“Adele came in that day and asked, ‘What would Rihanna do?’”
Fraser T. Smith smiled as he remembered where “Set Fire to the Rain” began, sparing no details for a crowd of hungry artists and managers assembled at the AWAL Lounge. (We know, “Set Fire to the Rain” doesn’t exactly scream RiRi.)
Fraser T. Smith during his interview with Kobalt SVP of Creative Sam Winwood
It was one of many candid moments during our three-day BBC Music Introducing LIVE event. Again and again, managers, synch supervisors, lawyers, festival promoters, social network experts and streaming scholars pulled back the music industry curtain.
We’re big believers in sharing—information, sounds, drinks, etc.—so we called on some friends in high places to do just that. These recaps tend to elicit no more than an eye roll at most, so we tried to spice things up with a fresh format below. To those who came through, thanks for hanging.
Fun Facts
- 2000 Folks showed up to the AWAL Lounge
- 100+ The amount of songs Fraser T. Smith makes each year he leaves on the cutting room floor
- 8:2 The ideal ratio of optimistic days to rainy days, according to entertainment exec Sarah Stennett (Rita Ora, Madison Beer). Use your frowns sparingly
- 12 The number of hours music supervisors often have to find the perfect song for a synch opportunity
- £3000 Spent by Example to buy his fan a new car. The kind gesture would go on to generate 400,000 Instagram impressions for the UK pop star
Example at the AWAL Lounge
Key Quotes
- “For me, a song that reaches 50 passionate people can mean as much as 500 million listeners. You don’t always have to worry about making a song that some vain A&R will pick apart for being longer than four minutes. It drove me crazy that for three years everyone asked me to make ‘Set Fire to the Rain,’ again. I had to step back and do what inspired me.” (Fraser T. Smith, producer to Stormzy, Adele, Kano)
- “One thing I try to tell artists: Don’t expect a manager to wave a magic wand and make everything okay. I never promise anything. All I can do is use my resources to help, but artists control their own destiny. It’s on them to respect their team and bring original ideas into the world.” (Sarah Stennett, CEO & Founder of First Access)
- “We’re in an attention economy, which means artists need to keep things active. Albums are now a conclusion, as if to say, ‘I have nothing else to offer,’ and fans interpret silence not as you being busy, but you taking vacation.” (Will Page, Dir. of Econ, Spotify)
Will Page presenting at the AWAL Lounge
- “You’re better off having 5,000 followers and 2,000 views per video than 100,000 followers and 1,000 views per video. It’s not just about growth. It’s about ensuring you’re connecting with the people you already have with you.” (Example, artist)
- “Good agents today are semi-managers.” (Martin Elbourne, The Great Escape founder)
Shenanigans
We brought #nofilter (and enough chairs to stuff your school auditorium) to London. Photos ⬇️
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