The world according to L.A.
|  | | Antonio "LA" Reid | | On January 15, Terra Firma head Guy Hands, the man charged with turning the fortunes of EMI around, gathered his staff at the Odeon Cinema in West London and delivered his new and at times revolutionary vision for the company.
The following day Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "LA" Reid stood in front of representatives from Universal's European territories and a selection of British media at the Mayfair Theatre to reveal two of the label's biggest Q2 priorities; Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson.
Dressed casually in jeans, a white shirt and blazer, the Grammy-winning record executive, who has guided the careers of artists such as TLC, Usher, Avril Lavigne and Dido to multi-platinum success, was in an upbeat mood, getting lost in the music and talking enthusiastically about the creative process behind the new albums.
"We should clap," he told the audience. "We should clap because we just played music, and yesterday there was a very big company meeting in a theatre over the other side of town where they didn't play music. A music company - or it used to be."
The timing, intentional or not, was perhaps all the more prudent given the history of the two artists Reid was presenting. Mariah Carey will this year deliver her second album for Island Def Jam, the label she signed to in 2002 following a disappointing period with Virgin Records. Carey signed with Virgin in April 2001 for close to $82m (£41.9m) but, following a disappointing performance of the Glitter movie and soundtrack, EMI cut its losses and paid Carey $28m (£14.3m) to sever ties. The Emancipation Of Mimi, her subsequent debut for Island Def Jam, has since sold more than 10m copies globally.
Jackson signed to Island Def Jam last year in the wake of two consecutive commercial disappointments: 2004's Damita Jo and 2006's 20 YO. Reid is adamant, however, that Virgin's failure will be his own success. Music Week caught up with the veteran music executive at The Berkeley Hotel in London. In the case of both Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, you signed artists at a low point in their careers. What is it that gives you confidence to get involved with artists that other labels may be hesitant about?
I firmly believe in truly talented people, particularly talented superstars. I believe if you have the talent, it's just a question of someone refining it and helping to make the right creative decisions. Talent always wins in the end; you're never over. As a matter of fact, I find that the marketplace generally is much healthier for icons than it might be for new artists, and I think that has been proven for many artists. When you look at the Eagles' success or the recent Led Zeppelin success, it tells me that people who grew up on these artists always love them, they just want them to make the right records. So I never really give up on them. Is there a process that you go through when it comes to identifying the strengths of these artists and deciding the right album to make?
I just listen to songs. Mariah Carey writes every song she sings; she may collaborate with various people but she is a songwriter, so with Mariah she'll write, she'll play it for me and I'll tell her what I think, so there's no real process there. Alternatively, if I think there's a good collaboration I'll suggest somebody and she'll say, "OK I like this person, I'll try that", you know, and then we just evaluate the work when it's done. She's a true songwriter. With Janet, we spend more time with the producers and writers trying to find ideas that may appeal to her and that she can get into and mould into her own. I just try to get inside their heads and find out what it is they're looking for. I provide a service. I do whatever they want me to do; whatever they need, I'll do it to help them. It's really their vision, not mine. Did you find the creative process fairly smooth this time around?
Yeah. It always is though. Honestly, I don't have issues with artists at all because, although I'm not a performer, they think of me as one of them. So no, we don't hit creative snags, we just try things and some things work and some things don't and that's fine. (excerpt from Music Week magazine - Mariah Connection)
|
