Why I’m doubling our investment in the UK music industry, just when people say it’s losing global power.
You’ve all heard the argument. The UK remains the world’s third-largest music market, but the country’s homegrown artists are finding it increasingly difficult to make it a giant on the global stage.
It’s all because of streaming and the superstar artist community becoming more and more international. Although people like Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran and Adele topping the charts worldwide at the end of the year, the numbers don’t lie: Theo Billboards/ Luminate statistics analyzed by BPI, UK artists accounted for just 7.6% of all US streams last year (by the top 3,000 artists in the market). Back in 2016, that number was 8.4%.
And don’t forget – last year was Adele’s year, with the release of megastar’s long-awaited album, 30.
However, there are some positive signs for British stars: UK artists accounted for 12.1% of total global streams last year (out of the top 1,000 artists worldwide). , according to Billboard/Luminate. That puts the UK in a solid 2nd place behind the US (with 59% of all live streams) and ahead of Canada (5.4%).
More, PRS for music – representing British musicians globally – saw a 22.4% increase in revenue last year (on a constant currency basis), showing that British creativity remains a lucrative dynamic in a changing world.
Lucas Keller is the founder Milk & honeyone of the largest producer and musician management companies in the United States, has also expanded into artist management, sports, Web3 and more in recent years.
In addition, Keller’s company (in partnership with LA-based executive Nic Warner) boasted that it had secured more than $150 million in total music publishing deals over the past two years.
Headquartered in LA, the company also operates offices in Nashville, New York, Dallas, London and Sydney. Milk & Honey to set up UK office in 2020, run by Brit CEO Ant Hippsley.
Since then, it has enjoyed a string of successes with British talent, including starring on No.1 albums and/or Top 5 singles from the likes of Ed Sheeran (via Ed Sheeran). David Hodges), Dua Lipa and George Ezra (via Stuart Price), Sam Fender (via Rich Costey), Celeste (via Jamie Hartman), Meduza/Dermot Kennedy (via Gez O’Connell), Billen Ted/The Wellerman and James Arthur (via Gez O’Connell), Andrew Jackson).
Globally, Milk & Honey clients have written and/or produced hits for superstars including Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Doja Cat, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Jonas Brothers, Calvin Harris and The Chainsmokers, along with many others.
Here, Lucas Keller explains why he’s doubling investment in his UK business by 2022 and why he has unshakable faith in the continued global power of British creations. Put it away, Lucas…
The last thing we wanted when we started Milk & Honey in London two years ago was for Ant Hippsley to say, ‘Oh, you’re the one running the small office for that big LA company.’
That didn’t work for me. Such is the case that our UK business, with a UK bank account, has succeeded independently of our LA business.
The road to getting there has really opened my eyes to the uniqueness of British talent, and the amazing impact it continues to have around the world. These days, some people don’t like the UK, especially UK A&R, as the streaming share of UK artists globally is dwindling.
And I get it: If I were the President of a major record company, I would also consider what percentage of the global A&R budget the UK would get compared to LatAm, South Korea or sub-Saharan Africa. UK executives may be sick of hearing the old adage (which is getting fast) that today, globally popular songs and viral moments can come from anywhere. .
But from Milk & Honey’s point of view, the same is true of the UK as it is anywhere else in the world. It’s not a threat to British talent – it’s an opportunity! Investing to create a transatlantic system to nurture and disrupt that talent is now a critically important strategy for my company.
History shows it was a reasonable bet. Take a look at what’s weighing on UK support: An incredible pedigree and track record of British musician, producer and artist talent, decade after decade. In Milk & Honey’s view, where the runway for modern British talent has fallen is when artists, musicians and producers are not getting a fair chance to shine in the US – the music market the world’s largest.
“Global traffic can come from anywhere. That’s not a threat to British artists – it’s an opportunity! “
In almost every case we contract British musicians, they want to know if we can provide them with the resources and opportunities in Los Angeles or Nashville, because they realize that , like it or… well, don’t like it, the US market will become the heart of the global music streaming business by 2022. We make sure we provide that two-way street.
And guess? Once that channel is open, British talent will kill it. The opening of our London office also presents a great opportunity for our US talent: direct access to the UK music market. Simply put, our UK office has become the air traffic control agency for US clients who want hits with British artists. When you zoom out and look at it appropriately, a fair number of the world’s best writers, and its most successful copyrights, are British.
Those songs don’t have to be as loud as Dua Lipa’s Flying (most streamed song in the US last year). I’m talking about the records that were always the big screen, the giant crossovers, that didn’t necessarily have to be a huge hit in the United States when they were first released. New songs go up and down again – but in the age of streaming, that’s where they level the long tail that really matters.
The evidence shows that an oddly large proportion of the world’s oldest, oldest copyrights, still streamed millions of times per week, come from the UK. (Kate Bush, anyone?) Look at James Arthur’s Say you won’t let go (2016), co-written by friends and customers of Milk & Honey, Neil Ormandy and Steven Solomon.
That song stayed outside the Top 10 of the US charts, but it still made a lot of money, and was a genuine crossover, as it was built to last. Allow me to add one more plug: Jamie Hartman. This is an English guy who came to Nashville to hone his career and further become one of the most successful musicians in the world, before moving back to Los Angeles and London.
He’s the man behind a massive amount of crazy international hits over the past few years, for everyone from Celeste (A Little Love, Stop This Flame) to Lewis Capaldi (Hold Me While You Wait), Calvin Harris & Rag N Bone Man (Giant) and countless others. He deserves to win Musician of the Year at Ivor Novellos in 2021.
All of these artists wanted to work with Jamie because they knew he would bring a wealth of talent and know-how to their work – but he would also bring a different perspective and a cultural background. different from the American writers they might have chosen differently.
I don’t want to make the cliché suggestion that writing age-old hits is in the blood of British writers. I do not believe that.
But I do agree that mainstream British culture is tuned to (and revered for) music – from a truly diverse group of musicians – to an uncommon degree. And an appreciation for music in all its forms has been pumped into Brits’ eyes and ears from an early age. It shows. So Milk & Honey’s UK office is doing very well, it’s highly profitable and we’re working with some crazy talented people.
We make sure those people then meet the right people in LA and Nashville. Plus, we make sure that US writers – David Hodges being a perfect example – can travel and work in a different direction, and get the right service from us in London, because the UK industry is an important place for customers to create global hits.
“There will be more UK artists soon with the level of success of Adele and Ed Sheeran.”
For the same reason that so many of our writers have chosen to spend time in Nashville (working with Milk & Honey South) to reach out to the local creative and cultural community, many of our clients want to experience Experience a similar energy by spending time in London. This article was born because Tim at Worldwide music business keep telling me British executives are concerned about the numbers; that the market share of global streams from British artists has dwindled towards the end compared to the ‘glory years’ of British music.
I’m here to tell you, that’s not the pattern I see in our world. British songwriters and producers in particular are constantly creating hit after hit, in a variety of markets and we greatly appreciate working with them. We are doubling our investment in the UK because we want to work with more of them.
As a management company, when you properly serve stellar British talent, when you perform – and rally support – in LA and other US markets for writers and UK manufacturers go to, you usually don’t find success. One of the big issues facing musicians today is the number of employees at major music publishers, and their expectations of their key people there. It’s not just a matter of bandwidth; based on how the money flows, pubco’s LA office is generally discouraged from helping writers who are contracted to the UK and vice versa.
As a company with 30 employees globally, we believe we are the largest manufacturer by employee management company, but we are also agile enough to deliver on what we promise. Also, revenue from a hit that comes from anywhere for Milk & Honey is also important. And it matters to the whole company, not just a local office. What about UK artists going global? Patience. It looks to me like there will be more artists with worldwide success like Adele, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran coming out.
The UK has brilliantly exported such great artists from century to decade. (I’m not distracted by too much UK dance and electronic music right now – because we love those artists and recordings too! I told you: ‘Hits’ access from anywhere’ in 2022!) It seems inevitable to me that British artists will be a big part of the story of streaming superstars in the years to come.
We want to be a minion in telling the stories of British musicians and taking them on the global stage.
The UK industry may have lost a bit of confidence over the past few years. But I assure you this: its brightest talent has never lost its ability to make a global breakthrough.
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