Moments In Poor Band Management, Part 519

Had Radiohead followed their management’s advice, they’d no longer exist- and neither would their industry game-changer album In Rainbows, or, for that matter, the infamous “Radiohead model-” though I suspect that Trent Reznor would’ve figured things out on his own eventually.

The Irish Times reported on Friday that Brian Message and two of his partners at Radiohead’s management company Courtyard Management “actually advised the band to split up,” during the early sessions for In Rainbows. Two years after tying off their obligations to EMI, Radiohead hadn’t yet made any solid progress on a new album. There were songs written, but the band couldn’t hit the studio sound they were looking for. Seeing this, Courtyard jumped to the same conclusion that any management team would when dealing with the biggest band in the world adjusting to its first real taste of freedom in over a decade: they decided the guys should call it a day.

“I’ve been lucky to work with some great artists and Radiohead are a once-in-a-generation act,” says Message. “But you have to be honest if it’s not working. You have to have passion about what you do. I’m an accountant but I love music and I’m passionate about the artists I work with.” Does Radiohead make a habit of relying on an accountant for career advice? Evidently not, because they’re still together, and the album they made after pissing on that idea just so happened to serve as a cultural tipping point, and started the forest fire that’s now encircled the industry dinosaurs- and closing in.

The In Rainbows stunt hit the slipstream of national attention, and suddenly the concept of a streamlined relationship between fan and artist, with everything else following from that was thrust into the conversational collective. The band never revealed the official totals from the choose-your-payment option, but the profit numbers (supplemented by various physical formats, released later, that actually cost money) are reportedly in the double-digit millions, and their tour to support In Rainbows was a phenomenal success by all accounts. On the West Coast leg of their tour last year, the band performed for 60,000 people in San Francisco, each of whom bought a $60 ticket. I’m not a rocket surgeon, but I’m pretty sure that’s a shitload of cash. And while Message concedes that half of that audience may have downloaded the album for free, “we get most of that money”  from the shows, he says.

So is Message simply a glorified accountant who survived his own bad advice and lived to reap the profits? Not exactly. Aided by Message, Courtyard has established ATC, a music company focused on a deeper relationship with artists including Faithless and Kate Nash. Message describes it as partnering with artists and the company will get involved in things like financing record releases- virgin territory for managers.

“It’s about partnerships now,” says Message. “You are no longer just the artist’s representative at the record company table. This is entrepreneurship at its finest. The artist has to be at the centre of everything and be willing to drive their own business. Getting signed to a label is not enough any more.”

In fact, it could be one of the worst decisions a band can make. But don’t hold your breath for that headline on the cover of Rollingstone.

“We find ourselves out of step with the rest of the industry on this,” he says. “We believe file-sharing by peer to peer should be legalized. The sharing of music where it is not for profit is a great thing for culture and music. Those who are providing that facility as part of their value proposition should be contributing to the artists.”

Message recognizes the crucial fact that emerging technologies and platforms such as Twitter and YouTube are already being used to deepen the relationship between musician and fan. Diddy’s an obnoxiously upbeat Twitter addict. Amanda Palmer tweets her ass off. B-Real does likewise, shooting the shit with Talib Kweli, Q-Tip & Snoop Dogg before getting his bud buddies together at 4:20 each day (both East and West coasts), often posting pics of his stank bounty to motivate the hordes. Questlove tweets from the stage on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, as well. The list goes on. To harness that thrashing wire of potential and make it work for you is the new goal, the new business model.