Stephen Budd

Stephen Budd
Background information
Occupation(s) Music Industry Executive, Festival Owner
Associated acts Dry The River, The Magic Numbers, Africa Express
Website www.record-producers.com

Stephen Budd is a British music industry executive based in London. He is a director of artist and producer management company Stephen Budd Management, the OneFest Festival, the Africa Express project and is also a partner in the NH7 Weekender festivals in India. He manages artists including Dry The River and Songhoy Blues. His current record producer roster includes Rick Nowels, Tore Johansson, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Nick Zinner, Guy Sigsworth and Mike Hedges. He is the current co-chairman of the MMF (Music Managers Forum) and is creator and Executive Producer of War Child's 'Passport: Back To The Bars' charity project.

Early career

Starting out as a teenage roadie in the punk era at clubs including Soho’s Vortex, he formed the Tortch Records [1] label in the early 1980s, releasing the debut singles by cult artists The Sound,[2] Second Layer, The Directions and The Cardiacs.[3] He went on to manage The Sound,[4] The Directions [5] and The Big Sound Authority, with whom he had his first top 30 success.[6]

He was then asked to manage renowned record producer Tony Visconti and his Good Earth Recording studio [7] in London’s Soho and in 1985 he founded Stephen Budd Management, focusing on the promotion and management of record producers, remixers, songwriters and recording engineers.[8]

Artist and producer management/music publishing

Later he went on to manage influential bands Heaven 17 [9] and Gang of Four [10] as well as British pop/folk singer-songwriter Tanita Tikaram[11] and The Magic Numbers [12]

Over the years he has represented notable record producers including Jon Kelly, Mick Glossop, Craig Leon, Chris Kimsey, Steve Levine, Gus Dudgeon, Billy Steinberg, Gary Katz and Mike Hedges. Artists who have had hit records written and/or produced by Budd's clients during his representation include; New Radicals, Take That, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Dido, Santana, U2, Manic Street Preachers, The Cure, Lykke Li, Lana del Rey, Björk, Nelly Furtado, Franz Ferdinand, John Legend, Cee-Lo, Bonnie Prince Billy, Feist, Chase & Status and many others. Clients of Budd’s winning or nominated with major awards during his representation include; Mike Hedges (Music Week Producer of the Year, Brit Award for Producer of the Year),[13] Tore Johansson (Music Week Producer of the Year),[14] Rick Nowels (Grammy),[15] Simon Gogerly (Grammy).[16]

In 1999 Budd co-founded SuperVision Management [17] with partner Paul Craig,[18] (which went on to represent Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, White Lies, The Vaccines, The Cribs, Crystal Castles) and sold it to Channelfly PLC, becoming a long-term director of that company until it was absorbed by MAMA Group PLC and subsequently HMV PLC.[19] Following the changes of ownership, key staff left the company and its operation was closed down.[20] Budd's former company is unrelated to management firm Supervizion, which pre-dates the UK firm with several years and is still in operation.

In 2003 he founded Pollination Music Publishing, signing superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold and his Perfecto Records.[21]

Live music

Poster for Passport To The BRITS 2016

In 2004 he created the ‘Passport: Back to the Bars’ [22] charity concert project to raise money for Warchild and Shelter. The project featured Amy Winehouse, The Cure, David Gray, Super Furry Animals, Elbow, Badly Drawn Boy, Spiritualised, The Sugababes and many more.[23][24] The 2015 edition featured Duran Duran, The Vaccines, You Me At Six, Bastille, Elbow and Ride and raised over £500,000 for Warchild[25][26][27] and won the 'Best Use Of Events' awards at the National Fundraising Awards.[28] The 2016 series was announced on 20 January 2016, was renamed Passport To BRITs Week and featured Coldplay, Jack Garratt, Bring Me The Horizon, Bloc Party, Frank Turner, Professor Green, Jamie xx, Above & Beyond, Lianne La Havas and Florence And The Machine[29]

Much of his later career has focused on bringing together musicians from different cultures.[30] In 2007 the Africa Express project was formed [31][32] with musician Damon Albarn, journalist Ian Birrell and others. The project aims to bring African music into the mainstream through musical collaborations with Western artists. Artists who have featured in Africa Express to date include; Amadou & Mariam, Baba Maal, Basement Jaxx, Bombay Bicycle Club, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, De La Soul, Fatboy Slim, Femi Kuti, Franz Ferdinand, Johnny Marr, John Paul Jones, Dead Prez, Laura Mvula, Martha Wainwright, Mew (band), Mick Jones, Nicolas Jaar, Oumou Sangaré, Paul McCartney, Peter Hook, Rokia Traore, Salif Keita, Songhoy Blues, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Noisettes, Tony Allen, Toumani Diabaté, Brian Eno, Kasabian, Ghostpoet, Django Django, M, Fatoumata Diawara and many more. In 2012 Africa Express featured as a part of the London 2012 Festival, a part of the Cultural Olympiad.[33][34][35][36] In 2014 a CD "Africa Express presents Maison de Jeunes" was released on Transgressive Records featuring musical collaborations recorded in Mali by Damon Albarn, Brian Eno, Ghostpoet, Django Django and others.[37] In 2014 he was Executive Producer for 'Africa Express presents Terry Riley's In C at The Tate Modern' and the subsequent interactive film[38] and the 'Africa Express presents Terry Riley's Mali In C' album released on Transgressive Records.[39] which won ‘Best Group’ at The Songlines Awards 2016.[40] In 2015 Africa Express performed at the Roskilde Festival which generated international publicity.[41][42]

In 2010 he joined UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s trade mission to India.[43] There he co-founded the NH7 Weekender Festival which has featured artists including Mark Ronson, Mogwai, Flying Lotus, The Wailers, AR Rahman, Imogen Heap, The Vaccines, Megadeth, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Jon Hopkins, SBTRKT, Karnivool, Chase & Status, Bombay Bicycle Club, Asian Dub Foundation, Basement Jaxx, The Magic Numbers, Fear Factory, Seun Kuti, Benga, MUTEMATH, Simian Mobile Disco, Dry the River, Thievery Corporation, Pretty Lights Music, Fink and many others. It is the first festival of its kind in the sub continent.[44][45][46]

In April 2011 he co-founded OneFest in Wiltshire, England [47] which has featured artists including Laura Marling, Damien Rice and Damon Albarn[48]

In October 2016 it was announced he had joined advisory board of Palestine Music Expo (PMX), a three-day live music showcase that aims to shine the spotlight on it’s little-known music scene, due to take place April 5–7, 2017 in Ramallah, Haifa and Jerusalem[49]

Media career

He has presented educational programs for The British Council in Nigeria, India, China and Uganda [50][51] and has given speeches at music conferences and events around the world including In the City (UK),[52] FUSE Festival (Australia),[53] M for Montreal (Canada),[54] Tallinn Music Week (Estonia),[55] Resonate (NZ),[56] Kingston University (UK),[57] Music Producers Guild (UK),[58] Nokia Music Connects (India),[59] SeeMe (Bulgaria)[60] and The Great Escape (UK).[61]

He is a founder and long term board member of the MMF (Music Managers Forum) trade association[62] and created its Producer Managers Group.[63]

He has appeared on numerous TV shows including BBC Breakfast,[64] BBC World,[65] BBC News,[66] CNN,[67] Al Jazeera, Channel 4's Battlefront series,[68] and Sky News[69] and chaired the judges for two series of MTV's Get Seen Get Heard talent show.[70] He has been interviewed in various music biographies including Take That – Now and Then by Martin Roach [71] and 'How to Have a No.1 Hit Single' by Jonathan Maitland.[72]

He has been interviewed numerous times on radio, including BBC Radio 5,[73] BBC Africa,[74] BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row (radio)' show,[75] Resonance FM [76] and Monocle 24 [77][78] and DJ’d for Dazed Digital [79]

He makes appearances or is interviewed in music documentaries; The Africa Express[80] (about the music project of which he is a director), They Will Have To Kill Us First [81] (about the artist Songhoy Blues) and Walking In The Opposite Direction[82] (about the artist Adrian Borland and The Sound).

He has chaired Eurovision Song Contest selection panels for Georgia [83][84] and Azerbaijan.[85]

He has been invited by the UK Parliament to give evidence to the Culture Media and Sport committee on the UK Governments role in supporting the creative industries.[86]

He has chaired the Music and Film panel at the African Creative Industries Investment Summit (ACIIS) 2013.[87]

References

  1. ↑ "Tortch Records". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "allmusic / The Sound". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "Cardiac Arrest / Tortch Records". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  4. ↑ "Renascent interview with The Sound (band)". Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "The Directions". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  6. ↑ "Official Charts Company / Big Sound Authority". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  7. ↑ Visconti, Tony (2007). The Autobiography. London: Harper Collins. p. 355. ISBN 0007229445.
  8. ↑ "Hit Quarters Interview". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  9. ↑ "Bigger than America". Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "Gang of Four: Profile". Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  11. ↑ "Tanita Takaram". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "The Magic Numbers". BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Producer of the year". Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  14. ↑ "MW Awards: industry celebrates success". Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  15. ↑ "Album Of The Year". Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  16. ↑ "Album Of The Year". Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  17. ↑ "Stephen Budd re-enters artist management with SuperVision". Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  18. ↑ "SuperVision's Craig Joins Atlantic U.K.". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  19. ↑ "HMV to buy MAMA". Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  20. ↑ "AEG favourite to get the MAMA Group". Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "Oakenfold / Perfecto Records". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  22. ↑ "Artists endorse Passport charity project". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  23. ↑ "Pub Rock!". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  24. ↑ "David Gray / Passport Back to the Bars". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  25. ↑ "War Child's Passport Back To The Bars gig lottery now open". Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  26. ↑ "Music Week Article: "I got on with my life...and then Syria happened"". Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  27. ↑ "Brits 2015 activity raised £500k for War Child". Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  28. ↑ "National Fundraising Awards 2015 Winners". Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  29. ↑ "Warchild Unveils Passport:Back to the Brits Week Line-Up". Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  30. ↑ Smirke, Richard. "Delegate Attendance Holds Steady at In The City". Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  31. ↑ "An Interview w/ Stephen Budd". Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  32. ↑ Toledo, Manuel (9 September 2012). "Africa Express rolls into London". BBC News. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  33. ↑ "London 2012 Festival heads into its final week". Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  34. ↑ "All aboard the Africa Express". BBC News. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  35. ↑ "Africa Express : Rolling Coverage". The Guardian. London. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  36. ↑ "Beyond the Stage interview with Stephen Budd". Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  37. ↑ "Africa Express: Maison des Jeunes". digimusic. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  38. ↑ "Tate Modern, Africa Express and Space present Terry Riley's 'In C'". Tate.org. Retrieved 3 Jan 2015.
  39. ↑ "Africa Express - Terry Riley's 'Mali In C' album reviews". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  40. ↑ "Songlines Awards 2016 Winners". Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  41. ↑ "Damon Albarn carried off-stage at Roskilde following five hour set with Africa Express". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  42. ↑ "Damon Albarn covers The Clash and gets carried off stage during Africa Express set at Roskilde Festival". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  43. ↑ "David Cameron's visit to India: full list of delegates from Britain". The Guardian. London. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  44. ↑ [NH7 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/nov/23/nh7-weekender-india "Guardian: NH7 Weekender"] Check |url= value (help). Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  45. ↑ "British Council / NH7 Weekender". Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  46. ↑ "Billboard: NH7 Rock Festival to Launch In India". Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  47. ↑ Denselow, Robin (16 April 2012). "Guardian: Onefest and Damon Albarn kick off the festival season". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  48. ↑ "Onefest - A Very Singular Festival". Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  49. ↑ "Palestinian Music Expo with Cooking Vinyl announced". Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  50. ↑ "CEN - Arts - British Council". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  51. ↑ "Can Ugandan music make it big on the world stage?". Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  52. ↑ Smirke, Richard. "Delegate Attendance Holds Steady at In TheCity". Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  53. ↑ "Fuse Festival". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  54. ↑ "M for Montreal: Music Festival". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  55. ↑ "Tallinn Music Week".
  56. ↑ "Resonate". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  57. ↑ "Creative Economy MA". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  58. ↑ "Music Producers Guild & Music Tank event Nov 2006". Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  59. ↑ "Nokia Music Connects : Driving the Shift". Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  60. ↑ "Seeme South-East European Music Event 2010". Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  61. ↑ "The Great Escape 2011". Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  62. ↑ "MMF: About Us". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  63. ↑ "Producers Push Self Preservation". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  64. ↑ "Stephen Budd on BBC Breakfast Time". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  65. ↑ "Stephen Budd on Apple Music for BBC World". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  66. ↑ "Stephen Budd on Apple Music for BBC News". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  67. ↑ "Stephen Budd on Prince in London for CNN". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  68. ↑ "Channel 4 Battlefront". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  69. ↑ "Taylor Swift & Music Streaming Debate". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  70. ↑ "And here are the winners...". Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  71. ↑ Roach, Martin (2007). Take That : Now and Then. London: Harpers. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-00-723258-1.
  72. ↑ Maitland, Jonathan (2002). How to Have a No.1 Hit Single. London: Simon & Schuster. p. 30. ISBN 0-7432-1988-0.
  73. ↑ "Radio 5 interview with Stephen Budd". Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  74. ↑ "BBC Africa: Africa Express at Roskilde Festival 2015". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  75. ↑ "Stephen Budd on Tidal for Radio 4's Front Row". Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  76. ↑ "Resonance Fm Africa Express". Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  77. ↑ "The Entrepreneurs". Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  78. ↑ "Culture". Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  79. ↑ "Stream Africa Live". Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  80. ↑ "IMDB Credits for Film "The Africa Express". Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  81. ↑ "IMDB Credits for Film They Will Have To Kill Us First". Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  82. ↑ "IMDB Credits for Film "Walking In The Opposite DIrection"". Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  83. ↑ "The Independent / Interview with Stephen Budd". London. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  84. ↑ "Tonight: The Georgian national final - don't miss it!". Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  85. ↑ "Director of British company: Participation in Eurovision is a great chance for Azerbaijan's recognition in the international arena". Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  86. ↑ "HOC CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT COMMITTEE". Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  87. ↑ "African Creative Industries Investment Summit".

External links

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