success.

Music Week caught up with the veteran music executive at The Berkeley Hotel in London.

In the case of both Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, you signed artists at a low point in their careers. What is it that gives you confidence to get involved with artists that other labels may be hesitant about?

I firmly believe in truly talented people, particularly talented superstars.

I believe if you have the talent, it's just a question of someone refining it and helping to make the right creative decisions. Talent always wins in the end; you¹re never over. As a matter of fact, I find that the marketplace generally is much healthier for icons than it might be for new artists, and I think that has been proven for many artists. When you look at the Eagles' success or the recent Led Zeppelin success, it tells me that people who grew up on these artists always love them, they just want them to make the right records. So I never really give up on them."

Is there a process that you go through when it comes to identifying the strengths of these artists and deciding the right album to make?

I just listen to songs. Mariah Carey writes every song she sings; she may collaborate with various people but she is a songwriter, so with Mariah she¹ll write, she'll play it for me and I¹ll tell her what I think, so there¹s no real process there. Alternatively, if I think there¹s a good collaboration I'll suggest somebody and she¹ll say, 'OK I like this person, I'll try that', you know, and then we just evaluate the work when it's done.

She's a true songwriter. With Janet, we spend more time with the producers and writers trying to find ideas that may appeal to her and that she can get into and mould into her own. I just try to get inside their heads and find out what it is they¹re looking for. I provide a service. I do whatever they want me to do; whatever they need, I¹ll do it to help them. It's really their vision, not mine.

Did you find the creative process fairly smooth this time around?

Yeah. It always is though. Honestly, I don't have issues with artists at all because, although I¹m not a performer, they think of me as one of them. So no, we don¹t hit creative snags, we just try things and some things work and some things don't and that¹s fine.

Do you consider yourself a music guy first and foremost?

Depends on what we¹re talking about. I can talk about mergers and acquisitions, I can talk about politics or global economies; or we can talk about songs and producers. I¹m not different from you in that I¹m versed in the things I¹m good at and I¹m horrible at the things I'm not.

Do you think the changes going on at EMI at the moment represent a more general shift in the business, where maybe there are less true music professionals in the business?

There was a time when the suits attempted to take over our business; it didn¹t work. And there may be a suit or two hanging out there now attempting to take over the business. It won¹t work. It will come right back to the people who live and die for the art form. It¹s like putting a suit in charge of art galleries. OK, good luck, but how about having people that love art? You look around the business now, it is run by music people. Doug Morris: songwriter. Jimmy Iovine: record producer. LA Reid: record producer. Rick Rubin: record producer. More and more of them, and if they¹re not songwriters or producers, they¹re avid music professionals. Craig Kallman: a true music professional. Barry Weis: a true music professional. Clive Davis: the legendary record man. Lyor Cohen: just a legendary record man. The record companies are run by record people and probably the only exception to that is EMI; that¹s the only company that I can see that doesn¹t have a hands-on music guy, but then again they have Roger Aimes and Jason Flom and they¹re record guys; these are hitmakers and I respect all of them and I admire all of them. We were spending some time with Lucian [Grainge] today and I was like; 'Wow! I just love being in the presence of a great record man.' I love it.

What do you think it is that makes the music business such a unique proposition?

The music business is an interesting one because most successful people, at some point, want to be in music and when it doesn¹t work they say, 'what a horrible business', but everyone wants to take a stab at it. Athletes want to take a stab at it; actors want to take a stab at it, financial guys, everyone wants to take a stab at getting in the record business. It's so sexy and so intriguing and there¹s a mystique about it and everyone wants to see what¹s behind the curtain, but this business is not for everyone.

At the music presentation yesterday, everyone in attendance received a lyric sheet which they were asked to hand back at the end of the presentation. You made the point that the lyric sheets only became valuable when people were told they could not keep them. How do you apply that thinking to music and to the business?

What you're saying is, too much access to music makes music less valuable, which means that free is horrible, because free means you absolutely don¹t want it unless someone conned you into it. If someone walks up to you on the street and gives you a free CD, more than likely you¹re going to throw it away. No one wants free. Free is contributing to the demise of a beautiful business, of a beautiful culture; it's not free. I¹m just looking around this room, there is nothing in this room that is free. Water was once free, but now you and I would not drink free water. We only want water that¹s bottled and expensive. So music is very special and the handlers of music have to understand how special it is and package it properly and price it properly and sell it. No one wants free. We¹d rather have air conditioning than fresh air, because you pay for air conditioning.

Today's music fan has access to more information than ever before, via the likes of blogs and music sites. As a label, how do you control this? And indeed, do you feel you need to control it?

I think that when it comes to getting the word out on something and creating a buzz, we have many, many vehicles and we try to make the best possible use of the availability of all of these outlets, but we run the risk of having music judged by people who may not be qualified to write about it. They may be qualified to have an opinion - everyone is entitled to have an opinion - but not everyone is qualified to write about it. But they¹re out there, so what are you going to do? People like that are a fact of life. It¹s better than they¹re talking about our stuff than something else; that¹s the way I look at it. Keeping what we do at the forefront of people¹s minds is very important.

Do you feel like blogs in particular provide a powerful platform to break an act?

I don¹t think they have any commercial value in terms of whether something sells or doesn¹t sell; it¹s just people talking about it.

How do you feel about the direction Guy Hands is steering EMI?

I just hope it works, for the sake of all of music, because a healthy, competitive music company is very important to all of our existences. I wish him the absolute best in doing it and I really hope it works and I hope he can restore the viability of that great music company. It¹s important. If he were to ask my advice, I¹d give it to him. I hope he does a great job with it. We need great companies, that¹s all I know.

How do major record labels remain relevant in the new business environment? What do you believe has to happen to enable the record company model to move forward?

Record labels have to be entertainment companies and they have to provide opportunities for artists beyond selling music. It has to have a 'dream' component, meaning whatever the artist envisions themselves doing, they have to be able to come and talk to me and say, 'Here is my vision for my career', not 'here is my vision for my record', and then we have to work as hard as they do to try and bring opportunities so they can be and do all that they want to do. That may be a very soft way of saying it but we have to be entertainment companies. Some people call it 360-degree models and I hate it now because it just sounds like a catchphrase.

How has the scope of contacts in your address book changed today, compared with, say, 10 years ago?

I know more bankers! I know more movie people, I know more TV people. But that¹s probably it. For me it¹s more film and TV interaction than I've had in the past 10 years.

What are the big drivers for breaking new music in the US right now?

In the US at the end of last year, a lot of the Top 10 was platform-driven. Whether it was a marketing-driven thing like Hannah Montana or the American Idol franchise or the Eagles or who did the Wal-Mart specific campaign. It¹s always great to have a hit song and a great piece of music; that¹s where it always has to start, but having a big driver behind you that helps push you into the consciousness really works.

Do you feel like the impact you can have via radio is reduced at all now?

It's a little tougher in terms of getting everything at the same time, but when you have a hit song and you get it away at radio, alongside everything else it¹s still your biggest driver. There are a lot of other things now that get into that mix, but it¹s still pretty powerful.

Island Def Jam will release Duffy's debut in the US later this year. How is the record shaping up over there?

We're getting a great reaction from the people that have heard it. Lots of buzz. It feels like it¹s going to go. She is going to be one of the breakthroughs of 2008. She's got it. She just did a small promo tour of the United States and everybody's been calling about it. It¹s setting up nicely.

Can you tell us about some of the other artists you¹re working on at the moment?

We're working on new music from The Killers, Ne-Yo, Lionel Richie; and Rihanna is working on new stuff. We have an exciting artist called The Dream and there will be new albums from The Roots and Fall Out Boy this year too. On the hip-hop side of things, there will be new music from Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Fabolous. We have a new artist called Rocco who's breaking right now and we have The Bravery that we will continue to work.

What effect has the financial pressure across the business as a whole been having on your A&R decisions? How has it affected the amount of artists you can work with or how you work with those artists?

Well, it's not so much how many, but we have to operate as if we're spending money from our own bank accounts instead of operating like there is some endless well. We have to be very responsible, so we really think it through before we make financial decisions, but that's just good business, that¹s not necessarily because of a bad climate. It's good business to know that every dime we spend, we're looking for a return.

Do you feel like music is in a good place at the moment?

I do. I think music is in the best place it¹s been in years.