Sam Fender and Olivia Dean are on a record-breaking run at the top of the UK singles chart, but Annabella Coldrick wants more for British artists.
“Their success is amazing for Sam, Olivia and their managers, because they’ve been together for such a long time and they are beautiful stories, " said Coldrick, who is celebrating 10 years as CEO of the Music Managers Forum (MMF).
But the executive is not entirely satisfied with the make-up of the singles chart at the moment.
“There are notable successes, but the problem is, if you compare it to 10, 20 years ago, [a much bigger proportion] of the charts was made up of British artists,” she said. “Now, it's about 20%, and a lot of it is catalogue. Charts shouldn't be the be-all and end-all, but they do reflect what's being heard.”
Coldrick went on to say that she has identified “a real issue in British culture”.
“We’re not hearing British music, because streaming services are largely recommending the most-consumed music, which is mostly American,” she said. “That’s nothing about being anti-American, it's just what is being pushed, and I'm trying to get the streaming services to have a proper conversation about that.”
Olivia Dean & Sam Fender at the BRITs
Coldrick believes that it is “harder at the moment” for newer artists, particularly those from the UK, with new domestic music “really struggling to break through”.
“It's a real issue, because [acts] never get to that point where they’re earning a sustainable income,” she said. “I hate the phrase ‘broken through,’ but it's about getting into the public consciousness. This is why, for some of our members, if they get the opportunity, they'd sign their clients directly out of the US rather than the UK. The way you get heard is by getting that investment through the US and then it comes back to the UK and you end up being heard here.”
“I think once you get big enough, the algorithm then pushes you further, but getting to that level in the first place is increasingly difficult,” she added.
Coldrick suggested that US presence has been a factor in recent success for Harry Styles, Olivia Dean, Sam Fender, Charli XCX and more.
“It’s about being able to get to that level in the UK alone, which you should be able to do, you should be able to build an audience at home and then try and springboard from there into the European countries and the US,” she said, adding that the British market is not the only one affected.
“There are a lot of other countries, particularly those in big language markets, who seem to be struggling in the same way, because passive streaming is just so dominant,” she said. “That is partly why people are switching off the idea of using streaming as an audience strategy, because it's not a way to cut through.”
Artists should be able to build an audience at home and then try and springboard from here into the European countries and the US
Annabella Coldrick, MMF
Speaking ahead of this year’s edition of the Artist & Manager Awards, which takes place on November 18, Coldrick spelled out her thoughts on the role streaming currently plays in the strategies MMF members are devising for their clients.
“Everyone was absolutely obsessed with Spotify and streaming 10 years ago and now it almost feels like we’re going into a post-streaming era,” she said. “Everything's about curation, direct contact with fans and a return to physical connections.”
“Ten years ago, a lot of artists did not really understand streaming and managers were just getting to grips with it,” she added. “Now, from all the conversations I'm having with managers, it feels like streaming is not the be-all and end-all of strategy. There are a lot of interesting conversations about building offline communities and people going back to real-life engagement in so many forms.”
Coldrick also shared her view that there has been a move away from the “instant fame” culture of viral hits during the coronavirus years.
“I think everyone's got away and gone, ‘Okay, no, actually, to have a long career it can't be about instant fame, it’s got to be about much longer term investment. That is exciting, but it’s also quite difficult for managers because it takes such a long time to build those audiences to a stage where there's a business there, and there isn't the upfront investment in development that there was maybe 20 years ago from other parties.”
Coldrick argued that these circumstances make the achievements of the likes of Sam Fender, Olivia Dean and their teams all the more remarkable.
“Sam’s manager Owain Davies is a brilliant manager who’s developed Sam all the way through and it’s the same for Emily Braham and Olivia,” she said. “It’s that sticking power, isn't it? It’s about the artist believing in the manager. They’re both amazing, very good stories, and that's why I like our awards, because we have lots of opportunities to celebrate those partnerships that have stuck together, often for decades. I’m sure those guys will get to decades with their clients as well. They're well on the way!”
Now, from all the conversations I'm having with managers, it feels like streaming is not the be-all and end-all of strategy
Annabella Coldrick, MMF
Coldrick also issued a reminder to the industry on the value of artist management.
“I think most of our members would say that they’ve had respect [from the wider business], but not remuneration in many cases,” she said.
Coldrick referred to research carried out by the MMF last year that calculated the economic value music managers bring to the UK music industry.
“For every £1 invested in managers, £8 is generated for the wider sector,” she said. “We came up with those numbers, not just by saying to managers, ‘How important are you guys?’ but also by speaking to their clients, labels, publishers, lawyers, accountants, booking agents about how much having a great manager saves them in time and effort and makes their jobs more productive. We found out how many would say, ‘Yeah, if you've got a really good manager there, it can make your work better, because there's clear communication and strategy.’”
Coldrick pledged to “continue trying to connect with what my members need and drawing our priorities and visions from that”.
“The purpose of this organisation is still to be as representative as we can of British music managers and help them have long term, sustainable careers,” she said. “But we do shift the priorities according to what we're hearing.”
Read more from Annabella Coldrick in the September issue of Music Week, on sale August 18.
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