Dirty Hit's Jamie Oborne on managing The 1975, trusting your artists' instincts, and how the power of cringe helps to choose what not to do

Music Ally Focus

Ep. 158: When Jamie Oborne's career as a musician ended, he decided that the second best thing was to be an artist manager. He also decided that he'd stay independent, write contracts different to the one's he'd signed, and work closely with his artists. Twenty years on, Oborne's approach seems to have worked well enough: he runs management company All On Red and indie label Dirty Hit; both of which have a host of globally successful acts, most notably The 1975.

Jamie joined Music Ally's editor Joe Sparrow to discuss his career and his thoughts of the future of management: how the role will change and the shifting responsibilities of a manager in an era where you can do it all in-house.

They also talked about how artists – from DIY to arena-level – are aiming to create a D2C business model; how managers should trust their artists' decisions and work with them to nurture their instincts yourself; and what advice he'd have given himself when he was starting out in management.

Jamie also shared some of his favourite current artists that he's working with:

Saya Gray: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4EnymklUyqZwvmHQGlRssl

Bleachers: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2eam0iDomRHGBypaDQLwWI

beabadoobee: https://open.spotify.com/artist/35l9BRT7MXmM8bv2WDQiyB

The 1975: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3mIj9lX2MWuHmhNCA7LSCW

Jamie's music pick(s):

Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kd9KDl7SAnHcZABxeLCU3JDz2oQmUEeZo

The Smiths – Meat is Murder: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mz0YHCuq_IeMVDk67mtgUccsBqg-DOzvM

The Stone Roses: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kmlwGGQH_U-X7qCB0Vn6H6VnNqp4swuGY

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