Special Issue
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ISSUE 750 / 19 OCTOBER 2017 15 TOP 5 MUST-READ ARTICLES record of the week } Post Malone scored Leave A Light On Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 with “sneaky” Tom Walker YouTube scheme. Relentless Records (Fader) out now Tom Walker is enjoying a meteoric rise. His new single Leave } Spotify moves A Light On, released last Friday, is a brilliant emotional piano to formalise pitch led song which builds to a crescendo of skittering drums and process for slots in pitched-up synths. Co-written and produced by Steve Mac 1 as part of the Brit List. Streaming support is big too, with top CONTENTS its Browse section. (Ed Sheeran, Clean Bandit, P!nk, Rita Ora, Liam Payne), we placement on Spotify, Apple and others helping to generate (MusicAlly) love the deliberate sense of space and depth within the mix over 50 million plays across his repertoire so far. Active on which allows Tom’s powerful vocals to resonate with strength. the road, he is currently supporting The Script in the US and P2 Editorial: Paul Scaife, } Universal Music Support for the Glasgow-born, Manchester-raised singer has will embark on an eight date UK headline tour next month RotD at 15 years announces been building all year with TV performances at Glastonbury including a London show at The Garage on 29 November P8 Special feature: ‘accelerator Treehouse on BBC2 and on the Today Show in the US. before hotfooting across Europe with Hurts. With the quality Happy Birthday engagement network’. Recent press includes Sunday Times Culture “Breaking Act”, of this single, Tom’s on the edge of the big time and we’re Record of the Day! (PRNewswire) The Sun (Bizarre), Pigeons & Planes, Clash, Shortlist and certain to see him in the mix for Brits Critics’ Choice for 2018. Wonderland, and he’s guaranteed playlist positioning at Radio See page 27 for contact details Plus all the regulars } Live Nation admits including Compass, some of the fees Tweets, 6am, Word Ticketmaster charges On, Business News, are “not defendable”. Media Watch and (Billboard) Chart Life } Spotify reportedly heading for $4bn year, but losses grow. (Billboard) P19 Millie Turner – Compass P26 Jerry Williams – Records of the Week P33 Wu Tang – Word On 1 editorial RotD founder Paul Scaife reflects on 15 years of Record of the Day and the evolution of the music business Original RotD Music Editor (and now Music part amicably and start RotD with at least a receive a “fantastic response, thanks” email. Consultant) Joe Taylor and I had worked potential user-base. From what I’d learnt at “The most gratifying With the signed material however, what with at the Tip Sheet magazine, as Editor and the Tip Sheet, I had no doubt subscription was other activity going on, it’s harder to know how General Manager respectively. When the the only way for a niche publication to exist. part of publication we made the difference, but we do know from small but respected industry publication Not everyone agreed, one executive wrote remains the help their feedback that the most powerful music folded, due to publisher Jonathan King’s “great you are going subscription. As long people in the media and sync worlds are detention at Her Majesty’s pleasure, I joined a as it’s priced like Friends Reunited (£10), I’m we’ve been able to reading and paying attention. first-wave dotcom called Clickmusic. in”, while another quipped “Don’t know why give great music.” We’ve been through remarkably few The company had an idea to charge a you’re doing this daily, there’s fuck all in Music staff over the years. Of the current team, subscription fee for a music industry contacts Week”. Joe is still involved, even though he’s a database. Interest in this was minimal, but I We launched on 1 November 2002, with successful manager. Mark Beazley joined a did grow a sizeable audience via a free daily an email that has only subtly changed in a good feeling to be able to look at potential couple of years after we started and juggles email that had originally been intended to terms of layout over the years. The news ideas and assessing whether they excite us, book keeping with a successful career as a push people to the site. we’ve featured however, has reflected a rather than feeling a sense of obligation for musician and engineer. My wife Marie has Numbers jumped from 1,000 to 5,000 a constantly shifting industry that has changed financial reasons. It’s frustrating if we don’t been invaluable, from allowing me to pursue day over 18 months, and a lively combination in ways none of us could have imagined. Our have the resources to make ideas happen. an idea, to handling bookkeeping regularly of news, along with personal comment, made commitment to featuring only the best music That said, the acquisition enquiries we’ve in the early days, to being continually (or her for a unique start to the day. Feedback for is something Joe and I learnt at Tip Sheet and had over the years have yet to convince description, ‘reluctantly’) supportive even the ClickmusicBiz daily email was incredibly it’s been the core principle of RotD to this day. me we’d be much better off working with a if it means I’m out of an evening or away. positive but there was little revenue to be had, The desire to know everything going on hasn’t bigger and more resourced partner. Ideas Editor Liz Stokes, always looking for new as ad sales were near impossible with such a dimmed, however impossible the goal. like launching in America and Japan proved interesting companies and developments small audience. Despite being a small business, running too time-consuming and risky to pursue, and to write about and helps to keep RotD fresh Like many sites at the time, Clickmusic’s RotD probably hasn’t been as hairy as it is for suggested the set of circumstances that make and vital. Former Music Editors James Foley, income was low, despite more and more many. Start-up costs were minimal, funded us successful in the UK wouldn’t necessarily Pete Jarrett and Chris Price, now hold key people coming online. In August 2002, Selina by credit card. Subscription revenue has translate abroad. However, a free limited roles at Spotify, as a manager of Betsy and Webb, then Polydor’s Director of Press, (now helped with cash-flow, and with no investors version of the email with just the featured others, and as Head of Music at Radio 1 Executive Vice President of Universal Music to answer to, we’ve not been answerable track serves the us well. respectively. Not bad. Lee Thompson just UK), came to see me and indicated the daily to people expecting a healthy return. I Ultimately though, I still love working with left us to go travelling for a year, and we email was a good thing and asked what I doubt we’re ever going to be significantly people who care about the future of music hope he returns in some capacity, but current planned to do with it. David Balfour, fresh from larger than we are now, although we have and the industry. Being part of something that editors Ian Greaves and Kevin Marston have leaving Music Week, came to Clickmusic for financially grown each year, which is no has influence, whether with media for the made a cracking start. Compass editor Ruth an interview. I suggested it wasn’t the right role mean feat in these times. However, finances editorially chosen tracks, or the industry at Kilpatrick passionately keeps us abreast of for him but that I might have something else remain modest and we are ever-vigilant of large on key issues, is very fulfilling. new artists, even if personally I can barely for him. He soon became RotD’s first editor. the challenges ahead. We’re always looking The most gratifying part of publication keep up. The saddest story is that of former Feeling my time at Clickmusic would come out for other areas to move into, while being remains the help we’ve been able to give editor David Balfour, who was diagnosed with to an end as the business downsized, I bought realistic, and we’re pretty flat out simply great music. It’s easy to quantify the impact terminal Motor Neuron Disease at that start the mailing list off them, which allowed me to keeping on top of what we have to do now. It’s when we feature an unsigned artist, we often of 2016. He can but remain in our thoughts }} 2 editorial 6am The least banal stories from the week’s pop press } Manager Sarah Bowden talks } Coldplay (£66m) and Adele }} about sexual harassment in (£51m) have come third “The news we’ve As Record of the Day publishes its the music industry on Victoria and fourth respectively in a 750th issue, here are some fun facts: Derbyshire’s TV show. (BBC - Forbes list of the highest- featured however, has from 24.45) paid European celebrities. reflected a constantly £ We were nearly called MusicFC, thinking the (Express) team and football connotations would go down } Shania Twain and Bjork have shifting industry well with the industry. We discovered the URL revealed they were groped } Bruno Mars is to headline that has changed in had been registered just a couple of weeks earlier and harassed by men as they British Summer Time in by a consultancy called Foster Craig.