Making the music makers

Zak Biddu, director, UKNY Music who has worked with the likes of Paul McCartney and U2, and is bringing The Prodigy to India, talks to DNA.

What are the challenges involved in music event/artist management?
New artists need good management to guide them through the process of making their first record, getting deals, promoting, touring, generally navigating the complicated music business. Once an artist gets to an established point they are perhaps less reliant on their manager day to day but then the manager becomes the buffer for the industry.

When I worked with Sir Paul McCartney he didn’t have a manager, he had got to a point where things ran themselves and he employed a team around him to look after individual tasks rather than the comprehensive role of one manager. Management is a 24/7 role and has great risks. With Lady Sovereign, for example, I invested two or three years of development time before releasing a record and seeing a return.

Events operate over a shorter period, usually 6-12 months from idea to completion. But the future of events is reliant on good management and development of new artists.

How much are you involved, hands-on, while on tour with artists?
It depends on how experienced the artist is. Artists should get to a point when they can handle the touring experience without their manager needing to be at every show. There will always be enough qualified personnel around handling the duties of tour management, production, crew and so on, without the manager having to step in too often. The manager’s role is most important at the point of booking and negotiating the tour, making sure the schedule works, the show is rehearsed and the crew is in place.

How important and difficult is it to strike a balance between profitability and promotion of music for itself?
I am coming from the culture in Europe and America where sponsors are important but they benefit more from a satisfied artist and audience experience. In India, due to the relatively low ticket prices there is greater reliance on sponsors and I can understand why many promoters would do anything to please them due to this dependency. I have been fortunate in my case with the Eristoff Invasion festival that our title sponsors have been fantastic to work with and very supportive and understanding of the artist and audience experience. Ultimately music is about the artists and fans.

What would you cite as the memorable experience in terms of work?
Probably taking previously unheralded British rapper Lady Sovereign from the streets of London to America and negotiating her a record deal with Jay Z at Def Jam Records, a first for a UK artist. Along the way she bagged a No 1 single, became the biggest selling non-American rapper in Billboard history and played to over a million people in Time Square on New Years Eve. It’s been nice making records with great artists like U2, Snow Patrol, Kasabian, Sir Paul McCartney, too.

India has seen an influx of international artists. Why do you think India is such a popular stop over for musicians and what is the potential that you see here?
I don’t currently think that enough artists get the opportunity to perform in India, compared to other large markets relatively few major international acts perform in India. I think there is great potential in the future, due to the size of the Indian market and that India is a good routing destination on an Asian tour. A few things need to improve though, namely the venue options and curfews that can make things difficult in practice.

How did this idea of getting The Prodigy come about? How long have you been associated with the band and what has been your experience with them?
I had been planning a large scale concert in India for about 18 months but it took until meeting Vijay and Ajay Nair from Only Much Louder that I found partners who shared my vision and ambition. I always had The Prodigy in mind for headlining the first festival, I felt they had a good fan base and had never played in India before but have wanted to for a long time. My relationship with the band goes back about six or seven years when I made an album with the band’s front man Keith Flint for his solo project. Once I had enough plans in place I texted Keith and asked if he wanted to do these shows in India to which he replied excitedly and it all went from there.