Victoria Canal on the magic of songwriting & why viral success is becoming a myth

For those who have followed the career of Victoria Canal closely, January 2025 brings a watershed moment, as she releases her debut album, Slowly, It Dawns. Here, Music Week meets the singer, plus Parlophone, Second Songs and her management team at Deep Feel Talent Co, to tee up the campaign and discuss the magic of songwriting, why viral success is becoming a myth and what it feels like to play in front of over 100,000 people alongside Coldplay… WORDS: ANNA FIELDING At first, Victoria Canal couldn’t really get to grips with the size of the crowd. She was playing the piano part on Coldplay’s Paradise, a song she hadperformed many times before, happy to knock out a quick cover for friends or the customers in a bar she used to work at. But in June this year, she was in a different environment altogether, playing alongside Coldplay on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. The band would also invite Laura Mvula, Little Simz and actor Michael J Fox on stage at various points during an epic headline set. “I couldn’t process it at the time,” says Canal. “I was just focused on getting it right for Chris [Martin]. The stakes were high, he’d invested in me by asking me to do it, so I just thought that I would focus on what I needed to do and on making him happy. It was only when I came back on for the encore, with Michael J Fox and all those guys, that I really got to look out and see how many people were there. But it was almost impossible to understand, as though your brain hits 1,000 people and then can’t process any more.” Canal is now starting to see bigger crowds as an artist in her own right. Her debut album Slowly, It Dawns is due for release on January 17 via Parlophone and Music Week finds the singer in the midst of a run of dates. “Two nights ago was the first date of the UK leg,” she says. “I felt at the start of the US leg that I was still finding my feet with the new music, but now I’m really settled in.” Two days after our conversation, she will play “my biggest gig to date” at Earth in East London. Canal is visibly excited about all of her shows, but cheerfully mentions the capacity of the London one a few times. The venue can hold 1,200 people, just over brain-processing size. Still only in her mid-20s, Canal is the kind of artist who will always put the work in, who isn’t afraid of slog, rehearsals or commitments. She put out her first EP, Into The Pull, in 2016, offering up the first taste of her candid, experimental take on pop music, driven by lyrics inspired by identity, sexuality, body dysmorphia and disability (Canal was born without her right forearm due to amniotic band syndrome). Subsequent EPs Victoria, Elegy and last year’s Well Well – featuring Black Swan, which won Best Song Musically And Lyrically at the Ivors, where Canal was also named Rising Star in 2023 – further raised her profile. Meanwhile, she gained the mentorship and support that she had always sought from the worlds of pop and rock. The most notable example is the aforementioned Chris Martin, who introduced Canal to Parlophone and still keeps in touch. She has worked with Hozier and The 1975, while the collaborators on her new album include Låpsley, Jonny Lattimer, Kevin Farzad and Eg White. “Victoria is such an incredible artist and we feel very privileged to be working with her,” says Parlophone MD Jen Ivory. “Everyone is aware of how difficult it is for new artists to break through at the moment, but in Victoria we have a really special talent who is a world-class songwriter and musician with an amazing voice. We have every confidence she will enjoy a fruitful career.” Ivory says the label is seeking to offer Canal the “freedom to continue to develop and create music that is authentic to her”, while offering advice to help her cut through. “Working with Victoria has been a masterclass in patience, perseverance and work ethic,” says her manager, Andrew Leib of Deep Feel Talent Co. “Her ability to network and build community has been invaluable to her career growth. I’ve never seen anyone put herself out there, both online and in social settings, quite like Victoria, and it’s paid dividends in ways other artists would pay millions for.” “I feel like everybody in the industry, especially if you have managers, publishers and a label, is waiting for the one golden moment that will send you to the moon,” says Canal. “And in a few cases that happens – look at Chappell Roan, for example.” Indeed, the singer feels such moments are becoming ever more scarce. “What I’m seeing, especially as the market becomes even more saturated and the algorithm becomes harder to understand, is that I’ve had so many viral moments, and not one has changed my life forever,” she says. “They’ve all been a stepping stone towards the career that I want for myself. A lot of artists like me feel this pressure to find that one moment that will change their life. But it’s actually about consistently trying for those moments that just move it a little bit further forward.” Those “moments” consist of songwriting, recording, touring and rehearsals. But also of trying to create the kind of online presence that can lead to those golden viral wins. “When I put something online that feels super authentic, I am both promoting what I do and connecting with the people that I want following me,” Canal reasons. “I’m reaching the people that want to find someone like me, we’re finding each other online. And that feels really beautiful and like a unique tool.” However, she does identify a negative side to social media. “It feels like an obligation, to the point where you can’t do anything else,” she says. “It’s becoming so much a part of the job to promote, that it takes away from the actual daily discipline of the craft. If I didn’t have to use social media, I would make so much more music, and I would probably write better songs.” This is a typical Victoria Canal response. She is clever and articulate, slightly self-deprecating and really considers each answer. Smartness and self-awareness feed into her work, filling it with euphoric highs and clear-eyed introspection. She also possesses the rare alchemical mix of talent and a deep love for what pop music can do for people. “She has the gift of song,” Chris Martin told The New Yorker in a 2023 profile of Canal. “I don’t know where that comes from, or how you’d even define it, but songs come through her like they do for some people.” The songs have come through on Slowly, It Dawns. Canal sees the album as a whole with two distinct halves. “The title speaks to the sun rising, and I feel it’s emblematic of how you feel when you are growing up,” she says. “In your adolescence, everything is a bit hazy and wobbly and you don’t really know what’s going on. Then as you get older, clarity sets in. The album goes from being very young and naive, loud and overconfident, to quite introspective, wise and surrendered. It gets more complex and possibly more wounded or brooding.” Leib describes the album as a “dynamic masterpiece”, while Caroline Elleray of Second Songs says that it’s a great privilege to work with a songwriter as “wildly talented” as Canal. “Her songs have this aching, intimate quality in the delivery and very contemporary themes that speak to the youngest and oldest listeners from every walk of life,” Elleray adds. Songwriting is deep within Canal’s bones, which her team feel goes some way to explaining her success at the Ivors. “That’s quite incredible for someone at this stage of her career and shows the high esteem she’s held in by her contemporaries,” says Mark Gale at Second Songs. “They really mean a lot to me,” says Canal of her Ivors trophies. “Paul McCartney was the first recipient of the award I won this year and I got to meet him at the ceremony.” If Victoria Canal has one role, it is to tell the truth in her songs, to excel as an artist who is able to capture human experience and sing it back. “The album really is an incredible project, so next year is all about connecting her with more people and establishing her as one of the UK’s most prominent singer-songwriters,” says Jen Ivory. “Victoria is known for exploring all facets of herself through her music, so authentic storytelling is a key focus,” adds Jessica Lord, senior marketing manager at Parlophone. “What resonates with her fans is being real and engaging on a personal level, and she has a history of doing that with fan meet-ups, her presence on social media and creating spaces for fans to share. Our focus is to build on that and create life-long fans who will stick with Victoria.” Canal is understandably happy with this level of commitment. “I’m really grateful that Parlophone has stuck with me over several projects,” she says. “And that they wanted more time for me to develop. Even though I didn’t want that for myself at the time, I’m really happy we decided to do that, because I feel more ready for this album now.” The label has also funded therapy sessions for her since she signed. “That’s definitely something I think should apply to all artists signed to a major label,” she says. “Any public figure definitely needs to be in therapy.” The singer has spoken in the past about her struggles with body dysmorphia. “Being on stage all the time can be pretty confronting,’ she says. “And I feel like my image of myself has a lot to do with how healthy I am able to be. And when I am on the road, I can’t be as healthy as I would like, so my self-image starts to deteriorate.” Her new single, 15%, deals with what she calls “the unreliable narrator in my head – it’s God or goblin, there’s no in between.” Now, she feels less need to talk about sexuality in her songs. “It has taken a while, but gayness and music is officially mainstream, and funnily enough, now that it is, I feel less of a need to be so outspoken,” she says. Meanwhile, any concerns she has about her disability are mostly practical. “The practical and the emotional tie into one another with that, I guess,” she explains. “One of the most painful experiences of life is travelling alone with too many things, too much gear, and even now, I think the stress of having to pay for extra services just because I can’t do it on my own is very frustrating… I feel that the money could be better used somewhere else and I have to pay a certain amount for a car service for someone to meet me at the gate, because I can’t carry something with just one hand.” While Canal says that increasing success and support from her label have cleared up some of the issues, there is still a way to go. “I think of all the artists that have some sort of impediment that just can’t do what they want to do, because they can’t afford the help,” she says. The economics of touring are weighing heavily on her mind. “We have a drummer out on this run,” she says, leaning forward for emphasis. “I know it’s a normal thing for other artists, but for me it’s a big deal.” And live percussion isn’t the only new revelation for Canal. “All the friends or friends of friends that I’ve been staying with have dogs and I have discovered that I’m desperate to get one, but I don’t have the lifestyle for it,” she says. “But there has been an extraordinary amount of dogs on this tour. They’re just the best when they cosy up with you.” In America, where she isn’t yet as well known, the audiences have been smaller, while in the UK she’s encountered superfans who know every word. “That is obviously so gratifying and what every artist wants,” she says, before noting the disparity in pay between the two countries. “I can’t speak about how it is for venues right now, but all I know from an artist’s perspective is that I could play a sold-out room to 250 people in the UK and get paid a quarter of what I make in the US playing to 30 people,” she says. “I don’t get the economics of it. I don’t know who to blame. I don’t blame the venues, but it’s wild to me that you can sell out a room and end up being out of pocket.” But issues around compensation may soon be a thing of the past, and her team have big plans. “We’re aiming for a US late-night TV debut, a Grammy nod and a good bump in consumption,” says Leib. “Beyond the album, we’re committed to deepening her connection with causes she’s passionate about and using her platform to make a positive social impact. Our goal is to gain recognition not just in the US and UK, but globally – we are striving for nominations at major international awards. With each release, we want to continue pushing the envelope and evolving Victoria’s artistry in exciting, unexpected ways.” Canal’s own definition of success is more diffuse. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot right now,” she says. “I have been experiencing a lot of ups and downs in this industry and what I expect from myself in it, as far as success [is concerned]. I have been quite disappointed about where I hoped I would be by this age.” The singer pauses and starts to talk about a small essay titled “the lethality of the internet/music industry” that she published on Instagram on October 18. What follows is Canal’s account of her feelings about the death of Liam Payne. “When he passed away it really brought some things to light for me,” she says. “There’s an attachment that artists can have to achieving a certain amount in their career and expecting to then feel a certain way, have a certain number of streams or awards, or knowing certain celebrities, or reaching a certain level of fame…” Canal describes Payne as “someone who achieved everything an artist could ask for” and goes on to explain that his tragic death has changed her perspective. “I realised that those things don’t guarantee anything about how you feel in yourself,” she says. “I’ve been on an existential journey, redefining what success means to me. I’m still figuring it out, but as far as I can see right now, I feel like success equals enjoying the journey.” All of which means that, as her debut album campaign ratchets up, Victoria Canal is concentrating on taking it slow. As such, she concludes our conversation with a simple explanation of her thought process. “If I can’t be present now,” she says, “then I won’t be able to be present once I’ve accomplished all the things I want to.”

The story of Cooking Vinyl's boom period, with MD Rob Collins

Releasing two No.1 albums by the same artist in one year is no mean feat, but, according to Rob Collins, Cooking Vinyl’s success with Shed Seven in 2024 is just the tip of the iceberg. Here, Music Week quizzes the label’s MD, plus co-founder Martin Goldschmidt, about the company’s ethos, the highs and lows of its near-four-decade history and its place in the independent sector… WORDS: NIALL DOHERTY PHOTOS: LOUISE HAYWOOD-SCHIEFER It’s an apt indication of the hot streak that Cooking Vinyl currently finds itself in that moments before label MD Rob Collins sits down to talk to Music Week, he has been passed the news that Alison Moyet’s new record, Key, has gone Top 10 in the UK album charts. “I’ve got a happy artist and a happy manager and it’s completely and thoroughly deserved,” says Collins, a breezy and thoughtful presence who has been at the label since 1999. “We’ve been on a bit of a run for quite a long time,” he states, reflecting on a winning 2024 that has seen two No.1 albums for Britpop veterans Shed Seven and a Top 20 for bluesy singer-songwriter Elles Bailey. “I think we’ve been quite consistent, quite solid, just beavering away and doing our thing quietly, doing our thing with the artists, trying to do the best we can. We want more success but it’s tough to get more success for us. We’re not a big player. We’re still 100% independently owned, and everything runs on the money that we generate through our new releases and our catalogue.” It is almost 40 years since the label was co-founded by Martin Goldschmidt and Pete Lawrence, and Collins says their recent achievements are down to an ethos embedded in the culture. “I think a lot of it boils down to passion and personality,” he says, considering why artists are so happy to work with them. “Passion, service, commitment, love of the music, actually going to their gigs, things that a lot of companies have forgotten how to do.” “We love music and working with artists, taking their art into the cruel music industry world and fighting for justice for them,” adds Martin Goldschmidt, who has moved from London to Devon and now serves as the label’s chairman, playing a more strategic role with less day-to-day involvement. “Our skill and focus is on furthering artists’ careers and that is the priority, not on how much money we can make out of them.” They run a carefully handpicked roster, explains Collins. “We don’t have 20 albums a month coming out; it’s quite a bespoke release schedule,” he says. “It’s much more of an independent label that is quite cultured and curated as opposed to, ‘Let’s put loads of stuff in the release schedule like a distributor, throw some services on top and see what happens.’” Goldschmidt attributes their successful 2024 to “good old-fashioned hard and smart work with great records” and salutes the role played by the staff. “They are the brains and brawn of the operation – naturally and completely unfairly, I get a lot of the credit,” he says. “Every member of my team is a key part of Cooking Vinyl, an expert in their area, and knows their job better than I do. Rob has taken a leading strategic role and has done most of the A&R for some time now. His name has become synonymous with Cooking Vinyl.” Collins himself describes a close-knit team with a loyal crew. “A lot of people have been with us for a long time,” he says. “I’ve been here 25 years, Michelle Polley, who runs our international department, started before me. Stuart Giles has been here 15 years, the legal and finance team has been here for about five years.” It’s a finely-honed blend, he says, of experience and young blood. “I think that’s completely necessary, 100%,” Collins says. “It’s not saying we’ve got younger staff because we want to go out and get loads of TikTok artists, it’s more that they have a different enthusiasm and a different skillset to give. Both sides help each other out. The experienced side helps out the young, enthusiastic side, and vice versa.” If there’s a recurring theme in our conversation, it’s the idea of Cooking Vinyl as an industry underdog. But Martin Goldschmidt says anyone who works with the label doesn’t take long to realise its value. “We definitely get the respect we deserve from the artists and managers we work with and from our key partners,” he says. “Most people in the industry are not that aware of our unique approach and the difference we make to the careers of artists we are involved in.” Collins agrees. “We deliver more than people expect,” says the MD, settling in for a long chat with Music Week. “But once they start working with us they realise what a great choice they have made…” Shed Seven is one of your biggest recent success stories, with two No.1 albums this year alone. What does that campaign say about Cooking Vinyl’s approach? “I think it’s that we’re really diligent and we really work hard and we look for every sale. We’re not lazy about our releases. In Shed Seven’s case, they haven’t had a manager for the majority of the campaign. Paul [Banks, guitarist] from the band is the manager, which is amazing. He runs his own business in York, he’s got a video production company, so he’s super organised, and was able to put out a lot of content and pulla lot of the strings that a manager would, but the band are really involved with the whole process. We managed to strike up this amazing relationship of everyone going for the No.1, everyone believing in it. And that’s not just us and the band, it’s the wider team that we employed, plus the distributor. I don’t think we thought we were going to get the first No.1 back in January, but once you see the pre-orders coming in, you get a little bit excited.It happened because of a load of hardwork, because the band leant right into the campaign and they did everything they were asked to do, like signing multiple copies in their thousands, doing all the in-stores, the out-stores, meeting the fans, really grafting. And on top of that, the guys are great on social media. It’s a really authentic voice that they speak in.” Can you put your finger on why Shed Seven is such a good fit? “We’re a bit simpatico. They’re underdogs and I think we’re underdogs in the overall business. We’re not first on everyone’s call list when it comes to a deal for a particular artist, from a manager or lawyer, but when we meet them and get in the room, we put on a really good show and we compete, not necessarily in a financial way but in a passion way – and in a sensible way that we think is sustainable for us and sustainable for the artist.” XL, Partisan and EGA Distro are just a few of the indie labels who have enjoyed chart success this year. How do you think Cooking Vinyl compares to the rest of the market? “I think we’re completely different. I don’t think we’re in that world at all. They’ve all got much stronger brand identities. We’re more of a team member as opposed to an attractive label home. Once people get to meet the team, they realise it’s a good home.” And how healthy do you think the independent sector is at the moment on the whole? “I think it’s a really strong time for music, be it independent or major. The independents have a massive, massive part to play, and always have done since the first time I bought a record from Rough Trade in 1976, when I bought the first Damned single, which was on an independent.” Let’s roll back a few years to signing The Prodigy for 2009’s Invaders Must Die. Did that put the label on the map as a landmark signing? “It was probably the single most important thing that changed the course of the label. Martin and I are eternally grateful to Liam Howlett and Keith Flint and Maxim and Mike Champion, who was the manager at the time, and Paul Spraggon, the lawyer, for entrusting us with The Prodigy jewels. Going back to what I said about the underdog, one of the reasons Liam decided to go with us, because he had multiple offers on the table and he could have gone pretty much anywhere, was that he loved our pitch. He loved the fact that we were underdogs and we were hungry.” The label also teamed up with Roger Waters for The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux last year. Was there any consternation about that? He can be a divisive figure… “It’s not really my signing, it’s actually Martin’s so he’d be far better to talk about that. Martin did it because of the music. We got the call from Roger’s manager because Roger had supported a Palestinian music festival that Martin was involved in. I think Martin thought it was the record he wanted to do, it was Pink Floyd. He did talk to Roger and the manager in depth before doing it, and he was more than happy to put the Cooking Vinyl name to it. We spoke to the staff about it and no one really objected. It was pretty unanimous that we should just do it.” Long before that, Cooking Vinyl had set out its stall as trailblazers for artist-friendly deals like the one you did with Billy Bragg in the 1990s… “It was the first artist services deal, we believe, and it wasn’t us that came up with the concept. It was Peter Jenner, who was Billy’s manager, who came up with the idea of having a distribution deal with some services thrown in, and the artist getting the lion’s share of the income once the costs have been recouped. It’s the type of deal that we do most often. There’s also your regular JV 50/50 deal and a more traditional artist royalty deal.” What’s your personal favourite way to do it? “I prefer the artist services deal because it’s completely transparent and if a record is successful, the band gets the big back end. The other plus point is it means the manager and the artist can have full visibility of everything that’s being spent and sign off on it. They see where the money can be wasted or should be spent. They get to realise what it costs to put a set of billboards up around London or actually do a TV show and they get to see what difference those marketing activities and promo activities actually make, whereas previously they may have been on a major label and it just kind of happened. There are far more artists that are clued up now, probably still at majors and in artist services deals with all the various companies out there that do them.” How does the company’s revenue break down between catalogue and frontline? “It’s a bit of a skewed question, because only in the last two years have we really focused on pushing the catalogue a lot further. The label was very new release-driven, and catalogue just churned. Now we have a full-time catalogue manager and one of the product managers works with him 50% of the time, so we’re really ramping that side of the business up in terms of the catalogue that we own and in terms of bringing catalogues in.” What prompted that? “A reset of the business model, to be frank. We felt we were missing out on things and we’d played the game too much, competing for new signings, and hadn’t always had the success that we were hoping for. We have a more risk-free approach to working with artists now, and we’re putting more emphasis on working our catalogueand bringing catalogue in.” What is a typical artist contract like at the label? Are there many long-term deals, or is it record by record? “The contracts are sensible, relatively short, one option, and the retention is whatever we can get.” And in terms of Cooking Vinyl’s international partnerships, how is that side of the business at the moment? “Really strong. We work with the majority of the key independentsaround the world and The Orchard are our global digital distributor. We run our US business out of the UK now. It was a money pit, to be frank, and we weren’t feeding enough releases into the mouth. During Covid, it became apparent that it was a drain on the company’s resources. It wasn’t delivering what it needed to do to warrant having a standalone business in America. We sign acts globally, we’ve just done The Jesus And Mary Chain and Babymetal globally, as well as The Psychedelic Furs, who are a US-based band. I don’t think being based in the UK stops us signing US-based artists.” What can you tell us about the company’s distribution arm, Essential Music & Marketing, being sold to Sony Red back in 2016 and the reasons behind that? “Martin set up the distribution company Essential with Mike Chadwick, who was one of the directors at Vital. It got to a stage where, as far as I know, it couldn’t grow any more, and Sony Red needed to grow their business very quickly, so they identified Essential as a target to increase their turnover and their market share. It was a win-win for both sides, and that’s where our relationship with The Orchard stems from, because Essential became Red Essential, and then that very quickly rolled out into The Orchard.” In terms of physical, what state is the market in right now? “I think it’s really healthy. If you look at Coldplay’s physical sales [for Moon Music], the share of CDs is off the scale. I couldn’t believe it. But I don’t think the CD has ever died, it’s always been there. We’ve always sold truckloads of CDs, be it Will Young or the Psychedelic Furs, and I think now it’s a cheaper physical format. A lot of kids that I hear from aren’t collecting vinyl because it’s too expensive, so they buy a CD instead.” Does all that tie in with the success of your D2C business? “We’ve put a lot of effort into the D2C side of the company for 15-plus years and it really pays off. We really identified it as a core area for growth and for sales and for margin and for recoupability on projects. There’s nothing better than an artist selling directly to a fan with great exclusive products.” On the promo side of things, how much does TikTok come up in artist meetings at Cooking Vinyl? “It comes up, but just as part of the mix, it’s never top of the pile. We definitely encourage artists to use TikTok in whatever way they are comfortable using it and we have good relations with TikTok. Our biggest success on TikTok was with Nina Nesbitt [who is now signed to her own Apple Tree Records imprint] during lockdown, when she was playing her tunes and writing some new ones using cutlery and pots and pans and it became a little bit of a viral hit on TikTok. Those things are so random you can’t control or plan them. You just do stuff and sometimes it connects, and sometimes it doesn’t.” Looking back, what has been the toughest time for you so far at Cooking Vinyl? “Probably the time before we signed The Prodigy. It was hard selling enough records for the label to survive. I came in and inherited quite a lot of artists and releases on the label. I signed Echo And The Bunnymen quite early on, which was also another pivotal moment. At the same time, we had the last XTC albums, which are fantastic records, we also licensed Ryan Adams’ Heartbreaker record, so they were quite pivotal moments as well in progressing the label along. But some things needed cleaning up when I came in, so it was just a bit of time to get everything cleaned up.” And what has been your happiest time? “Probably working with The Prodigy and having two No.1 albums, the Milton Keynes Bowl show [in 2010], the live film, being hands-on with that project from the first meeting to the last meal with Liam to celebrate everything. It was a really, really good time.” Right now must be up there, too. How are things shaping up for the future? Will we see more chart success? “Nothing different to what we normally do, but hopefully of a higher level of success and a higher return coming back to us and the artists. In terms of releases, there’s The Darkness, James Morrison, Del Amitri, Deacon Blue, some more Orb records. There’ll be some Shed Seven bits and pieces coming out next year, they’re having a bit of a fallow period while they write a record.” Finally, what about your long-term ambitions? “Being in business! Our plan is to keep going and keep building, slowly but steadily. As long as we’re working with great artists and putting great music out, it ticks the box for us.”

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