Our latest Rising Star is Olly Manhi, A&R manager at Concord. Read on to find out about his career so far…
How did you break into the industry?
I started off in music as a hobby at university, working as a producer at Hoxton Radio while putting on nights around East London. Both jobs were passion projects at first, but later they made me consider a career in music more seriously. From there I worked at various labels and management companies before taking up a role at Black Butter Records.
What is your favourite thing about the biz so far?
The opportunity to work across big projects with game-changing artists. At Concord being involved creatively with Grammy Award-winning artists like Mark Ronson and Daft Punk is incredibly inspiring. Previous to that at Black Butter working on the release of multi-platinum selling singles from artists including DJ Khaled and French Montana was hugely rewarding.
And your least favourite?
I feel like being an A&R in the music industry is a very privileged position to be in, so wouldn’t really say that I have a least favourite aspect. There are a lot of worse jobs out there.
What’s the biggest misconception about A&R?
That the A&R process is only about finding artists to sign, then the work stops. I think there’s a common misconception that scouting new music to sign is the most critical role for an A&R. It’s obviously the start of the process, but the best A&Rs are those who can successfully develop and nurture artists once they’re signed. There’s a massive human element to A&R that shouldn’t be underestimated. Also, tied to that misconception is the idea that the rise of data is going to kill the art of A&R. Again, that misunderstands what A&R is. There’s so much more to it than finding a song that’s blowing-up. Data might be able to tell you a song’s engagement rate, but the majority of an A&R’s role is in working creatively with artists day-to-day. There’s no software for that.
What will the publishing landscape look like in five years?
I anticipate that, as more and more artists choose to stay independent on the records side, publishers could play an increasingly important role in the nurturing and funding of developing artists. I also think songwriters will be paid better as royalty collection improves. Technologies, including the likes of Blockchain, could be huge in improving the efficiency and transparency of royalty collection and passing more revenue on to songwriters.
What is your ultimate ambition?
To be a key part in the careers of artists who have had a true cultural impact. I’d like to feel like I’ve played a role in affecting culture rather than that solely chasing chart success.
FOLLOW 
