The story of respected British music exec Darcus Beese, formerly president of UMG U.K.’s Island Records, will be told in his upcoming book, Rebel With a Cause.
Rebel With a Cause details how Beese went from apprentice hairdresser to work his way up from being the ‘tea boy’ to the President and first black CEO of a U.K. record company at Island.
The memoir covers him signing and nurturing seminal British artists including Amy Winehouse, Mumford & Sons, Dizzee Rascal and Florence and the Machine, to him moving to New York to run Island in the US but ‘becoming despondent at what he saw and encountered,’ according to a press release.
Beese, who is now EVP at Warner Music U.K. where he runs his own JV label, said: “As a kid I never thought or dreamed that one day I would be writing my story, let alone having it published. But now I think why not me? Growing up in a family of activists, a mother and father who fought to change British society, I’ve always understood the importance of using your voice, always felt a duty to speak my mind and stand up for what was right.
“Writing the book, looking back over my 50-plus years, I really appreciate how blessed I am to have such a strong beautiful family and to have enjoyed the most amazing experiences working alongside some of the greatest musical talents. Hopefully there’s plenty more to come. If this book inspires one kid to believe in themselves, to stay true to themselves, then it’ll be worthwhile.”
Published by Nine Eight Books, Rebel With a Cause will be available in hardback, ebook and audiobook versions from 8/15 in the U.K. It is set to land in the US in due course.
U.K. listeners are still looking on the "Mr. Brightside" of life, as the Killers' song of that name has overtaken “Wonderwall” by Oasis as the most commercially-successful hit to never reach #1.
The Island track has tallied combined sales and streams of 5.57m since its release in 2003. “Mr. Brightside” originally peaked at #10, but has since become the longest-running Top 100 hit in Official Chart history, with nearly eight years on the list.
Despite its advanced age, "Brightside" is still being streamed an average of 1.8m times a week by British music fans. It’s the third biggest song of all time in the U.K., based on sales and streams.
In 2023, "Brightside" scored a career-best 79.7m plays, and so far this year, its average combined weekly sales and streams are up 23% year-on-year.
The song’s biggest week to date in the U.K. was in July 2019, when it racked up 17.7k chart units after The Killers headlined Glastonbury. Its biggest year of pure sales was 2012, when it was bought and downloaded 125.2k times.
"Mr. Brightside" was originally released with a 500-CD single run via U.K. indie record label Lizard King. It picked up steam following the release of 2004’s #3 single, "Somebody Told Me" (and the release of an updated mix), catapulting it back into the Official Singles Chart at #10 in May 2004, still its highest position to date, before dropping out only a few weeks later.
Liam Gallagher declined to comment, but did offer to punch us in the face.
Girls Aloud manager Peter Loraine was honored with a prestigious Strat award at last night’s Music Week Awards in London, where UMG U.K. labels EMI and Island Records were also big winners.
Loraine was honored for a three-decade career in which he’s worked with a wealth of British pop greats, including Girls Aloud (who presented him with the award in the above photo), S Club 7, ABBA, All Saints, Jessie Ware and Goldfrapp.
EMI took home Record Company of the Year, as they also did last year, making it a second win for label leaders Rebecca Allen and Jo Charrington, who took the helm in 2022. The win followed a successful 2023 in which the EMI team tallied #1 U.K. albums by Lewis Capaldi, Take That and Taylor Swift, plus a #4 debut from Olivia Dean and a successful breakthrough for Mae Stephens, who peaked at #13 with her viral hit, “If We Ever Broke Up.” EMI were also honored with Promotions Team of the Year.
The Island Records squad, led by President Louis Bloom, took the A&R Award after enjoying a major breakthrough with BRIT Award Rising Star winners The Last Dinner Party, whose debut, Prelude to Ecstasy, hit #1 in the U.K. in February. The label also released #1 albums from indie rock act The Lathums, plus U2 and Hozier last year.
UMG had another win for Catalog Marketing Campaign for UMR’s work on The Beatles Now and Then release. It’s about time someone gave an award to that quartet from Liverpool!
In other categories, Central Cee manager Bello was named Manager of the Year; Publisher of the Year went to Warner Chappell; and EGA Distro took Independent Record Company of the Year.
Warner Music U.K. claimed two gongs for International Marketing Team of the Year and Sync Team of the Year, Sony Music U.K. took Sales Team of the Year and the Label/Artist Services award went to AWAL. Other winners included Young Songs for Independent Publisher of the Year, CAA for Live Music Agency, Live Nation U.K. for Live Music Promoter and RAYE and The Orchard for Artist Marketing Campaign.
Congratulations to all the winners. We look forward to hearing more about it when you take us out for chicken and chips.
Harri Davies, former senior director of A&R at Concord Music Publishing, has joined RCA Records U.K. as head of A&R.
In his new role, Davies will be responsible for steering the Sony label's A&R strategy and signing talent. He reports to RCA Co-Presidents Glyn Aikins and Stacey Tang.
"Harri embodies the globally minded, creative spirit that has always been at the heart of RCA U.K.,” Aikins and Tang said. “His understanding of the music landscape and passion for nurturing artists will undoubtedly have a positive effect, steering our team and artists towards further global success.”
Notable artists and producers Davies has signed include Krept & Konan, BRIT Award-winning Chase & Status and Grammy winners Imanbek, Alex Metric and Flowdan. He also facilitated the signing of 2023’s global breakout star, Tyla. Prior to Concord, Davies helped shape the roster at Bucks Music Group.
U.K.-based music licensing company PPL has signed Ice Spice for the collection of international neighboring rights royalties. She joins a host of artists who signed with the org recently, including Lewis Capaldi, Libianca and Central Cee.
Headquartered in London, PPL licenses the use of recorded music in the U.K. and collects neighboring rights royalties on behalf of performers and recording rightsholders worldwide.
On signing with the org, PPL says Ice Spice will benefit from the expertise of its 200+ team, cutting-edge data processing technology, and a network of over 110 agreements with collective management organizations internationally. The company will collect royalties on her behalf for the use of her music on radio, TV and in public spaces around the world.
Signed to 10K Projects and Capitol, Ice Spice closed 2023 with the most Hot 100 Top 5 singles: “Barbie World” with Aqua & Nicki Minaj, “Boy’s A Liar, Pt.2” with PinkPantheress, and a remix of Taylor Swift’s “Karma.”
Record Store Day in the U.K. is expected to deliver a £9.7m boost to indie record shops this weekend thanks to 443 exclusive releases, according to data from the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA).
The annual celebration, which takes place Saturday (4/20), will involve more than 270 record shops. The £9.7m figure is an estimate of the sales value of the vinyl releases issued for the day, which will be available from the likes of official RSD 2024 ambassador Kate Bush plus Noah Kahan, Ringo Starr, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Gabriels, The 1975 and more.
The estimate does not include incremental revenue of non-Record Store Day titles made on the day, nor money generated by food, drink and other items. Thus, the actual total through store tills is likely to be higher.
“Record Store Day is a cultural phenomenon which draws in tens of thousands of music fans across the country, but it is also a financial lifeline for a vital element of music’s unique ecosystem,” ERA CEO Kim Bayley said. “Without Record Store Day, many would find it difficult to stay in business.”
In 2023, ERA estimates that exclusives sold on RSD accounted for nearly 10% of annual sales of all physical music product through high street stores. Last month, ERA announced that indie store numbers have hit a 10-year high of 461, in part propelled by RSD. Across the same period, the total number of physical outlets selling music in the U.K. has dropped by 76%.
More than 80 events are set to take place on Saturday. They include all-day parties, local music and performances and various artists taking part in signing sessions. Across the weekend, BBC’s 6 Music will host a three-day celebration of vinyl and records on air.
Independently released music claimed 29.2% of U.K. recorded music consumption in 2023, up from 28.6% in 2022 and nearly a third higher than in 2017, according to figures from the BPI.
Last year was the sixth consecutive year of growth, when using the Album Equivalent Sales metric (AES), for the British indie sector. Figures come from the BPI’s recently published yearbook, All About The Music 2024.
According to BPI analysis based on Official Charts data, more than 60 albums released by independent labels made the weekly Top 10 of the Official Albums Chart in 2023. These included seven chart-topping releases by rapper Ren, rock bands Enter Shikari and The Reytons (pictured) and Kylie Minogue.
Other Top 10 albums came from rapper Casisdead, singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, pop star Claire Richards and punk rock veterans The Damned.
Independent successes on the Official Singles Chart last year included a #1 hit for record-breaking BRITs winner RAYE and Top 10 entries for Central Cee and Bugzy Malone & Teedee.
There was an even greater presence for the independent sector in the physical music market, which counted for 35% of all album sales in 2023. Nearly four in every 10 (39.1%) vinyl LP bought was an independent product, with more than 200 indie titles selling at least 1.5k copies last year. Independent releases made up nearly one-third (32.8%) of CDs sold in 2023.
Other insights from the yearbook include vinyl sales rising in 2023 for a 16th consecutive year. That's partly attributed to the rising popularity of pop releases: The genre’s share of vinyl sales lifted to 23.7% from 19.6% in 2022, headed by releases from Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and Lewis Capaldi.
Hip-hop grew its share of the vinyl market to 5.3% in 2023, led by a re-issue of De La Soul’s 1989 debut, 3 Feet High and Rising (Chrysalis), although rock remained comfortably the biggest genre with a 55.5% share. That’s reflected by the 10 biggest-selling vinyl artists of 2023, Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles and Pink Floyd.
James and Mark Knopfler are battling it out for this week’s U.K. Official Albums #1. Over on singles, Hozier is set for a second week at the top.
James’ 18th album Yummy (Nothing But Love Music) leads the charge at today’s halfway point. Should it hold onto its position for Friday, it will be the Manchester band’s second #1.
One Deep River (EMI) from the former Dire Straits leader Knopfler is just 3k sales behind at #2.
British rock band Kris Barras Band could have their first Top 10 with Halo Effect (Earache) a new entry at #4. Linkin Park’s Papercuts (Singles Collection 2000-2023) (Warner Records) could become their ninth U.K. Top 10, starting at #5 today.
English Teacher’s This Could Be Texas (Island) is new at #6; Scottish band Gun are #7 with Hombres (Cooking Vinyl); and Maggie Rogers’ Don’t Forget Me (Capitol) is #8.
Lifeblood (Sony) by Manic Street Preachers is in the Top 10 for the first time at #9 thanks to a 20th anniversary reissue. WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU (Boominati/Freebandz/Republic/Epic) by Future & Metro Boomin is #10.
On the U.K.’s Official Singles midweeks, “Too Sweet” (Island) by Hozier is heading for a second week at #1.
“Supersonic” (Big Brother) by Oasis, who are celebrating 10 years since the release of their debut single, might enter the Top 10 for the first time at #6. The track peaked at #31 in 1994.
Little Mix member Perrie could claim this week’s highest new entry at #7 with her debut solo release, “Forget About Us” (Columbia), which was co-written with Ed Sheeran. Dua Lipa’s “Illusion” (Warner Records) could be the third consecutive Top 10 single from her upcoming set, Radical Optimism. It’s on track to debut at #8.
