In a storied career, Alexi Cory-Smith has forged a path to the very top, from running BMG UK, to founding her own publishing and records empire Bella Figura Music. Here, she looks back on meeting Debbie Harry, One Direction mania and why she’s handy with a peroxide bottle...
INTERVIEW: Anna Fielding
I read law at university, but decided I wanted a job at a record company...
“I dated a guy who was in a band and because of that I found out what an A&R person was and I thought it was amazing. My very first job was at IRS Records – it was a true independent. At first, I wanted to sign bands, but I started to find I really liked the business of music.”
I’ve never been afraid of a big decision…
“When your gut is niggling you, listen to it. In my late 20s, I went back to law school. IRS had become a satellite label of EMI and you could feel there was a bigger transition on the way. Digital was coming and these companies who did a lot of physical were going to have to change. I had my degree, so I went and got the academic qualifications to be a lawyer. I trained and qualified in a firm in the City. Then, in my late 30s, I threw my life up in the air again and moved to Argentina, lived in a lovely farmhouse in the countryside, rode horses and did a bit of travelling. Sometimes, you have to be quite dramatic to clear the air and figure out what it is that you want to do.”
Music lawyers shouldn’t get confused about their role…
“There was an amazing lawyer at Virgin Records, Shelagh MacLeod, who, very sadly, died young. She was an inspiration for me – she just had this extraordinary calm, but also authority and she was obviously really good. You have to remember what the lawyer’s job is, that the client’s best interest is paramount. You can’t be a bad lawyer and survive. Sometimes I get frustrated and I think, ‘Remember what your job is and what your responsibilities are – you’re not the fifth member of the band!’”
I’ll never forget working with One Direction…
“I helped advise them when they were in The X Factor, alongside Modest! Management and their parents. The band were teenagers, they just burst through the door. They were engaging and endearing and you just really wanted them to succeed. There was a real sense they were going to be something really special. At that point, I had worked at Virgin and then been approached by one of the law firms to join them. I thought it would be good for my skills. Also, when you work in a law firm, you have multiple clients; when you work in a record label your client is the label.”
I couldn’t believe it when Hartwig Masuch asked me to join him in rebuilding BMG…
“I thought I didn’t know how to do it. But then a friend told me, ‘Alexi, I don’t think anyone knows how to do that!’ I’ve always been very lucky to have good advisors. Another friend said, ‘Well, if it doesn’t work out they’ll fire you. You’ll get over it! But you might also be really successful and this chance is only going to come along once, so don’t fuck it up and let that ship sail.’ I joined BMG in 2011 – it was an incredible seven years. It was the steepest, greatest learning curve of my life, but it gave me the foundation I needed.”
Meeting Debbie Harry was surreal…
“BMG was working with Blondie and they played Shepherd’s Bush Empire. It was so funny, Debbie came over and said, ‘I was really nervous to meet you.’ She said she was nervous, I don’t think she meant it. But I was just speechless, my jaw was on the floor and I was thinking, ‘Oh, my God, it’s Debbie Harry!’ I’ve always loved Blondie. Did I ever try to copy her hair [back in the day]? I was quite handy with a peroxide bottle and a toothbrush. But I didn’t go for the full bleach. I had a Kim Wilde-style shag. Almost a mullet, really. I dug out a photo from when I was about 14 and going through a very angry teenage phase and there’s a picture of me in my Kim Wilde era… What was I thinking?”
I started Bella Figura wanting to build a company like a Ferrari garage…
“Ferraris are the best cars in the world, that need the best mechanics and the right environment. Myself and my partner [former BMG colleague] Neelesh Prabhu knew if we were really well-funded we could buy the rights to good catalogues. We got a sheet of paper and asked ourselves, ‘Who are the people we need? What are the catalogues we’d go after?’ Now we’re a nimble little Ferrari team. We take corners well. Every single acquisition is a proud moment, but it was amazing to meet Suzi Quatro and to sit down with Ginette Brown, Errol Brown’s widow, when we were buying the Rak Records catalogue. It’s full of legends, so that was pretty special.”
