{"id":205789,"date":"2024-08-15T11:56:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T10:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=205789"},"modified":"2024-08-15T17:48:20","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T16:48:20","slug":"louis-bloom-on-island-records-his-mentors-his-values-and-his-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/louis-bloom-on-island-records-his-mentors-his-values-and-his-ambitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis Bloom on Island Records, his mentors, his values, and his ambitions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following interview with Louis Bloom took place shortly before Universal Music Group announced that he was being elevated to run the newly merged London-based mega-label, the Island EMI Label Group. That move will take place on October 1. Right now, Bloom continues to run Island Records UK \u2013 as you’ll read, with some distinction…<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Before getting into the weeds, Island Records UK President Louis Bloom is understandably keen to take a more elevated view of the label’s current status. There’s certainly a fair amount of blue sky up there.<\/p>\n

Its recent (and extended) run of success has been built on hits by artists such as Hozier (who Bloom personally signed back in 2012), Noah Kahan, The Last Dinner Party and others. And on a team\/culture assembled and defined by what Island founder Chris Blackwell described to Bloom as a unique \u201ctaste and tone\u201d.<\/p>\n

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He says: \u201cThis is a label with a distinct DNA \u2013 something that was laid down by Chris. It\u2019s about artist development, it\u2019s about signing exceptional\u00a0talent that perhaps isn\u2019t especially obvious, in a commercial sense, at the time. It\u2019s about taking\u00a0creative\u00a0risks, it\u2019s about building fanbases that have a direct relationship with artists they feel a genuine connection\u00a0to.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMore than anything else it\u2019s about great artists regardless of genre. Historically, Chris covered everything, from folk to reggae and prog rock to pop and, similarly, we want to be leaders in all fields.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Having spent over 20 years at Island, Bloom has not just witnessed, but helped drive golden periods before \u2013 most notably the run under the joint-leadership of Darcus Beese and Ted Cockle in the 2000s\/2010s which included breakthrough global success for artists such as Amy Winehouse, Florence and the Machine, Hozier, Mumford & Sons and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

He feels something similar is happening, or at least brewing, at the moment. \u201cRight now,\u201d he says, \u201cI do feel like we\u2019re working with the very best team and artists whose cultural impact will stand the test of time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Island\u2019s St Pancras office, he talks in depth about that team, those artists, the label\u2019s culture, his mentors, his values and his ambitions\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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The last time we spoke to you, in 2018, you had only been running Island in the UK for a few months. How has the company changed, and how have you changed the company, since then?<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

It was always A&R-led and creative-led, with no distractions, no side-hustles.\u00a0It\u2019s all about signing the right artists and building an amazing offering from an amazing team. That obviously takes time, but now we\u2019ve done that and it\u2019s playing out.<\/p>\n

The acts that we signed back then were new, the majority hadn\u2019t put\u00a0any\u00a0music out yet. In the case of FLO, we brought them together. Those artists had to go on their own journeys, supported by us, and then it also takes a while for culture to align with them. Now we\u2019re starting to see the best versions of all of them.<\/p>\n

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Widening the lens slightly, how has Universal\u2019s company culture changed during your time here, especially perhaps under the leadership of David Joseph?<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

David\u2019s a very\u00a0nurturing\u00a0person and for me personally he\u2019s been\u00a0the biggest champion I\u2019ve had across my career;\u00a0he\u2019s been a huge influence. Ultimately, he\u2019s about greatness, he really is. He\u2019s about signing the very best. We have a vision here for Island that takes time and requires patience. But I can only go after that vision if my boss loves and understands what Island is about and believes we\u2019re fulfilling the destiny of what Island should be.\u00a0David\u00a0100% backs that\u00a0and\u00a0we\u2019re very grateful
\nfor that.<\/p>\n

More generally, he\u2019s a person with a great aesthetic sensibility. He\u2019s someone who is always encouraging, he\u2019s someone who likes the debate and who values honesty. And he\u2019s someone you can have very real conversations with, no bullshit.<\/p>\n

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What are the most important lessons you\u2019ve learned during your time and who have you learned them from?<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

David, of course, who\u00a0I\u2019ve talked about. Lucian, as well, is someone who, whenever I see him, we listen to music and I find his insights invaluable. I mean, he\u2019s one of the titans of the entertainment industry and I\u00a0realise that I\u2019m fortunate to be in his orbit and to be able to learn from him.<\/p>\n

Monte Lipman\u00a0is a very important partner, someone who is fiercely loyal to\u00a0his artists and has taught me that, when you have a real belief, then you never give up. Avery Lipman has been a very wise counsel to me. He\u2019s calm, measured and very insightful. These are people who I really look up to.<\/p>\n

And then, of course, there\u2019s Chris Blackwell, the man who started it all and without whom, none of us would be here. What I\u2019ve learned from Chris, above all else, is that what you do here is all about taste and tone.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got impeccable taste, and he\u2019s always curious. We had lunch together recently, and\u00a0at one point, as he was talking, he suddenly stopped, called the waiter over and asked, \u2018What\u2019s that music you\u2019re\u00a0playing?\u2019. The waiter went and found out and Chris made a note of it. He\u2019s just aware of everything around him, he\u2019s got\u00a0a\u00a0tremendous cultural\u00a0radar. And his attention to detail is immaculate \u2013\u00a0that\u2019s certainly something I uphold.<\/p>\n

The result is a really united company, because everyone is aware of every\u00a0nuance,\u00a0and everyone knows that every piece has to be perfect.\u00a0It all has to be true not only to the Island ethos, but to the story, vision and ambition\u00a0of the artist, so that everything is done\u00a0in an authentic way that makes that artist\u2019s fanbase feel part of something special and something coherent.<\/p>\n

To do that,\u00a0we all have to know every detail of that story. So, that the email you send to the\u00a0database\u00a0is, to some extent, the same and almost as important\u00a0as the artwork for the album or a merch drop \u2013 the same in so much as there\u2019s a through line in terms of what I was talking about: taste and tone.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re a tight ship here with high standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s talk about Island\u2019s current run of success and perhaps the metrics you find most useful to measure such things\u2026<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

Yeah, it\u2019s across the board; it\u2019s not one artist and it\u2019s not one genre \u2013 that was always our intention. With\u00a0The Last Dinner Party we\u2019ve got the biggest selling debut album of the year and in Noah Kahan we\u2019ve currently got the biggest selling single of the year. And with Hozier, he\u2019s had the No.1 single here in the UK and a No.1 in America.<\/p>\n

And then you have artists like Nia Archives,\u00a0English Teacher and Yard Act, recently releasing albums within different sectors of culture and each with their own ecosystems. We\u2019ve got new music coming from the likes of Mumford & Sons, Dermot Kennedy, Sam Tompkins, Catfish And The Bottlemen and Dylan. And then you never know what to expect from U2.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cVirality comes and goes, but quality endures.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019ve also got\u00a0ArrDee\u00a0in the UK rap space, Meduza and James Hype in dance, we\u2019ve got FLO in R&B,\u00a0(all coming with new music soon). We\u2019re also particularly excited about Chappell Roan, who has come to us via our Island US partners. She\u2019s just had her first Top 20 single in the UK and is about to conquer the world. And, of course, we\u2019ve got Lola Young. Like I say,\u00a0it\u2019s really across the board.<\/p>\n

I remember hearing Muff\u00a0Winwood\u00a0speaking at the MBW<\/i> A&R Awards and he said, \u2018Don\u2019t try and sign what\u2019s happening now, because you\u2019ll get it wrong \u2013 plus, it\u2019s already happened! Try and sign what hasn\u2019t happened yet and help make it happen. Go against the grain\u2019. I was in that mindset already, always, but I thought that was such a great way of putting it.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not opportunists. That\u2019s not to say we don\u2019t spot opportunities, it just means we don\u2019t make opportunistic signings. Virality comes and goes, but quality endures. We\u00a0aim to\u00a0sign artists who would make an impact at any time in any decade.<\/p>\n

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The Last Dinner Party<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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How did The Last Dinner Party come into your orbit?<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

I remember James Talbut\u00a0and Sam Flynn\u00a0phoned me up and said there was this band and I was going to fucking love them. I went to a gig at XOYO and it was one of those moments where I knew instantly and totally that I wanted to sign them. That\u2019s quite a rare thing, for there to be no questions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only that, but I immediately knew how we were going to launch them, I could see me and the team working with them, I could see the whole journey mapped out, just from seeing them live once \u2013 because they were just so fabulous\u00a0and unique.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a band, they came with all the answers, they were beyond clear about who they were and who their audience was. It was small, but it was there, because they\u2019d been gigging for around two years, but outside the industry bubble \u2013 and that has done them the world
\nof good.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Was it a competitive environment when it came to signing them?<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

Not at all, not remotely. Probably because it was so different to anything else.\u00a0As far as I\u2019m aware I actually don\u2019t think there was another firm offer on the table. Again though, I don\u2019t care. It doesn\u2019t make a difference to us and if we ever had that mindset I\u2019d really have to check myself. It\u2019s never about signing an artist to win some sort of competition. The question is, is the artist reflective of what Island is about and can we help them?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Are you heartily tired of some of the internal industry cynicism surrounding their rise?<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n

Well, I like people talking about them, so that\u2019s\u00a0OK.\u00a0Also,\u00a0I think the cynicism came from a very vocal minority. And it quickly dissipated anyway, because anyone who\u2019s paying attention can see that they\u2019re in charge of everything, they\u2019re their own creation. The idea that a label would come up with this whole package is\u2026 look, they write all the songs, they created the look, the image, the story, the whole idea of The Last Dinner Party.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We launched with a three minute video which told the story of who they are. And huge credit to Studio Island Creative Director Saorla [Houston] here, who personally directed the video, collaborating with Josh in the team who works on all the band\u2019s creative. We also made a whole album really quickly, pretty much like we used to do.\u00a0These days you\u2019re more likely to release\u00a0a track,\u00a0analyse\u00a0the data, make a tweak,\u00a0release another track\u2026But we made an album, came up with a plan and stuck to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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