The Orchard's Ian Dutt has shared his belief that it is time for a rethink when it comes to defining a breaking act in 2024.
Sustained mainstream breakthroughs - or the lack of them - remain of chief concern to the domestic music business, but Dutt stressed the need to look beyond the traditional measurements in the modern age.
The UK president, who was promoted at the Sony-owned artist & label services business in late 2023, suggested the goalposts have moved where rising talent is concerned.
“It’s obviously way harder than it ever has been [to break] because of the democratic nature of consumption and success," he told Music Week. "The gatekeepers that used to deliver success from a breaking artist perspective aren’t there anymore – the audience are deciding what’s successful or not.
"So the only concern I have is that it’s going to take a hell of a lot longer to build the audience and actually get to the point where you’re considered broken.”
The Orchard’s president and COO Colleen Theis recently revealed that around 2,000 artists distributed by the company had made more than $100,000 in the past year.
“Some of those artists you may never have heard of. Now, would you class that as broken?" asked Dutt. "What are the metrics for ‘broken’ nowadays? Is it the traditional way of looking at plaques? Is it the traditional way of looking at chart positions? Is it the ability to sell tickets? Or is there a fiscal compensation that constitutes breaking artists?"
The definitions of what ‘broken’ is are changing
Ian Dutt
Dutt, who joined The Orchard in 2016 as part of the company’s merger with Sony RED UK, continued: "The definitions of what ‘broken’ is are changing, but there is no one answer, because an artist might say, ‘I’m earning 100 grand a year, I’m happy with that.’ Another artist might say, ‘I’ve only broken if I’ve had a Top 10 single.’ But is a Top 10 single ‘broken’ for one artist who doesn’t have another hit single again? These are the conversations we really need to be having.”
UK & Europe MD Chris Manning, whose promotion was announced in tandem with Dutt’s last year, suggested the modern measurement of success is artist-dependent, but said he still considered chart performance to be a useful barometer.
“When our label or artist partners get to those levels - Top 40, Top 20, Top 10, No.1, whatever - we love to see it and of course we celebrate that,” he said. “But there are other partners we work with whose idea of success is defined in a slightly different way.”
The pair were speaking in our latest issue alongside VP label management Jasmine Bodkin, senior artist marketing manager Hannah Celnikier and VP, digital marketing UK & Europe Dan Griffiths as part of an in-depth profile of the firm - which took home the Artist Marketing Campaign prize at this year's Music Week Awards for its work on Raye's My 21st Century Blues (123,608 sales, OCC).
Referencing the award win, Dutt added: "It was great vindication for Raye, her team and the team that worked so hard on the campaign within The Orchard. I think the optics of us working with Raye have been felt for some time. It’s always heartening when artists, managers and labels come and talk to us and reference the Raye campaign.
"We’re just very proud to be involved. With Raye, there is no stopping and celebrating. The campaign is ongoing - it’s like a train that never stops.”
I don’t think we’ve ever strived to be the biggest; we’ve strived to be the best at what we do
Ian Dutt
Dutt has been instrumental in label signings and overseeing artist development, including partnerships with Jorja Smith, Blossoms, The Snuts and Skepta. Deals have also been inked with labels including Northern Quarter, BE83 Music, Xtra Mile Recordings, The Other Songs and MDLBeast, as well as Michael Adex’s NQ.
“I don’t think we’ve ever strived to be the biggest; we’ve strived to be the best at what we do,” said Dutt. “We strive to give a service that clients can rely on, whether that’s a label client or a direct artist signing client. I think the easiest way for me to describe it is I want us to be a perfect partner. I want us to be able to be relied upon.”
The Orchard’s upcoming schedule includes releases from the likes of Blossoms, Courteeners, Oasis and Myles Kennedy, among others. And with the company's MWA recognition still fresh in the mind, Dutt offered his take on the secret of good artist marketing in 2024.
“Being able to translate and listen to the artist’s voice,” he concluded. “One of the most important things in any campaign now is that the fan is at the centre of what you do, and being able to understand the narrative between artist and audience, amplifying that and moving organically at the right speed. Sometimes it’s super-fast and sometimes you slow it down.”
Read the full interview with The Orchard in the September edition of Music Week – subscribers can read it online here.
