Given Jazz Summer's intense attack on record labels at the In The City conference, it was no mean feat by Marcus Engh of Sony BMG Europe to defend the label’s position robustly. With impeccable calmness, he stepped in to rain on Jazz’s parade. He referenced a host of deals that SonyBMG have constructed with brands where the artist AND the manager were appreciative of. Furthermore, he stressed that the band management see the label as partners who add immense value in such deals. Now this is getting complicated. Labels and Band Managers getting on and working together to secure brand partnerships for their acts. Each playing to their strengths. So that is a second business model that is working, one where label, artist and artist management get on fine. On a personal note, a big thank you to Marcus for stepping in at short notice and rushing up to Manchester to be with us. citizensound says:

It is all too easy to point the finger at record companies and say they are all at fault and they add nothing. The DIY panel we ran (see previous posts) demonstrated that even the most independent minded artist will still need certain skills around them to make it. And many artists stay with labels or want a deal with labels exactly because they believe that labels are better suited to delivering on these functions (under one roof) than anywhere else. Clearly there is a rise of alternative models though which are challenging the record labels to up their game. These models may not be new, but nevertheless are more readily available to the artist than ever before. As Ahmet Ethegun is for me one of the heroes of music, I have an issue with this black and white depiction of record labels. Of more interest is focussing on the right kind of people and skills that an artist needs, not what kind of company they work for.