Table of contents for No. 1379 in Music Week

THE BIG ROLE The BPI has appointed Dr Jo Twist as its new chief executive. Twist is currently GEO of Ukie, the trade body for UK games and interactive entertainment. She is expected to take up the BPI role in July. “The industry’s talent, so passionately nurtured by innovative major and independent record labels, is world leading, and the BPI plays an important role in creating an environment where labels and their artists can thrive and the next generation of talent can be supported into the industry,” said Twist. THE BIG HIRES Parlophone Records has made a number of key promotions and hires, including four appointments to its A&R team (pictured L-R, Jason Ngimbi, Molly McNulty, co-president Nick Burgess, Seb Smith and Arina Logacheva). Jack Melhuish has been promoted to…

THIS MONTH: HOW TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE MUSIC CAREER &COLLIECT ALL REVENUE STREAMS Hosted by: Emily White Contact: @emwizzle What was the initial inspiration behind launching the How To Build A Sustainable Music Career podcast? “I had a clear vision to bring each chapter of my second book [2021’s How To Build A Sustainable Music Career And Collect All Revenue Streams] to life in podcast form. I felt the need to share this info as musicians kept asking to pick my brain and I was having repeat conversations. Similarly, I was finding money left and right for the last few artists I managed and realised, ‘What about everyone else?’ The info in the book and podcast is out there. I’ve just never seen it put in order from recording through…

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"I want to be here a long time, and to do that you need to take care of yourself" ARLO PARKS “If I could tell the industry one thing, it’s that it’s not all about one moment, artist careers are a slow bloom” ARLO PARKS For Arlo Parks, music is all about intimacy. She wants to get inside your head, to show you her diary entries. Never intrusive, always thoughtful, but right there. “There’s a gentleness to the way I sing,” she says. “And when I approach the mix, I always want it to sound like I’m Sitting right beside you. I want it to feel like it’s so close that you’re almost part of the band, it’s that warm, that enveloping.” It was that warmth and closeness that made…

These days, Pete Black’s head is full of radio jingles and presenter tag lines. Be it Kiss, Absolute, Magic FM or Flits Radio, they’re all in there, forming part of the new soundtrack to his days. As the recently appointed director of music for Bauer Media Audio UK, Black is enjoying spending time with all of the station’s radio brands. His role is a new one - engineered by chief content and music officer Ben Cooper as part of a raff of recent changes at the network - and his remit covers music across all of its output, with the stations’ music heads now reporting directly to him. “I’m always flicking through the stations,” says Black, settling down for an interview with Music Week at Bauer’s current headquarters in Soho’s…

Stacey Tang and Glyn Aikins have been promoted to head up RCA UK as co-presidents. Tang and Aikins have worked together at the label since 2018. Tang has served as EVP at RCA since 2021, and has been responsible for spearheading campaigns for domestic artists including Cat Burns, Little Mix and Bring Me The Horizon. Aikins joined Sony Music in 2018 as co-president of Since ’93, a partnership with RCA. He has signed and developed talent including Aitch, Cat Burns and Tems (with RCA US). Stacey Tang said: “I feel privileged to lead the next chapter of RCA’s story alongside Glyn and the most passionate and dedicated team of music fans in the business.” Glyn Aikins said: “I’m very excited to lead RCA into the future, alongside Stacey, and build…

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ∞ Meta For 24/7 music business coverage, go to musicweek.com Vanessa Bakewell: Tell us about yourself and your career… Yaw Owusu: “I’m from and still based in Liverpool and I was born in the ’80s to a Ghanaian father and Jamaican mother, so you can imagine the role music and music culture played in my formative years. I didn’t know there was a space in the music industry for someone like me. I fell into it after I finished university, when I started my first business with my cousin, Kof, an artist. Since then I have gone on to work with Google, MTV, BET, MOBO, BBC, Universal Music, Levi’s, Liverpool Football Club, The Fader and more. “Currently, I am creatively directing the programmes for Power Up for…

There is a lot of talk in the music industry about the decline (and ultimately the death) of social networks as routes to market for music or places to build communities. I have a slightly different view, and Pd like to tell you why. We’re definitely seeing some artists stepping back to protect their mental health and cure their ‘algorithmic fatigue’, but at Deviate we’re also seeing record returns on investment on both organic and paid content spending across major platforms including YouTube and, perhaps surprisingly, Twitter. On Twitter specifically, we have in some cases seen the highest level of engagement we’ve ever had on artists’ profiles. In the same breath, it seems that marketing managers across the globe have woken up to the opportunities platforms like Discord, Sub stack,…

At the precise moment Libianca picks up the phone to Music Week, her melancholy, Afrobeats-meets-R&B track People is one of the hottest songs on the planet. It's averaging more than two million global streams a day, numbers that, right now, according to Sony Music, make it the biggest streaming hit across the major's repertoire. And because Libianca is still on the rise, she can enjoy the fact that, even though People has more than 60 million plays on Spotify and she has fout million TikTok likes, she's still able to visit the supermarket without getting mobbed. "I went grocery shopping this morning, I've been putting that off for a minute now," says the 22-year-old, who grew up between Minneapolis and Cameroon, where her family is from. "I need to eat…

THIS MONTH'S HOTTEST BRAND NEW ACT MEET Dance-inspired singer prepares to take over with her empowering anthems… Key Track: Mama's Eyes Label: Since '93/Sony Music Management: Something In Common Instagram: @mettenarrative You started as a professional dancer. What inspired you to make your own music? “I’ve been drawn to music my entire life. Making Rihanna & N.E.R.D.’s Lemon video, I began to trust myself and lean into my dreams. I wanted to create worlds for my writing and voice, and it was fun to experiment with amazing producers. I had nothing to prove, and so the sound was born.” How much does dance influence your writing? “It’s natural that my music sounds like my DNA. A sticky rhythm is gold. I’m always in tune with how my body is responding.…

Briony Turner and Ed Howard are part of the furniture at Atlantic Records UK - and they have the hit records, trophy haul and Bennifer-style name-blend to prove it. “Austin [Daboh, Atlantic EVP] came up to us and said, ‘I can’t believe that no one’s called you Bred yet,”’ chuckles Turner. “We were like, ‘Oh my god!”’ “Bred” have shared the load as Atlantic co-presidents for just over three years now. Together, the Warner Music lifers oversee a roster including Ed Sheeran, Lizzo, Paramore, Charli XCX, Tion Wayne, Anne-Marie, Bruno Mars, KSI, Joel Corry, Paolo Nutini, Cardi B, Kojey Radical, Maisie Peters and Mahalia. Turner, who joined the label in 2009, was upped from co-head of A&R, while Howard was previously MD of Atlantic UK imprint Asylum Records UK, which…

20 years ago… JUSTIN TIME The Darkness starred at SXSW as the UK A&R community descended on Austin, Texas looking to unearth 2003’s answer to The Strokes or The White Stripes. Fronting the rock act, Justin Fiawkins “fully utilised a bar adjacent to the stage for a handful of OTT guitar solos” as buzz continued to grow. Elsewhere during a busy week, Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills revelled in the event’s indie-ness. “SXSW had a great spirit, it was very positive,” he said. “It was very indie as well, people commented on low attendance at a major [label] level.” TOP STORY ANXIOUS WAIT At the end of March 2003, the industry was “holding its breath” as it anticipated the growin impact of the war in Iraq. Music Week’s front page…

RCA UK executives have spoken to Music Week about the chart breakthrough for SZA. Despite only being available as a digital release, the American R&B artist’s second album SOS is one of the biggest of the year to date. It has also spent two months at No.1 in the US. “SZA has cemented herself as a global star with SOS,” said Sej Jheeta, RCA marketing manager/A&R. SOS has taken SZA to new heights in the UK, which is now her third biggest market. Jheeta noted that “media support has been extremely strong”. Since its release in December by RCA with Top Dawg Entertainment, the LP has spent three weeks at No.2 and has never left the Top 10. As Music Week went to press, SOS was vying with The Highlights…

TEAM Pa ram ore Presidents: Ed Howard/Briony Turner (Atlantic) Management: Mark Mercado (Fly South Music Group) Managing Director & President Of Promotions: Damian Christian (Atlantic) General Manager: Liz Goodwin (Atlantic) Head Of Marketing: Max Lutkin (Atlantic) Marketing: Abbie Hollebone (Atlantic) Radio: Will Puxley/Carrie Curtis (Atlantic) TV: Deirdre Moran/Holly Marshall/ Katia Rabhi (Atlantic) Publicity: Claire Coster (Atlantic) Streaming: Cameron Stanton (Atlantic) Live: Emma Banks (CAA)…

NAME: INTERSTELLAR MUSIC SERVICES TECH: RIGHTS MANAGEMENT For music creators, there’s a growing need for bespoke operations to realise the full value from songs in a complex licensing landscape. Interstellar Music Services is one of the new wave of firms established to offer that tailored approach. “Interstellar is a boutique solution for select clients,” says Sean Stockdale, co-founder & COO. “Our active approach enables us to offer a higher level of service. “I believe we are more dynamic, strategic and proactive in the way we go about generating returns from the music that we represent.” The start-up provides digital distribution, sync and brand partnerships, metadata cleaning, neighbouring rights and publishing administration, and more. As well as partnering with Fuga for distribution and Downtown-owned Curve for royalty accounting tools, Interstellar has…

@JonRichard Appreciate those people who check in with you. (Jonathan Richard, Sony Music UK) Thursday, February 16 @iamshakeena Yesterday I saw Paul Rudd and completely forgot that his name was Paul Rudd and ended up shouting "Hi Ant-Man" at him (Shakeena Johnson, BBC Radio 1Xtra) Friday, February 17 @jameelajoie Bro. Greggs is getting expensive. (Jameela Joie, No Signal) Friday, February 17 @kemioliviax Sky broadband lets you choose the genre of your hold music. I chose R'B and now I’m listening to the tinniest recording of Craig David (Kemi Alemoru, Gal-Dem) Monday, February 20 @adexnq Winning a BRIT from where we come from is crazy! This is a lesson to never let your circumstances define you. Anything you set your mind to is possible, this couldn’t have happened to a more…

ENNY No More Naija Men (FAMM) No More Naija Men elicits some of the best verses South East London rapper Enny has ever put to tape. Over percussion and brass, she dashes off lines like, ‘You wanna be bad so bad and ids boring/You constantly bring up old shit and I’m yawning? Essentia!. Contact: Ebi Sampson ebi.sampson@august.agency BOYGENIUS True Blue (Interscope/Polydor) True Blue articulates the bumps and bruises of a relationship, using a rolling, folky melody and low-key harmonies for emphasis. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus make an electric combination and, by the end, this sad-but-happy song feels euphoric. Contact: Sophia Ikirmawi sophia@toastpress.com ELLIE GOULDING Like A Saviour (Polydor) With an all-star cast (GregKurstin, Ali Tamposi, Koz) and a firm focus on clubland, Ellie Goulding’s Higher Than Heaven…

SYNC STORY Considering that they wrote the initial version of Loyalty, their first track together, for a Prada advert, it was only a matter of time before Gabriels appeared in Music Week’s Sync Story column. Now, the moment has arrived thanks to a spot on Tanqueray’s new global campaign, which uses the band’s song One And Only (which has 2.5 million Spotify streams) to soundtrack a film telling a story of gin-based good times. Gabriels - comprised of Jacob Lusk, Ryan Hope and Ari Ralouzian - are signed to Atlas Artists/Parlophone in the UK, which means Warner take care of their sync opportunities. Clearly, the cinematic quality of their sound was music to the label’s ears when they first signed. Spot: Tanqueray Title: One And Only Writers: Ari Balouzian, Ryan…